GERMAN STYLE LEBKUCHEN (GINGERBREAD) WITH WHITE CHOCOLATE GLACE

I am desperately trying to keep the pre-Christmas excitement and spirit alive, despite a little voice in the back of my head constantly telling me that it could be another Christmas ruined by Covid, and one way to do so is of course some good old festive baking to banish the negativity away and fill ones house with the most wonderful smell! 

Making these little lebkuchen (a sort of German spiced gingerbread cakes), coated in white chocolate, proved an excellent evening activity, super easy and quick to make, and the end result tasted not only like a little bit of my German childhood but quite literally like Christmas in a pleasing little cake! Perfect to as gift but also perfect to consume in big quantities yourself because hey we've all earned early Christmas treats this year!

INGREDIENTS

For the Lebkuchen

• 200g runny honey
• 85g butter
• 200g plain flour
• 100g round almonds
• 1 tsp baking powder
• ¼ tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 1 tsp ground allspice 
• ½ tsp ground nutmeg
• 1 tbsp cocoa powder
• ½ unwaxed orange, finely grated zest and juiced
• pinch salt

For the chocolate glaze

200g white chocolate, roughly chopped

METHOD

• Preheat the oven to 200C.
• Line two baking trays with baking paper.
• Heat the honey and butter in a small saucepan over a low heat until melted. 
• Tip into a large mixing bowl and put in the fridge for 5 minutes.
• Remove the honey-butter mixture from the fridge and sieve in the remaining ingredients, stirring to combine. (The mixture will be sticky.) 
• Return to the fridge for about 1 hour, or until completely cold. 
• With damp hands, break off pieces of the dough and roll into balls slightly smaller than a golf ball. Transfer to the baking trays and flatten down slightly, leaving enough space between each lebkuchen to spread during cooking. 
• Bake for 15 minutes, or until the lebkuchen has risen and are firm to the touch. 
• Set aside to cool slightly on the baking trays, before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
• To make the chocolate glaze, melt half the chocolate in a small heatproof bowl over a simmering saucepan of water, making sure the base of the bowl doesn’t touch the water. 
• When the chocolate has almost melted, take the pan off the heat and add the remaining chocolate. 
• Stir until all the chocolate has melted. 
• Dip one side of the lebkuchen into the chocolate and return to the wire rack, chocolate side up, to set.
• Leave to set to completely and enjoy!