Pulsnitzer Pfefferkuchen (Saxon gingerbread)

Name: Pulsnitzer Pfefferkuchen (Saxon gingerbread)
Prep time: 50 min
Cook time: 36 min
Total time: 86 min
Yield: 50 servings
Ingredients: 300 g honey; 100 g sugar; 50 g butter or margarine; 250 g rye flour (type 1150); 250 g plain flour (type 405); 1 piece egg (medium); 2 tsp cinnamon; 0.5 tsp ground cloves; 0.5 tsp ground aniseed; 0.5 tsp ground fennel; 0.5 tsp ground coriander; 0.25 tsp ground cardamom; 0.25 tsp ground ginger; 1 pinch ground nutmeg; 1 tsp grated unwaxed lemon zest; 1 tsp potash (potassium carbonate, dissolved in 1 tbsp water); 1 tsp baker's ammonia (hartshorn, dissolved in 1 tbsp milk); 150 g icing sugar; 3 tbsp water for the glaze

A traditional German bake from Saxony: the gingerbread town of Pulsnitz has been baking since 1558, and Pfefferkuchen is the local name for Lebkuchen. The pepper stands for the strong spice mixture of cinnamon, clove, aniseed and fennel that shapes the dark dough. Freshly glazed, the hearts are delicate outside and soft inside.

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Cook time

86 min

🍽️

Servings

🧂

Ingredients

View Original ↗

Nutrition

per serving

80 kcal

Calories

1 g

Protein

1 g

Fat

17 g

Carbs

Ingredients

For 50 servings

Instructions

1
Warm the honey, the sugar and the butter or margarine in a pan over gentle heat until everything has come together, then leave it to cool a little.
2
Put the rye flour and the plain flour in a bowl, pour in the warm honey mixture and knead it into a firm basic dough. Cover the dough, put it in a cool place and leave it to rest at least overnight, better for two days.
3
Knead the egg, the cinnamon, cloves, aniseed, fennel, coriander, cardamom, ginger, nutmeg and the lemon zest into the dough. Finally work in the dissolved potash and the dissolved baker's ammonia thoroughly.
4
Preheat the oven to 180 °C conventional and line two baking trays with baking paper. Roll the dough out on a floured work surface to about 8 mm thick and cut out hearts or rectangles.
5
Lay the Pfefferkuchen on the trays with space between them and bake them on the middle shelf until they dome slightly and have a matt sheen.
6
Stir the icing sugar smooth with the water for the glaze, brush it over the still-warm Pfefferkuchen and leave them to dry.