Europe sparkles in the winter and Christmas decorations are everywhere. It’s a magical time to travel. During a Christmas Market cruise, I tasted authentic German gingerbread which inspired the recipe you see below. German gingerbread is much different than the kind we have here in America. If you can’t go there to taste it, you can make it European-style at home.
Enjoy this recipe!
Gingerbread – German Lebkuchen
Ingredients
- 3 eggs
- ½ lb sugar
- 1 Tbsp vanilla sugar
- ½ lb hazelnuts lightly toasted and ground
- ⅛ lb candied lemon rind finely chopped
- ½ lb candied orange rind finely chopped
- ¼ cup milk lukewarm
- 1 Tbsp flour
- 1 Tbsp ground cinnamon
- ½ tsp ground cloves
- 1 lemon rind grated
- round wafers approx 2 inches in diameter They are called Oblaten and can be found on Amazon https://amzn.to/3NoeCrB
- almonds peeled and halved
- candied lemon rind sliced
- 2 oz powdered sugar sifted
- 1-2 tsp hot water
- 2 Tbsp Rum
Instructions
- In a heat resistant bowl, placed over a pot of boiling water, heat the eggs, sugar, and vanilla sugar until they are very foamy. The mixture should only get lukewarm at most.
- Take the bowl off the heat and add the hazelnuts, grated lemon rind, orange rind, milk, flour, cinnamon, cloves, and grated lemon rind, mixing them carefully.
- Spread the mixture on the round wafers, keeping it approx ½ inch thick in the middle and sloping toward the sides.
- Decorate with the almond halves and sliced candied lemon rind.
- Let the rounds dry slightly before baking
- Bake them slowly (20 minutes) at 270 degrees F (You should be able to press the underside in slightly, or they may come out too dry)
- Mix the powdered sugar with the hot water and Rum
- Glaze the tops of the rounds with the mixture while they are still hot.
- Let the rounds cool and store them in a metal box.
The festive European Christmas Markets
I can’t help but reminisce about a river cruise we took in November and December with AmaWaterways several years ago. It started in Budapest and was a Danube cruise that ended in Prague, Czech Republic. Throughout the cruise, we visited the glittering Holiday Markets in Germany and Austria. Stops included Melk, Vienna, Passau, Linz, Regensburg, Nürnberg, and a side trip to Salzburg.
Vendors with German Gingerbread, sausages, dark chocolate, festive decorations, and yummy treats were everywhere set against old-world buildings and cathedrals.
Lebkuchen
German Gingerbread, called Lebkuchen doesn’t contain ginger. Instead, the rounds of sugary goodness are decorated with nuts and candied fruit. They often use rum in the glaze although you can substitute a liquor called Arak, the National liqueur of Lebanon.
Lebkuchen originated in the towns of Franconia, Nürnberg, and Ulm in Germany during the 13th century and was invented by Monks. The emperor at the time, Friedrich III, invited almost four thousand children to a special event and presented Lebkuchen to them decorated with his portrait. Some German Gingerbread is sweet or flavored with spices such as aniseed, coriander, cloves, cardamom, or ginger. The ingredients are placed on large round wafers called Oblate.
Nürnberg bakeries keep the recipe a secret and it has a protected designation of origin meaning the gingerbread must be produced inside the city to be official. A league was formed in 1643 called the “League of Lebkuchen-Bakers” that created strict guidelines to preserve the tradition.
Check current prices on hotels in Bavaria here.
We saw Lebkuchen hanging in Christmas market stalls mostly in Germany but also in Austria. It’s such a wonderful experience to wander through the rows of decorated brown huts tasting savory sausages and sipping Glühwein. (hot mulled wine)
Make sure to plan a trip to visit the Christmas Markets if you are in Europe during the holidays and try authentic German Gingerbread, especially in Austria and Germany. You will never regret it.
The wafers that hold the Lebkuchen together on the bottom can be found on Amazon, here. They are known as Oblaten and are similar to communion wafers.
Don’t like to bake?
Purchase authentic German Lebkuchen on Amazon
Have you traveled to Europe during the holidays? Please leave a comment below.
Now you’ve made me very, very hungry for some of these! They sound yummy – thanks for sharing.
Your welcome Sheryl! Just spreading holiday joy! And a few calories. LOL
Mmmm…. These sound delicious! I may have to try the recipe.
I love your photos. I’ve never experienced a Christmas market. They seem so quaint, lovely, fun. Thank you for sharing and warming my heart (and lighting my desire to TRAVEL, travel, travel!).
I’m so glad to be able to inspire you. I wasn’t sure what they were going to be like when we went on our cruise, but they were all beautiful and lots of fun.
So beautiful. I never dreamed that there was gingerbread without ginger! Sounds like a great trip.
Thanks. Cathy. It was wonderful. I can’t wait to do it again.
Ooh, I love these! We were on a cruise in Germany last year and your photos bring back so many great memories of their wonderful Christmas markets!
Thanks, Lois. River cruising is the way to go. I love that you can stop in so many beautiful old towns.
I love gingerbread (looking at all those ingredients I’ll never make my own though!) and Europe is so wonderful at this time of the year (completely different to a hot Aussie Christmas!)
I can relate living in Southern California. We’ve had 90 degrees in December although this year in December has been nice.
Nothing as good to me as gingerbread with some real whipped cream. I adore it so much!
Mmmmm. Yum! Real whipped cream with real gingerbread. Sounds luscious!
This looks amazing, I love foods with a history behind them. Will have to try it for Christmas this year! Thanks for sharing.
I hope you enjoy it, Alisa. Let me know how they turn out!
This is fascinating, I had no idea that gingerbread would be something different in another country. If you had shown me the ingredients and told me to guess what it was, gingerbread wouldn’t have been on my list. Hoping to try this.
Such a beautiful area especially at Christmas time Rebecca. I love all of the Christmas markets in Europe and Bavaria is such a pretty part of Germany. Thanks for the recipe and all the gorgeous photos.
Where does one get the small wafers to support & protect the Lebkuchen while they cook?
Great question, Sally. You can get them on Amazon. https://amzn.to/3NoeCrB They are called Oblaten and they are thin wafers sort of like communion wafers.