Lebkuchen

German Lebkuchen include varieties in which honey and spices are kneaded into flour, varieties in which nuts and eggs are placed on a thin base, and varieties that enclose a filling. The name is not limited to a single kind of ginger-flavored biscuit; it refers to a wide range of baked goods. From pieces baked hard and cut into portions to soft, round single rounds, they differ in their main ingredients, the timing of leavening, and how they are finished. Nuremberg’s famous specialty is one of them.

Doughs of flour and sugar syrup, and doughs based on nuts

The guidelines of the German Food Code distinguish two broad categories: one in which flour is kneaded with honey or sugar syrup, then shaped, cut out with cutters, or cut, and baked brown without a base; and one made mainly of nuts and eggs and placed on Oblaten. The dough shaped into hearts or assembled into houses differs in formulation from the soft Elisen.

At Georg Gräfe in Pulsnitz, Saxony, wheat flour and rye flour are combined with honey or invert sugar and a thick sugar syrup, and the basic dough is rested for two to four months. Spices, leavening agents, nuts, and fruit are added afterward. No fat is added to the basic dough. While the dough rests, acid forms from part of its sugar, which also creates the conditions for the potash added later to work. Resting the dough not only lets the aroma settle but also makes the leavening agent added later work more readily. The finish is also varied with fillings and coatings after baking. The baking molds, cutters, machines, and tins preserved in the town’s museum convey the work of making this Pfefferkuchen.

The method of leavening is also related to shape. Potash, as explained by researchers Alexandra Schebesta and Isabella Hübscher, consists mainly of potassium carbonate; at high temperatures it makes the dough flow more easily and spreads it sideways. Hartshorn salt consists mainly of ammonium bicarbonate; it generates gas and mainly adds height. Because of its properties it is used in thin baked goods so that the ammonia can escape, and resting time, the point at which it is added, and thickness are inseparable conditions.

Lebkuchen from Nuremberg. The difference between those finished with icing and those finished with chocolate can be seen. Photo: Cnbrb, 2020-01-09, location unknown. Original image / CC BY-SA 4.0. Downscaled version from the distributor; no additional processing.

The nut-based formulation of Elisen and Oblaten

Elisenlebkuchen, one of Nuremberg’s premium varieties, is made from a dough rich in nuts and low in flour. Under the German Food Code’s Elisen classification, almonds, hazelnuts, and walnuts make up at least one quarter of the dough, and grain accounts for no more than one tenth. Because nuts are the main ingredient, the formulation differs from that of doughs that are mainly flour with nuts added.

In one example of the city’s published recipe (the proportions of ingredients and the method), eggs and sugar are whipped, then combined with ground nuts, candied lemon and orange peel, a small amount of flour, and spices; the mixture is placed on thin, wafer-like Oblaten and baked. Because the dough is soft and difficult to cut out with cutters, it is baked on a thin base. In some cases it is coated in chocolate after cooling; the powdered spices flavor the entire dough, and the bits of peel release their aroma when bitten.

A story about a monk handed down in Nuremberg also explains that the soft dough was placed on a base so that it would not stick to the baking sheet. The story conveys the role of the thin Oblaten in baking soft dough without it sticking to the baking sheet.

Legends of a daughter and a saint behind the Elisen name

The legend told by the city’s tourist office begins with a scene in which Elisabeth, the daughter of a confectioner who had lost his wife to illness, also falls seriously ill. Doctors cannot cure her, so her father, trusting in the value of spices, leaves out the wheat flour and bakes a special confection using only fine ingredients. After eating it, the daughter regains her strength, and her name lives on in the finest of the confections—so the story goes. The nut-rich formulation becomes a story of love and recovery.

The manufacturer Lebkuchen-Schmidt, on the other hand, cites a legend that the name commemorates a craftsman’s daughter who died in 1864 at the age of 17, as well as the possibility that it derives from St. Elisabeth, patron saint of bakers and others. The daughter who is saved, the daughter who dies, and the saint are each separate explanations of the name. Even for the same name, Elisen, different stories connected to a daughter or a saint have been handed down.

Ingredients obtained through trade and specialist craftsmen in each city

Nuremberg stood at the intersection of trade routes, and in addition to honey from beekeeping in the surrounding area, it could obtain cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, nutmeg, almonds, and more. The spices, sugar, and nuts obtained in this way became ingredients for confections.

Gräfe’s introduction to the documentary history cites Pfefferkuchen in Ulm in 1296, Lebzelter in a Munich tax register in 1370, and Lebküchner in a Nuremberg document in 1395. Their development as a specialist urban trade is also reflected in the 1643 approval of a craft guild cited by the City of Nuremberg. From such records, we can learn when specialist craftsmen came to work in each city.

The etymology of Lebkuchen and regional names

Nor is the first part of the name necessarily linked to the modern German Leben, “living.” Duden cites the Middle High German leb(e)kuoche and treats a connection with Laib, meaning a loaf of bread, as a possibility. “Cake of life” is not an established etymology, and the other names Pfefferkuchen and Lebzelten also reflect differences of place and period.

Aachen Printen, which became flat

Printen are known for their flat, elongated shape. According to Aachen’s historical account, metalworkers who came from Dinant introduced a confection patterned with wooden molds, and the name is associated with prenten, meaning “to press.”

The city explains that the Continental Blockade of the Napoleonic era changed how sweeteners were sourced, and that doughs made with beet sugar and molasses became difficult to shape in fine detail in wooden molds, so the confection shifted to a flat form. Even after it became flat, its shapes and finishes have not been limited to one type; today there are hard and soft versions, and they may be coated with icing or chocolate or contain nuts.

Läckerli that are cut, Biber that enclose a filling

Basler Läckerli are a relatively hard confection made by adding coarse nuts and candied citrus peel to honey and spices, applying a thin icing, and cutting into squares. Culinary Heritage of Switzerland rejects the theory that they originated at the Council of Basel in the 15th century, because key ingredients do not appear on the market in the customs and trading-house records of the time. Their ingredients differ from those of the honey-and-rye confections of that period. In the 18th–19th centuries, there were disputes over trading rights between widows who baked to earn an income and confectioners, and production came to be permitted as a free trade.

St. Gallen Biber consist of honey-and-spice dough wrapped around an almond filling and decorated with images from wooden molds. The culinary heritage survey distinguishes the old 15th-century name from the almond-filled version seen in cookbooks from around 1800, and also states that there is insufficient documentation for the explanation that they began directly as a monastery pilgrimage confection. A craftsman interviewed says that the difference from those of Appenzell is not uniformly determined by the cantonal border either, but lies in each workshop’s recipe.

How the Bombe became a product in Liegnitz

The Bombe, named after Legnica in present-day Poland, formerly Liegnitz, consists of spiced dough filled with marzipan or fruit and coated in chocolate. The version recreated by Pierniki Wrocławskie combines nuts, orange and apricot jam, and orange liqueur.

A newspaper study by researcher Grzegorz Sobel, published by the company, distinguishes the frequently cited year 1853 as the opening of the Müller family business and discusses the emperor’s visit and commercialization in 1875. The start of a shop and the appearance of a product are not necessarily the same. Whether shaped flat, cut with pieces of the added ingredients left intact, or wrapped around a filling, these confections vary not only in shape but also in how they are made.

Gift confections bearing portraits and confections used in sauces

In a 1487 story examined in a historical study of Nuremberg’s old town, Emperor Frederick III, who had come for the Imperial Diet, gives confections to the town’s children. The “Kaiserlein,” bearing the emperor’s portrait impressed with a mold, represented the emperor’s face on the confection and also conveyed his authority. It is a story linking portraits and gift-giving that was also referenced on commemorative tins in later times.

Franconian Soßenkuchen, on the other hand, is a culinary type modestly sweetened with caramel syrup. According to the Bavarian guide to culinary heritage, it is softened in water or wine into a thick mush and mixed into rich sauces such as that of Sauerbraten, adding aroma and thickness. Used with beef, game, carp, and more, it is a confection that serves as an ingredient in another dish.

Hardness that changes after baking

Some Lebkuchen baked brown without a base are relatively hard when freshly baked and gradually soften during storage. The confectionery industry association recommends storage in a cool place that is not too dry, and a method of placing a hardened piece in a container together with bread or a slice of apple. In sugar-rich baked goods, moisture moves between the goods and the air; when they dry out they become hard, and when they take on moderate moisture they become soft. Storage that keeps baked confections from drying out and the step of resting the dough for several months before baking are two separate things.

Nuremberg’s protected origin name and the Elisen formulation standards

According to the city’s explanation, Nürnberger Lebkuchen has been protected as a geographical indication since 1996, and use of the name requires production within the city. This is not a requirement that all ingredients come from the city, and it is also separate from the Elisen formulation classification. Lebkuchen, eaten at Christmas and given as gifts in decorative tins and boxes, have a history involving the trade in ingredients, differences in production methods, the rights of craftsmen, and the protection of names.

Lebkuchen on display at the Nuremberg Christmas market. Confections finished with icing and nuts fill the stall. Photo: charley1965 (Flickr), 2008-12-14, Nuremberg, Germany. Original image / CC BY-SA 2.0. Downscaled version from the distributor; no additional processing.

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