Fa-La-La-La-La, Let the Cookie Baking Begin

Christmas in the Steck household doesn’t officially start until the first batch of Lebkuchen comes out of the oven. Ruth Steck has been making this traditional German holiday treat for her family and friends for more than 50 years, and recently kicked off her family’s 2011 holiday season by baking a triple batch of these festive gingerbread cookies. 

Ruth and Paul G. Steck were Summit residents for nearly 35 years, moving to Green Village a little over five years ago. After World War I, both Ruth and Paul’s parents emigrated to the United States from Germany and Austria, so both Ruth and Paul grew up with holiday traditions rooted in those cultures. When Ruth was growing up in the Philadelphia area, Lebkuchen was a special treat brought into her home during the holidays, but Ruth never found a recipe or baked them herself until she got married in the mid-50s. While they were newlyweds, Paul was in the U.S. Air Force, stationed in England, and he bought a copy of the original edition Gourmet cookbook, first published in 1950. He brought the cookbook home for his new wife, and when she saw the classic Lebkuchen recipe inside, she decided to give it a try. Ruth has been using this original 1950 recipe since then, tweaking it over the years to suit a modern kitchen. Paul, an avid outdoor photographer, also enjoys photographing his wife’s frequent epicurean endeavors in the kitchen.

Lebkuchen is a soft and chewy gingerbread cookie, although ginger is not an ingredient in Ruth’s recipe. The spice flavor comes from a combination of honey, ground almonds, cinnamon, cardamom, nutmeg and cloves. The warm, just out of the oven cookies are iced and decorated with candied cherries or sliced almonds. The cookies last for weeks, long after the holidays are over.

Ruth’s daughter, Tina, who lives in Manhattan Beach, Calif., loves to bake with her mom when she's in town. She calls the Lebkuchen her mother’s “signature” holiday cookie.

“If I had to choose one cookie for the holidays, that would be it,” she said.

Ruth’s son, Paul, compares his mother’s Lebkuchen to the fountain of youth, “When one aromatic and existential bite refreshes the memories and releases the timeless spirit of Christmas.”

Lebkuchen originally was baked in German monasteries in the 1200s and the city of Nürnberg has been famous for its Lebkuchen from the 1400s to today. Ruth’s baking doesn’t stop with the Lebkuchen.

“I bake during the holidays until I run out of time or my feet give out,” Ruth said. But, it's not easy to cut back because her children, grandchildren and friends always look forward to her cookie tins, full to the brim with Lebkuchen and other classic cookie varieties.  Ruth’s holiday baking typically includes such classics as: Dresden Stollen, chocolate hazelnut balls, Linzer bars, anise-flavored Springerle, cinnamon stars, and Viennese vanilla crescents.  In fact, her cookies are so beloved, her daughter Tina just started a blog, www.ruthschristmascookies.com, cataloging all of her mom's holiday recipes.

If Lebkuchen is the starting point for the holidays in the Steck household, then the magic of Christmas, with all its family memories, is sure to come soon … along with plenty more cookies. 

Lebkuchen 

Prep time: 30 minutes + Approximately 24 hours resting 

Baking time: 8 minutes

Makes: Six dozen cookies

Dough:

1 cup honey

¾ cup packed brown sugar

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 teaspoon lemon zest

1 egg, beated

2 ½ cups sifted flour

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon ground nutmeg

½ teaspoon ground cloves

1 teaspoon cinnamon

½ teaspoon ground or crushed cardamom seeds

1/3 cup chopped citron (candied)

1/3 cup ground blanched almonds

Icing:

1 ¼ to 1 ½ cups confectioners sugar

2 teaspoons or more lemon juice

2 tablespoons heavy cream 

Decoration: Use candied fruits or nuts to top the icing. Halved candied cherries are both festive and colorful. 

In a small bowl sift together the flour, baking soda, nutmeg, cloves and cinnamon, and set aside. 

In a small saucepan, heat honey on low heat so it's a thinner consistency. Cool slightly. Using a large mixing bowl, mix together by hand the honey, brown sugar, lemon juice, and the grated lemon rind. Add the egg, beating again it to combine. Gradually add the flour mixture, blending until combined. Add the cardamom, citron, and almonds and mix until combined. Cover the bowl and let stand at room temperature for 24 hours before baking.  This allows the ingredients to mellow.

Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees. Butter the cookie sheets or line with parchment paper.

Roll out the dough onto a floured work surface, ¼ to ½ inch thick. If the dough is too soft, stir in a small amount of flour, making it easier to work with. Cut the dough into bars or squares using a long, sharp knife, or cut the dough using round or heart shaped cookie cutters. Flour the cutting utensils. Re-mix the scraps into the bowl, so they are not wasted. Cookies will round out and puff up while baking.Bake the cookies 7 to 8 minutes, until very lightly colored.

While cookies are baking, prepare the icing: Mix confectioners sugar, lemon and cream with a fork or a small whisk in a bowl until smooth and free of sugar lumps.  Icing should be opaque when spread on the warm cookie. Add more sugar as needed.

Transfer the baked cookies immediately to cooling racks. Ice and decorate while they are still warm. Optional: Place sheets of wax paper under cooling racks to catch the icing drips, making clean up easier. Allow the cookies to cool and the icing to dry completely before storing in tins or other airtight containers. 

Ruth's Cooks Note: Crushed cardamom is recommended, but it is Ok to use ground too.  Found in the spice aisle of most grocery stores, the seeds can be crushed in a ziploc bag with a hammer or a meat pounder, or you can use a mortar and pestle. Citron, a candied fruit, is usually available during the winter holidays at major grocery stores. The ground almonds can be bought pre-ground, or you can buy slivered blanched almonds and grind them in a food processor with a little white sugar; do not over process to a paste. 

Lebkuchen keep, tightly stored at room temperature, for weeks and even months. The baked cookies taste best a few days after baking, allowing all the flavors to meld together.