For centuries, honey cakes and lebkuchen have been symbolic of the Christmas season in Europe. The scent of spices fills the house when goodies are baking.

Particularly in Germany, honey cake, or lebkuchen, the forerunner of gingerbread, was favored during the holidays. These sweets have antecedents from pagan times when honey as a sweetener was believed to be a sacred food.

The German tribes baked honey cakes to celebrate the winter solstice. These supposedly gave energy for the winter to those who ate them.

Later when Christianity spread throughout Europe in the Middle Ages, some of the ancient customs became part of the religious Christmas traditions. Soon the monks in medieval monasteries began adding exotic Far Eastern spices to the honey cakes and perhaps came up with the first gingerbread.

Lebkuchen Became an Art

As towns grew throughout Europe, bakers' guilds evolved, and turning out prize lebkuchen became an art. In the city of Nuremburg, some of the best lebkuchen was produced for centuries.

Elaborate molds were made for shaping the ginger flavored cakes. These molds were made from tin, terra cotta, or carved from fruitwood. A great many intricate figures (religious subjects, animals, people, birds, soldiers) resulted as honey cake was made at Christmas.

Gradually the figures became simpler and details were added with frosting instead of elaborate molds. Eventually cookie cutters replaced the molds as these cakes were made in the home instead of predominately by bakers.

The main ingredients of Lebkuchen are:

Honey, flour, sugar, eggs, hazelnuts, walnuts, almonds, candied orange and lemon peel, marzipan, spices (cinnamon, ginger, aniseed, cloves, pimento, coriander, cardamom).

.. for recipes of Lebkuchen Valentine Hearts....

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