The Story of Elisenlebkuchen

(ee-LEE-zen LEB-kook-en)

Named after his special Daughter
Elizabeth

"Nuremberg" Lebkuchen is a special in that it is
baked on top of a rice wafer called "Back Oblaten"
These unleavened rice papers were used for communion sercices in church
and were perfect to bake this very light cookie of honey, and imported spice batter on.

The affection for Lebkuchen goes back a long ways to our ancestors, Not only Germany,but much of the world always saw honey as having magical powers. Spices that came into Nuremberg were very expensive so this special cookie was more than just a treat, folks paid debts with it, used it as a symbol of sacrifice, add it to your loved ones coffin, and warriors even carried it into battle for good luck.

Nuremberg was the perfect place to specialize in Lebkuchen as it was the center of the spice trade
and forest with lots of honey bees and beekeepers were nearby. So In the 14th century a special guild for Lebkuchen bakers and their special recipe which was mostly nuts, and could only contain a certain amount of flour to be authentic. I think today it is 10%.

Around 1710 as legend has it,
A special master Lebkuchen baker's daughter Elizabeth went very ill
the prognosis was not good. He had already lost his wife and
was desperate to save her so feeling that honey had special powers
and the spices from the Orient were known to have healing properties
he made a special lebkuchen with NO flour at all.
He fed this to his daughter and she recovered! In her honor he
named this special cookie Elisenlebkuchen.

I would say this is an unusual recipe for Elisenlebkuchen
because it uses only almonds and it has slivered almonds as well as ground almonds.
Most recipes call for just ground nuts, half almonds and half hazelnuts.
However with the expense of hazelnuts I thought it would be good to have an alternative.

Recipe

Old Fashioned Nut Grinder

This is so much fun to use and does a great job at grinding the nuts, as opposed to a food processor that grinds unevenly. My grandma used a grinder like this.

Also good for grinding chocolate.

You will need rice papers known as
Back Oblaten. You can substitute Rice paper, Rice Crackers, or bake them without,

Some of these you can find easier than others

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F

Measure out your ingredients and put on something like a plate. so you can see you measured them out.
Too many times when there are a lot of spices you start measuring and then you forget what you have added, you add it twice or you forget to add it. Then you wonder the whole time whether it will come out right. This way you know and especially on a white plate you can see all the spices clearly.

I always feel connected when I grind the nuts with an old fashioned nut grinder like this one that
my grandma used. I had my grand daughtedo the grinding because I love to pass along heritage and she was only too happy to grind as she loves to cook.

Check out the nut grinder here

This is my favorite way to chop nuts. For these cookies you get the two textures of nuts, ground and chopped.

To make the candied orange and lemon peel follow this recipe.

A note here. I separated the eggs and beat the whites up first to see if this would make a lighter cookie.
I am not sure it does make a difference. I will try a few times to see if it makes a difference. One of
the most odd German cooking ideas is to put egg whites in Brotchen. You would think that it just
flatten when you beat and knead in all the flour, but apparently reacts with the flour to make a more tender bread, but still have a nice crispy crust. Some folks even do this in their baguettes.
So add in the brown sugar .................

and next add in the egg yolks and beat in lightly.

Then add the cooled candied orange and lemon peel.....

...The almond flour...

......the spices and the chopped almonds and beat in lightly tilll you have a light dough that holds together.

Next lay out the Oblaten rice wafers on a greased pan or use a slipat. Put a scoop full on an oblaten paper and leave a little space for it to expand. You can always snip off the extra wafer.

When using the larger Oblaten paper I like to smooth the cookie dough to the edges.

I probably could have gotten more on the tray., but I used 2.

Bake at 325 F for 20-25 min. They will rise a bit and feel firm to the touch.

This is how many Lebkuchen I got from the recipe.

After they are cooled you can now glaze the cookies.

To Glaze Lebkuchen

1. Chocolate
Simply melt the chocolate and thin it with vegetable oil to a consistency that you can dip.
I like to top it with blanched almond halves. I find it easiest to just turn the cookie over and dip it
into the chocolate. It will dry but take time. Put on the almonds before it dries.

2. Lemon Vanilla Glaze
Blend the lemon juice and vanilla extract with the powdered sugar. Check the consistency to see if it will be thick enough to give a thin sheen on the cookie but not be glaumy. Dip the cookie and top with the almond halves.

Here I used the cherry for garnish.

Haselnussmakronen

(Hazelnut Macaroons)

Vanillekipferl

Vanilla Crecents