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Recipe: "Elisenlebkuchen" Gingerbread

Just like Café neef, gingerbread belongs to Nuremberg - like no other baked good. No wonder that together they are a recipe for success. In addition to interesting gingerbread variations such as one with rum-punch flavor, at neef you can also find the traditional Nuremberg "Elisenlebkuchen". So that you too can enjoy this Nuremberg specialty at Christmas time, Ingrid Neef has shared her recipe for this popular sweet treat:

[Translate to English:] Frische Lebkuchen von Neef

Ingredients (for 40 gingerbread):

  • 12 egg whites
  • 700 g sugar
  • 240 g marzipan
  • 120 g candied lemon peel, in small cubes
  • 120 g candied orange peel, in small cubes
  • 300 g coarsely-ground roasted hazelnuts
  • 300 g finely-ground almonds
  • 180 g flour
  • 30 g gingerbread spice
  • 15 g hartshorn salt

For the glaze:

  • 150 g powdered sugar
  • ca. 110 g liquid dark chocolate glaze

To decorate:

  • almond halves
  • Candied lemon slices
  • 40 baking wafers (round, 10-cm diameter)

Preparation:

Roast the hazelnuts on a baking sheet in the oven and remove their shells. Beat the egg whites and sugar until stiff. Place all other ingredients in a bowl. Add the beaten egg whites slowly while mixing with the dough hook of the food processer until everything becomes a smooth mass. The mass must be completely worked through.

Weigh 60 g of mass on to each round wafer and form it info a cone in the middle of the wafer. Place the wafers on a large flat surface (for example on the base of a cooking pot). With a knife, flatten the mass out to the edge of the wafers.

Decorate half of the gingerbread with almonds and candied lemon slices (3, 4 or 5 almond halves per gingerbread and a small piece of candied lemon slice in the middle). Place the gingerbread on a baking sheet.

Let the gingerbread dry overnight in the kitchen. The next morning, place them into a pre-heated oven and bake. The decorated gingerbread should be glazed while they are still warm: Mix the powdered sugar with a little water and, with a brush, spread a thin layer of glaze over the gingerbread.

According to the food act, "Elisenlebkuchen" must be covered with spun sugar. But this is a very difficult and sometimes dangerous task. That is why home bakers should use powdered sugar and water. It is important, however, to glaze while the gingerbread is still warm: The warmth crystallzies the sugar and dries it in a few minutes.

Coll the undecorated gingerbread completely and cover with the liquid dark chocolate glaze. 

Baking time: 

  • Electric oven: 190°C, 12-13 minutes
  • Gas oven: Level 3, 12-13 minutes
  • Circulation oven: 175 °C, 10-11 minutes 
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