Lebkuchen Spice Mix (Lebkuchengewurz)
Every autumn, German grocery stores start stocking specialty items just for the Christmas baking season. Little cardboard display cases are set out that are fully stocked with bars of baking chocolate, packets of potash and baker’s ammonia, candied citron and orange peel, vials of flavor extracts, and spices like anise and cardamom, as well as spice mixtures for Stollen and Lebkuchen. When January rolls around, the picked-over stands are packed up and put away again. It’s one of those cultural rituals I am very fond of.
I like to make a batch of this in early fall so that I’m ready for the baking season. The mixture below is a great all-purpose one. But you can also tinker with the amounts if you want to highlight one flavor or another. Use it in Christmas Glazed Apple Cake, cinnamon rolls, or substitute it wherever you’d use Pumpkin Spice mix.
- Preparing Time: -
- Total Time: -
- Served Person: Makes about 1/2 cup/50g spice mix
Spice
German
Christmas
Cinnamon
Clove
Cardamom
Ginger
Anise
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
- 1 teaspoon ground allspice
- 5 tablespoons/30g ground cinnamon
- 1 1/2 tablespoons ground cloves
- 1 teaspoon ground mace
- 3/4 teaspoon ground aniseed
- Carbohydrate 18 g(6%)
- Fat 1 g(2%)
- Fiber 11 g(42%)
- Protein 1 g(3%)
- Saturated Fat 0 g(2%)
- Sodium 17 mg(1%)
- Calories 66
Preparation Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and mix well to combine. Store in a glass jar with a tight-fitting lid. Kept in a dark, cool place, the mix will stay fresh for 1 year. Cooks' NoteIf mace is unavailable, substitute an equal amount of ground nutmeg. From Classic German Baking: The Very Best Recipes for Traditional Favorites, from Pfeffernüsse to Streuselkuchen © 2016 by Luisa Weiss. Reprinted with permission from Ten Speed Press, an imprint of Penguin Random House. Buy the full book from Amazon.
