Lebkuchen

I went to the first night of the Christmas market at Oxford Castle last night but didn't manage to have an lebkuchen to go with my mulled wine, so took it upon myself to make some this evening!

I used the BBC Good Food recipe (its the first time I've made lebkuchen before) and I'm quite pleased with them!  The taste is gingery but the honey and cinnamon make them taste very 'German' according to my mother - might have to test them on my German friend too to see what she thinks! 

Lebkuchen (makes 30)

250g plain flour

85g ground almonds

2tsp ground ginger

1tsp ground cinnamon

1tsp baking powder

1/2tsp bicarbonate of soda

pinch each of ground cloves, grated nutmeg and black pepper

200ml clear honey

85g butter

zest from 1 lemon

Icing

100g icing sugar

1 egg white, beaten

1) Preheat the oven to 180C/fan 160C and line baking trays with baking parchment.

2) Combine the dry ingredients in a large bowl.

3) Heat the honey and butter together over low heat until the butter melts then pour over the dry mixture and add the lemon zest - mix well until the dough is combined and fairly solid.

4) Using your hands roll the dough into 30 balls and flatten them into disks, placing them on the baking trays. Bake for 15 minutes.

5) For the icing  mix the icing sugar and egg white with 1-2tbsp water to form a smooth icing to spread on cooled biscuits.