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Dessert

Lebkuchen

Lebkuchen is a German gingerbread cake made with eggs, sugar, molasses, spices, nuts, and chocolate.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 15 ingredients
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Why it works: Cinnamon and nutmeg match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 11,917 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓

Lebkuchen

Oven, in the book's wordsA very moderate oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a very moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Make the dough

  1. Separate the eggs, reserving the whites of 3 for frosting.

  2. Beat the 7 yolks and 4 whites until very light, then add the brown sugar and beat again.

  3. Mix in the molasses, cinnamon, salt, allspice, nutmeg, grated chocolate, grated almonds, chopped citron, chopped orange peel, flour, and baking powder.

  4. Spread the dough 1½ inches thick in well‑greased long pans using floured hands.

Bake and finish

  1. Bake in a moderate oven at 350°F (175°C).

  2. Before removing from pans, cut into squares.

  3. For icing, mix 1 cup powdered sugar with 2 tablespoons boiling water and a little lemon juice, then beat until smooth.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Cinnamon + nutmegtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together11,917 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  2. Cinnamon + allspicetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,536 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  3. Allspice + nutmegtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,331 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  4. Cinnamon + almondtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,514 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  5. Cinnamon + orangetop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,437 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Eggs
Yolks and whites give the dough lift and structure as they are beaten in.
Molasses
Adds moisture, dark color, and a deep sweetness to the dough.
Brown sugar
Adds sweetness and moisture, and helps the dough brown as it bakes.
Flour
Provides the structure that holds the dough together after baking.
Baking powder
Releases gas in the batter so the dough rises and stays light.
Almonds
Add richness, fat, and a toasty, nutty flavor to the dough.

The step that matters

Beating the eggs until very light. Beating air into the yolks and whites creates foam that lightens the dough. Under-beating leaves it dense, so the lift from the baking powder has less air to expand.

Swap the orange

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, sugar, molasses, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, almond):

  1. Raisinfits better
  2. Vanillafits about as well
  3. Figfits about as well
  4. Orangethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against egg, sugar, molasses, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, almond. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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