Berner Honiglebkuchen
Encyclopedia
Berner Honiglebkuchen are Lebkuchen
traditionally made in Berne
, Switzerland. Distinguished from other Lebkuchen by their sometimes elaborate sugar decorations
, they are not to be confused with the Berner Haselnusslebkuchen
, another Bernese specialty which is made from ground hazelnut
s.
, milk, margarine
, flour and potassium carbonate
(as leavening agent
), as well as a mixture of spice
s. The spice mixture is specific to each bakery – which is why it is said that no two Honiglebkuchen taste the same – but coriander
, anise
, star anise
, cloves, ginger
and nutmeg
are commonly used.
After a leavening period of four days, the dough is softened by rolling it, rolled out to a thickness of 6 millimetre (0.236220472440945 in), and cut into the desired shape. Most Honiglebkuchen are rectangular, but round or heart-shaped forms are also used. The Lebkuchen are baked as dryly as possible at around 220 °C (428 °F) for about 14 to 20 minutes. Immediately afterwards, they are given a shiny coat with a solution of potato starch
in water, called Feculé.
The sugar decorations are traditionally applied manually by specialised confectioners using a triangular bag. The most popular motif is the bear
, Berne's heraldic animal, which is shown in various scenes and poses, such as in the Bärengraben
. Cheaper Lebkuchen, such as the one pictured above, feature standardised decorations applied by template.
is already very similar to the contemporary recipe, except that fewer spices were used. In Berne, the Lebkuchen is first recorded in early 19th century cookbooks. The sugar decorations are believed to have come into general use some time after sugar manufactured from mangelwurzel
became widely affordable in the early 19th century, but around the turn of the 20th century at the latest. A baker's manual of 1946 records that "the embellishments ... are made according to a decades-old tradition" and that "the application of bears, edelweiss
, doves and so forth ... is and has always been a specialty and a point of pride of the Bernese confectioner."
Together with their hazelnut counterpart
, Honiglebkuchen are the signature product of Bernese bakers and are particularly popular in the December holiday season, as well as with tourists throughout the year. Recently, Honiglebkuchen whose decoration can be customised through Internet services have also become popular.
, in which the cake can also be dunked to improve its flavour. If eaten in this manner, even Lebkuchen hardened by months of exposure to air remain appetizing.
Lebkuchen
Lebkuchen is a traditional German baked Christmas treat, somewhat resembling gingerbread.Lebkuchen were invented by Medieval monks in Franconia, Germany in the 13th century. Lebkuchen bakers were recorded as early as 1296 in Ulm, and 1395 in Nürnberg...
traditionally made in Berne
Berne
The city of Bern or Berne is the Bundesstadt of Switzerland, and, with a population of , the fourth most populous city in Switzerland. The Bern agglomeration, which includes 43 municipalities, has a population of 349,000. The metropolitan area had a population of 660,000 in 2000...
, Switzerland. Distinguished from other Lebkuchen by their sometimes elaborate sugar decorations
Icing (food)
Icing, also called frosting in the United States, is a sweet often creamy glaze made of sugar with a liquid such as water or milk, that is often enriched with ingredients such as butter, egg whites, cream cheese, or flavorings and is used to cover or decorate baked goods, such as cakes or cookies...
, they are not to be confused with the Berner Haselnusslebkuchen
Berner Haselnusslebkuchen
Berner Haselnusslebkuchen are Lebkuchen – traditional Christmas cakes – from Berne, Switzerland. Made from ground hazelnuts, they are not to be confused with the Berner Honiglebkuchen, another Bernese specialty.-Composition and production:...
, another Bernese specialty which is made from ground hazelnut
Hazelnut
A hazelnut is the nut of the hazel and is also known as a cob nut or filbert nut according to species. A cob is roughly spherical to oval, about 15–25 mm long and 10–15 mm in diameter, with an outer fibrous husk surrounding a smooth shell. A filbert is more elongated, being about twice...
s.
Composition and production
Honiglebkuchen dough is made of honeyHoney
Honey is a sweet food made by bees using nectar from flowers. The variety produced by honey bees is the one most commonly referred to and is the type of honey collected by beekeepers and consumed by humans...
, milk, margarine
Margarine
Margarine , as a generic term, can indicate any of a wide range of butter substitutes, typically composed of vegetable oils. In many parts of the world, the market share of margarine and spreads has overtaken that of butter...
, flour and potassium carbonate
Potassium carbonate
Potassium carbonate is a white salt, soluble in water , which forms a strongly alkaline solution. It can be made as the product of potassium hydroxide's absorbent reaction with carbon dioxide. It is deliquescent, often appearing a damp or wet solid...
(as leavening agent
Leavening agent
A leavening agent is any one of a number of substances used in doughs and batters that cause a foaming action which lightens and softens the finished product...
), as well as a mixture of spice
Spice
A spice is a dried seed, fruit, root, bark, or vegetative substance used in nutritionally insignificant quantities as a food additive for flavor, color, or as a preservative that kills harmful bacteria or prevents their growth. It may be used to flavour a dish or to hide other flavours...
s. The spice mixture is specific to each bakery – which is why it is said that no two Honiglebkuchen taste the same – but coriander
Coriander
Coriander is an annual herb in the family Apiaceae. Coriander is native to southern Europe and North Africa to southwestern Asia. It is a soft, hairless plant growing to tall. The leaves are variable in shape, broadly lobed at the base of the plant, and slender and feathery higher on the...
, anise
Anise
Anise , Pimpinella anisum, also called aniseed, is a flowering plant in the family Apiaceae native to the eastern Mediterranean region and Southwest Asia. Its flavor resembles that of liquorice, fennel, and tarragon.- Biology :...
, star anise
Star anise
Illicium verum, commonly called Star anise, star aniseed, or Chinese star anise, is a spice that closely resembles anise in flavor, obtained from the star-shaped pericarp of Illicium verum, a small native evergreen tree of northeast Vietnam and southwest China...
, cloves, ginger
Ginger
Ginger is the rhizome of the plant Zingiber officinale, consumed as a delicacy, medicine, or spice. It lends its name to its genus and family . Other notable members of this plant family are turmeric, cardamom, and galangal....
and nutmeg
Nutmeg
The nutmeg tree is any of several species of trees in genus Myristica. The most important commercial species is Myristica fragrans, an evergreen tree indigenous to the Banda Islands in the Moluccas of Indonesia...
are commonly used.
After a leavening period of four days, the dough is softened by rolling it, rolled out to a thickness of 6 millimetre (0.236220472440945 in), and cut into the desired shape. Most Honiglebkuchen are rectangular, but round or heart-shaped forms are also used. The Lebkuchen are baked as dryly as possible at around 220 °C (428 °F) for about 14 to 20 minutes. Immediately afterwards, they are given a shiny coat with a solution of potato starch
Potato starch
Potato starch is starch extracted from potatoes. The cells of the root tubers of the potato plant contain starch grains . To extract the starch, the potatoes are crushed; the starch grains are released from the destroyed cells...
in water, called Feculé.
The sugar decorations are traditionally applied manually by specialised confectioners using a triangular bag. The most popular motif is the bear
Bear
Bears are mammals of the family Ursidae. Bears are classified as caniforms, or doglike carnivorans, with the pinnipeds being their closest living relatives. Although there are only eight living species of bear, they are widespread, appearing in a wide variety of habitats throughout the Northern...
, Berne's heraldic animal, which is shown in various scenes and poses, such as in the Bärengraben
Bärengraben
The Bärengraben, or Bear Pit, is a well-known tourist attraction, an enclosure housing bears at the eastern edge of the Old City of Bern, next to the Nydeggbrücke and the Aare River. The bear is a symbol of Bern, both the city and canton, and is featured in Bern's coat of arms.The first records of...
. Cheaper Lebkuchen, such as the one pictured above, feature standardised decorations applied by template.
History
Lebkuchen with honey and exotic spices were already made in medieval Swiss monasteries. A 16th century recipe from LucerneLucerne
Lucerne is a city in north-central Switzerland, in the German-speaking portion of that country. Lucerne is the capital of the Canton of Lucerne and the capital of the district of the same name. With a population of about 76,200 people, Lucerne is the most populous city in Central Switzerland, and...
is already very similar to the contemporary recipe, except that fewer spices were used. In Berne, the Lebkuchen is first recorded in early 19th century cookbooks. The sugar decorations are believed to have come into general use some time after sugar manufactured from mangelwurzel
Mangelwurzel
Mangelwurzel or mangold wurzel , also called mangold, mangel beet, field beet and fodder beet, is a cultivated root vegetable derived from Beta vulgaris...
became widely affordable in the early 19th century, but around the turn of the 20th century at the latest. A baker's manual of 1946 records that "the embellishments ... are made according to a decades-old tradition" and that "the application of bears, edelweiss
Edelweiss
Edelweiss , Leontopodium alpinum, is a well-known European mountain flower, belonging to the sunflower family.-Names:The common name comes from German edel, meaning "noble", and weiß "white", thus signifying "noble whiteness".The scientific name Leontopodium is a Latin adaptation of Greek...
, doves and so forth ... is and has always been a specialty and a point of pride of the Bernese confectioner."
Together with their hazelnut counterpart
Berner Haselnusslebkuchen
Berner Haselnusslebkuchen are Lebkuchen – traditional Christmas cakes – from Berne, Switzerland. Made from ground hazelnuts, they are not to be confused with the Berner Honiglebkuchen, another Bernese specialty.-Composition and production:...
, Honiglebkuchen are the signature product of Bernese bakers and are particularly popular in the December holiday season, as well as with tourists throughout the year. Recently, Honiglebkuchen whose decoration can be customised through Internet services have also become popular.
Consumption
Bakers recommend taking the Lebkuchen together with café au laitCafé au lait
Café au lait is a French coffee drink. The meaning of the term differs between Europe and the United States; in both cases it means some kind of coffee with hot milk added, in contrast to white coffee, which is coffee with room temperature milk or other whitener added.- Europe :In Europe, "café au...
, in which the cake can also be dunked to improve its flavour. If eaten in this manner, even Lebkuchen hardened by months of exposure to air remain appetizing.
Further reading
- Spycher, Albert, Ostschweizer Lebkuchenbuch. St. Galler und Appenzeller Biber, Biberfladen und Verwandte, Appenzeller Verlag, Herisau, 2000.
- Krauss, Irene, Chronik bildschöner Backwerke, Hugo Matthaes Druckerei und Verlag GmbH & Co. KG, Stuttgart, 1999.
- Hansen, Hans Jürgen, Kunstgeschichte des Backwerks, Gerhard Stalling Verlag, Oldenburg, 1968.
- Währen, Max, Hans Luginbühl, Bruno Heilinger et al., Lebkuchen einst und jetzt, Luzern, 1964.