[Leica] Baking for Christmas

[styx at me.com (Ruediger Merz)]

Today I was preparing for Christmas. I was baking Pl?tzchen (Cookies). 
Lebkuchen and Makronen (Macaroon). Actually I baked now for the last 2 
weeks, to perfect it.;) Most of the time there is something missing. 
Weihnachtspl?tzchen (Christmas cookies) contain rather strange spices. Like 
Allspice and Cardamom and Dianthus. Today I got the approval from my wife 
that the cookies are ok. She is the cook in the house, and the boss of 
course. And  I am the baker. I thought someone likes to know the recipe. I 
translated it from German to English. It should not be difficult to convert 
the measurements for your country.


Lebkuchen recipe :
====================

200g Sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
a little bit more than a pinch of Allspice, Cardamom and Dianthus.
200g ground almond
50g Succade (chopped from oranges)
75g Succade (chopped from lemons)
Ground skin from half a lemon
250g flour
4 eggs
1 teaspoon backing powder
approx. 20 Round wafer. ca. 9 cm in diameter.* 


Take a bowl and add the eggs and the sugar. Beat the eggs and the sugar 
until it is foamy. Then add the ground almonds, spices, succade and the 
flour, which you have mixed before with the backing powder, in to the bowl. 
Now you steer until you have a dough. This dough is very gooey. Now you 
apply the dough finger thick on to the wafer. Back in the oven at 175-200 
degree centigrade for approx. 15-20 minutes. 
 

Makronen (Macaroon) recipe :
=================

3 egg white
150g sugar
150g ground almonds or hazelnut or coconut.
25g flour.
approx. 20-30 Round wafer. ca. 5 cm in diameter.*
Whole almonds for decoration.

In a bowl beat the egg white until it is stiff. So that nothing falls out, 
when you turn the bowl upside down. Now add the ground nuts and the flour 
into the bowl and steer until everything is nice and smooth. Apply one 
teaspoon to one wafer. If you like you can add one almond per cookie. Bake 
in the oven for 15-20 minutes, or until golden brown, at 150-16 degree 
centigrade. 


* The wafer look like the 'host' in the Roman Catholic liturgy. Just without 
the imprint.

I guess you could do without the wafer. When I am in Texas I could not find 
the right one. But the wafer helps to contain the moisture.




Here is an image of the finished Lebkuchen :

http://www.flickr.com/photos/avianart/4208235405/

and here of the Makronen :

Before 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/avianart/4208235471/

After

http://www.flickr.com/photos/avianart/4208235569/

Finished

http://www.flickr.com/photos/avianart/4209000468/



Have fun and Merry Christmas.

Best,
Rudy
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Website: http://www.avianart.com
PGP Public Key : http://www.avianart.com/pub/GPGP-PublicKey.asc