For me, there is no other country where you can feel as Christmassy as in Germany. Germans are crazy about Christmas. They have very beautiful festivals, Christmas fairs, decorations and tons of specific foods and drinks.
Among these foods there are the German Lebkuchen – similar to gingerbread, but more “german”. My favorite Lebkuchen are from brands such as Bahlsen or Schulte. This year I’ve bought Schulte.
I usually don’t find these in shops all year round. They are specific to Christmas and each year I can’t wait for them to appear on the shelves of stores in Germany. This year I’ve bought three different types of german gingerbread:
1. Gingerbread with chocolate and nuts (Lebkuchen Nuss-Tortchen)
This sortiment consists in cute little mountain-shaped gingerbread, with dark chocolate on the back and white sugary thin coat on top. With this coat, they really look like mountains full of snow.
Inside the dough of the gingerbread you can see tiny pieces of nuts. This type of Lebkuchen is the softest of them all, a little bit moist, and has the most interesting taste. Unfortunately I, personally, don’t like the white topcoat. I would have preferred it to be made from chocolate. But anyhow, I still love them!
2. Gingerbread with chocolate in different shapes
This ones are my favorites. It comes in 3 different shapes: a Christmas tree, a heart and a falling star. So cute…
Even though the gingerbread itself (the filling) is better with nuts, this one has the perfect taste. The dark chocolate with the spicy gingerbread create a very unique feeling.
3. Gingerbread with chocolate and persipan (Prinzess Lebkuchen)
This is another interesting gingerbread with a very cute naming: Prinzess Lebkuchen which means princess gingerbread. All shapes are similar: round gingerbread with chocolate on bottom and persipan on top.
For those who don’t know, persipan is similar to marzipan but consists of a mixture of apricot or peach kernels, which are used instead of almonds. Although these gingerbread cookies are very tasty as well and the persipan should be a delicacy, I, personally, yet again, don’t like the top coat. I would have liked it better if there was no topcoat, just the gingerbread and the chocolate bottom. But this is just my taste…
I will continue to eat these german gingerbread cookies through all December and January because I love them and I feel “festive” eating them. One day I also drank some ginger beer with these gingerbread cookies and it was fun. 🙂
Have a Merry Christmas and beautiful Winter Holidays!