Nurnberger Lebkuchen

By Gail Poll

German Gingerbread. From Shari in San Diego.
To age, store in airtight plastic containers, at least 2 weeks, and up to 3 months. If cookies get hard, add thin slice of raw apple until they are soft. Discard apple.

Ingredients

• For the Cookies:
• 4 c. honey
• 3 c. firmly packed brown sugar
• 4 beaten eggs
• 1/4 c. lemon juice
• 4 tsp. grated lemon peel
• 9 1/3 c. flour, unsifted
• 4 tsp. cinnamon
• 2 tsp. ground allspice
• 2 tsp. ground cloves
• 2 tsp. ground nutmeg
• 2 tsp. salt
• 2 tsp. baking soda
• 1 1/3 c. finely chopped citron (or other dried fruit)
• 1 1/3 c. finely chopped almonds
• 80 (or so) 90 mm. back Oblaten (edible, like a communion wafer)(use parchment {not edible} paper if no Oblaten)
• 40 whole candied cherries, cut in half
• 400 whole blanched almonds (5 per cookie) about 1.5 to 2 lbs.
• For the Glaze:
• 4 c. unsifted powdered sugar
• 1.25 c. rum (or water)

Preparation

Step 1

For the Cookies:
1. Heat honey on Med. till just begins to bubble.
2. Cool a bit. Add sugar, eggs, lemon juice & peel. Set aside till lukewarm.
3. In lg. bowl stir together flour, spices, salt & soda.
4. Add honey mix, citron, almonds. Stir till well blended. Will be soft.
5. Cover and refrigerate at least 8 hours, up to 2 days.
6. Work with 1/16 of the dough at a time, keeping the rest covered and refrigerated.
7. On heavily floured board roll out to 3/8" thickness.
8. Arrange disks on lightly greased bake pan, 1.5" apart.
9. Cut rounds with cutter (donut, glass) about 2.5" in diameter.
10. Place rounds on disks.
11. Place cherry half in center of each, surrounded by 5 almonds like a flower.
12.Bake at 375 degrees 12 to 15 min, till golden brown.
13.Remove and immediately glaze.
14.Place on rack to cool.
15.If you used parchment instead of back oblaten, glaze top and bottom of cookies immediately.

For the glaze: Mix sugar and rum till smooth.