HAPPY ADVENT ONE AND ALL!! The manic run-up to Christmas is OFFICIALLY upon us! Despite the fact that the first signs of Christmas had wangled their way into shops by mid-September, NOW is the time to truly be embracing the festive season! I LOVE Christmas, I love it in an all-consuming, slightly obsessive, everything-in-December-must-be-about-Christmas kind of way. From December 1st onwards, I will shamelessly wear flashing, singing Christmas socks…over leggings. I will proudly whip out my Bridget Jones-esque Rudolph knitted jumper, and even, in moments of utter Yuletide madness and merriment (and usually several glasses of wine), my pair of furry reindeer antlers. At this time of year, the tone-deaf are fleetingly granted a voice as all of us joyfully sing carols together, too full of festive vigour and enthusiasm to care about the faux-warbling screech coming out of our mouths. It suddenly becomes wholly acceptable to wolf down five brandy-butter doused mince pies in five very greedy mouthfuls, crumbs spilling out at all crevices, with a handy glass of mulled wine to wash it all down – never at any other point in the year could you justify this behavior. Christmas is such a time of excess and extravagance for a reason – it only happens once every twelve months. Only once a year do we get to disregard all sense of normal behavior and turn into singing, dancing, mincemeat loving fools, and do things we wouldn’t normally do. THIS is why I love it. Anything goes at Christmas.
I have kicked off the feasting season with these uber-Christmassy spiced German biscuits – lebkuchen. I vividly remember eating supermarket versions of them when I was younger - perfect gingerbread mouthfuls coated in a glistening sheen of white icing. These home-made ones are slightly more interesting. Their mixture of ground walnuts, candied peel and the Christmassiest of Christmassy spices form a more sophisticated and complex biscuit. They are brushed with a light lemony icing when still warm from the oven which alluringly dribbles down the side, just asking for a nifty finger to swoop in and ‘clean’ it up. These will get your December off to a flying start. Let the Yuletide frolicking begin!
Lebkuchen
Lebkuchen
By Lucas Hollweg
Makes 40-50
Ingredients
- 100g walnut pieces
- 75g mixed candied peel
- 225g butter, softened
- 75g soft dark brown sugar
- 5 tbsp runny honey
- 2 medium eggs
- 2 tsp natural vanilla extract
- 175g plain flour
- 175g ground almonds
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- ½ tsp ground cloves
- ½ tsp finely ground fresh black pepper
- ½ tsp ground ginger
- Finely grated zest and juice of 1 lemon
For the icing
- 200g icing sugar
- 4 tbsp lemon juice
Put the walnuts and mixed peel in a food processor and whizz to a coarse grit. Remove and put in a small bowl. Put the butter in the food processor with the sugar and honey, and beat to a smooth cream. Whizz in the eggs and vanilla until they are well incorporated, then add the flour, ground almonds, walnuts, peel, spices and lemon and quickly pulse to a dough. The dough will look very soft but don’t worry! Put in the fridge and chill overnight.
Line two baking sheets with nonstick baking parchment. Heat the oven to 160°C/Gas Mark 3. Divide the dough into 40-50 balls, each about 3cm in diameter — flour your hands to roll them if necessary. Arrange on the baking sheets, leaving 5cm between them. Flatten the tops slightly with your hand.
Place in the oven and cook for about 15 minutes. They should be just turning pale gold. Remove and leave to cool slightly. They will be quite crumbly at first, but will become more robust as they cool.
While they are still a little warm, mix the icing sugar and lemon juice and use a pastry brush or palette knife to spread it carefully over the top and sides. Repeat with a second layer, then leave to dry. Leave for a couple of days before eating. The flavours will improve.
