Lebkuchen

Here's the original recipe as written by Grandma Kueffner, who credited one Tante Theresa Janson:

1 cup molasses (mild)
1 cup honey
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
3 eggs
1 cup shortening (oleo or Crisco)
1 cup sour cream (commercial)
1 teaspoon each of salt, cinnamon
grated rind of 1 lemon
1 cup candied fruit (ground)
1 cup nuts (chopped fine)
4 cups flour with 2 teaspoon soda
1 teaspoon baking powder

Mix in order given adding additional flour to make stiff enough to roll out keeping as soft as possible (8-10 cups flour in all). Chill over nite or longer.

Glaze: after baking: 2 cups powdered sugar, flavoring, hot water to make consistency to brush on. Top with slice of almond.

*******


Baking temperature? Time? *shrugs* Who needed that info in those days? I hit upon 18 minutes for 350. And what kind of person takes a Gramma recipe and tweaks it before she even makes it? Umm...I do. Because that candied fruit? After Tim picked some up at the store, I thought about it and decided to use all homemade candied orange peel instead of that icky stuff. I had some incredibly thick-rinded oranges in the house anyway. Easy to make:

Candied Orange Peels

Dissolve 4 1/2 cups sugar into 1 1/2 cup water. Bring to a simmer and boil for 4 minutes without stirring. Add strips of orange peel, pith and all. Let simmer for 30 to 45 minutes, until soft and translucent. Remove and let drain on a wire rack over pan or waxed paper for a few hours or overnight. Leave as is, or roll in granulated sugar. Or cover in dark chocolate.



I mixed in the usual order for cookies: fat and sugar first in the mixer, then eggs and other wet stuff; then adding all the sifted dry ingredients. For the nuts, I used almonds. And the 'flavoring' in the glaze, I took to be vanilla. I never saw her make these, so I have no idea how she ground the candied fruits or chopped the nuts. I know she didn't have a mini food processor, like I do. No, Grandma's cookies were all done and ready for us when we got to her house.

If I remember right, lebkuchen were one of Dad's favorite post-Christmas breakfasts.



The house smells sweet and molasses-y and Gramma-y.