Elisenlebkuchen Recipe on Food52 (2024)

FAQs

What is elisenlebkuchen? ›

Elisen-Lebkuchen are softer, contain nuts and are glazed with chocolate or icing. The consistency is cake-like and they are usually round and baked on top of a traditional paper-thin wafer (called Oblate, which is why they are also called “Oblatenlebkuchen” in Germany).

Back-oblaten, or baking wafers, are round wafers often used as the base of each lebkuchen. They're traditional, but not necessary. It is critical that the nuts be ground into a flour, as that is their function in this recipe.

The Oblaten, or thin wafer, used in Oblaten Lebkuchen serves as a base for the cookie and provides a smooth, even surface for baking. It also adds a subtle crispness to the texture of the cookie and helps to hold the ingredients together.

What is Lebkuchen? Lebkuchen (pronounced leyb-koo-kuh n) is a centuries-old German spiced treat traditionally baked during the winter holiday season. While lebkuchen is often translated to English as gingerbread, it's not exactly what most Americans envision when they think of gingerbread.

The main ingredients for baking Lebkuchen are: Hazelnuts, Walnuts, Almonds, Candied Orange and Lemon Peel, Honey, Flour, Sugar, Eggs and Marzipan. Add to these some exotic spices from all around the world (cinnamon, cloves, anise, cardamom, coriander, ginger and mace) to make the Lebkuchen a special treat.

These circular wafers or Oblaten form the base of a real Lebkuchen cookie. Place the sticky dough on top to keep it together while baking and to ensure the biscuit is crispy on the outside while moist and soft on the inside. These paper thin wafers are edible and Vegan.

What is Lebkuchen? Most dictionaries translate Lebkuchen as “gingerbread”, but that's not quite right. “Gingerbread-like”, perhaps. Consider it a rich, dry, soft biscuit pastry that traditionally uses plenty of honey and spices.

"The cookies are baked on a thin, edible wafer called oblaten. Oblaten are crisp, white wheat wafers that are available in specialty food shops. If you do not have a specialty food shop that handles oblaten, check with a local religious supply house.

In Germany, when you think of Christmas, you think of Nuremberg Lebkuchen, the city's famous gingerbread. These sweet and spicy treats have been baked for more than 600 years and are loved by young and old alike.

Pfeffernusse and lebkuchen are both similarly flavored with honey and lots of warm baking spices but pfeffernusse are almost always small, rounded cookies coated with a powdered sugar glaze, while lebkuchen may be shaped like regular cookies or cut in bars and are generally glazed with chocolate.

Is Lebkuchen a biscuit or cake? ›

Lebkuchen are traditional German Christmas cookies. Whether you make traditional circles or cut into stars and hearts, friends and family will love these Christmas biscuits. You can decorate them in so many ways as well.

Lebkuchen range in taste from spicy to sweet and come in a variety of shapes with round being the most common. The ingredients usually include honey, spices such as aniseed, cardamom, coriander, cloves, ginger, and allspice, nuts including almonds, hazelnuts, and walnuts, or candied fruit.