1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup molasses
3/4 cup sugar, brown
1 egg
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp lemon rind, grated
2 3/4 cup flour, sifted
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon, ground
1 tsp cloves, ground
1 tsp allspice, ground
1 tsp nutmeg, ground
1/3 cup citron, chopped
1/3 cup nuts, chopped
GLAZING ICING
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup ; water
1/4 cup sugar, confectioners
Directions
Mix the honey and molasses; bring to a boil. Remove from the heat
and cool thoroughly. Stir in the brown sugar, egg, lemon juice, and
lemon rind. Sift together the flour, baking soda, and spices. Stir
into the honey-molasses mixture. Mix in the citron and nuts. Chill
the dough overnight. Roll a small amount at a time, keeping the rest
chilled. Roll out to 1/4 inch thickness and cut into oblongs 1 1/2 x
2 1/2 inches. Place about 1 inch apart on a greased baking sheet.
Bake in a 400 F (moderate/ hot) oven for 10 to 12 minutes until, when
touched lightly, no imprint remains. While the cookies bake, make the
Glazing Icing. Boil together the sugar and water until the first
indication of a thread appears (230F). Remove from the heat. Stir in
the confectioners' sugar. Brush the hot icing thinly over the
cookies. (When the icing gets sugary, reheat slightly, adding a
little water until clear again.)
-- Betty Crocker's Picture Cook Book
Servings: 72 servings
Lebkuchen Recipe brought to you by Recipe Ideas
Categories: Beverage; Candy; Dessert; Fruit; Nut
The History of Recipes
Experts have proved the existance of recipes way back into the distant past, certainly as far back into history as the Egypt of the Pharoahs, and potentially, even further back. Interesting though that is, sadly, these ancient cookbooks were just very basic hieroglyphic or cunieform recipes for preparing food.
Fascinatingly, the oldest recipe found, according to academics are some ancient tablets in ancient Sumerian describing the preparation of bread which is then used to make a drink, quite possibly a form of beer as it is recorded as making anyone who tried it feel wonderful and blissful. During the time of the Roman Empire a man called Apicius assembled a few documents detailing recipes enjoyed by wealthy roman citizens. In his scrolls, he describes how the meals were separated into hors d`oeuvre, main course and afters, something that is very familiar to us today. Aspicius describes how the Roman chefs used many aromatic flavors, including some that we all recognise such as basil, fennel and parsley. In the fifteenth century, the Crusaders brought back a variety of foods and spices from the Middle-East, including spices like coriander, basil and rosemary. These new foods and tastes prompted a torrent in manuscripts on food, some of which still exist in private libraries. Over the following few hundred years, the powerful families of the West competed to serve the most extravagent banquests, and as a result the best chefs and their recipes were at a premium. However, it wasn`t until the nineteenth century that formal cookery and recipe publications became really popular. The Famous Mrs Beeton in the UK, and the equally famous Fannie Merritt Farmer in the US, devoted their lives to collating, trying out, and writing down popular recipes of the day. Like it or not, the introduction of television brought us TV cooks and the demand for the spin-off recipe books. And that brings us to the present day and the invention of computers and the internet, allowing us all to access thousands of recipes like the ones you can find on sites such as the one you are reading now. |
We hope you enjoy this Lebkuchen recipe.
