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Ginger Bread (Lebkuchen)

Ingredients

450 g plain flour
1 tsp. each baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, ground cardamom
1/2 tsp. each ground cloves, anise, nutmeg, ginger
225 g honey
200 g sugar
125 g butter
1 large egg

Preparation

Sift flour. Heat honey, sugar and butter over low flame, stirring all the time until butter has melted and sugar dissolved - don't allow to boil. Remove pan from heat and stir in spices. Gradually beat in flour adding as much as is need to make a smooth dough. Allow to cool for 5 minutes and remove from bowl. Mix in lightly beaten egg and then knead dough with hands. If too sticky, add more flour. Roll out and cut with cookie cutters into desired shapes. Can be from 3 mm to 6mm thick. If you are going to ice or frost them, leave plain otherwise you can glaze with beaten egg and decorate with nuts. Bake in preheated oven, 180°C or gas 4 approx. 15 minutes until lightly colored.

If you want to ice them, my favorite icing is confectioners sugar and lemon juice. Store the ginger bread cookies in a tin.

You can also use these to decorate your Christmas tree. Make a hole in cut biscuit before baking and rebore when still hot.

Decorate and thread red or green ribbon and hang.

Lebkuchen must be kept at least a couple of weeks before you eat them - they improve with age, and can be kept in an airtight tin for up to 3 months.

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