Basler Leckerli

Basler Leckerli are a square Swiss sweet that bears the name of Basel. Beneath a thin white glaze lies a dense honey dough mixed with coarsely chopped nuts and candied citrus peel. Flour, honey, sugar and spices bind the nuts and citrus peel together, and a large baked sheet is cut into small pieces. As you chew, the pieces break apart and the aromas of citrus and spice spread.

Square Basler Leckerli with a thin glaze. Photo: ArséniureDeGallium, 2012-05-01, location unknown. Original image / CC BY-SA 3.0. Reduced-size version from the hosting source. Any editing at the time of original publication is unknown; no additional editing was done this time.

Binding nuts and citrus peel with honey while keeping them in pieces

Almonds and hazelnuts, along with candied orange and lemon peel, are not ground as fine as flour but used in pieces. Cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and other spices are layered over the rich sweetness of honey and sugar, and some versions also add kirsch. The dough, which binds the coarse nuts and peel, is rolled out thin and baked as a single sheet that fills the whole baking tray.

How the dough is handled varies with the scale of production and the maker. In some methods, the honey is warmed the night before and the dough is kneaded the next morning. In others, the prepared dough rests for 24 to 48 hours before being rolled out into strips. The baking thickness and time are not fixed either, and within the same square shape they range from small, thin pieces to thicker ones.

Glaze brushed onto the warm dough, and when to cut

While the baked dough is still warm, a sugar glaze is spread over it with a brush. Some glazes are made by boiling sugar with kirsch, and as the glaze cools it becomes a white film through which the brown dough shows. It is not a thick, cream-like layer but a finish that thinly coats the surface.

The timing of cutting also varies. While some methods cut the sheet into squares while it is still warm, in one artisan’s production process the sheet is glazed, cooled and rested in metal boxes before being cut by machine. A glazed and cut piece shows the white glaze on top and the brown cut sides.

The origin of the name Leckerli and records in Basel

Basler means “of Basel.” The Swiss culinary heritage inventory links the name of the sweet, spelled Leckerli or Läckerli, to the Old High German leckon, “to lick.” The act of licking something sweet to savor it lies behind the name.

One early example of this name, which is found in many places, is “Leckherle” in a 1591 payment record for a wedding in Augsburg. In 1621, the notebook of the Bern physician Abraham Schneuly also included “Lady Anna von Hallwyl’s Leckerli,” named after the person who passed on the recipe. The spread of the name and the method is not limited to the Leckerli made in Basel today.

In Basel, the accounts of the gardeners’ guild for October 10, 1711 record “three sheets of Leckerli.” Anna Magdalena Falkeisen’s 1741 cookbook, which is introduced in the city’s urban history materials, contains a “Basler Lekerly” made with honey, spices and candied orange and citron peel. This sweet bearing the town’s name already contained the honey, spices and candied peel still used today.

The legend of the Council and the opening up of production

There is also a story that Leckerli were first made for the clergy at the Council of Basel in 1431–49. However, the city’s historical materials reject this theory because important ingredients do not appear in 15th-century customs and trading-house records. Basel had a long tradition of Lebkuchen, but it is uncertain whether those had the same formula as today’s Leckerli.

Meanwhile, the increase in the number of makers was connected to changes in trade regulations. In 1716, confectionery making was removed from the guild monopoly, and in 1720 anyone was allowed to make Leckerli. These changes in trading conditions also played a part as production, once a side occupation of women and especially widows, spread to workshops and factories.

Leckerli are not only from Basel

The name Leckerli does not belong to Basel alone. Bern’s hazelnut Leckerli use finely processed ingredients, while those from Appenzell use the dough of Biber, a honey-and-spice sweet made with added milk. In Zurich, there is also a version made from marzipan, a paste of almonds and sugar. What sets the Basel version apart is its coarse nuts and citrus peel, relatively firm honey dough, square shape and thin glaze.

Leckerli were originally a sweet for Christmas and the New Year, but today they are enjoyed year-round as gifts, as snacks to take on trips and as souvenirs. The way they are eaten, by breaking off a firm piece and slowly chewing it in the mouth, still reflects their nature as a honey sweet that keeps well.

Glossary