back search

hantsweb

Hampshire Now

Hampshire food: Hampshire honey lebkuchen

There are many local producers of honey in Hampshire and bee-keeping is becoming a popular hobby for many individuals. You can find local honey at your farmers market or search for a product at Hampshire Fare. These biscuits can be made and iced in advance to use as Christmas decorations for the tree. Hearts, stars, circles - there are now so many shapes to choose from.

Oven temperature:

200°C or Gas No. 6

Makes approx: 15 biscuits

Ingredients

4 tblsp (60ml) Locally sourced Hampshire clear honey
2 ozs (60g) Margarine or butter8 ozs (250g) Plain flour
1 tsp Baking powder
2 ozs (60g) Brown sugar
1 oz (30g) Cocoa
2 tsps Ground ginger
1 tsp Mixed spice
1 Egg yolk
3 ozs (90g) Icing sugar
1 tblsp(15ml) Lemon juice

Method

Pre-heat oven.
Put honey, sugar and butter in a pan over a low heat, until the butter melts.
Take the pan off the heat and leave to cool.
Sieve the flour, baking powder, cocoa, ginger and spice into a bowl.
Add the egg yolk.
Use a metal spoon to mix the warm honey, butter and sugar into the mixture.
Squeeze the mixture together by hand into a ball. If the mixture is a little dry, add a few drops of water to make sure it all sticks together.
Roll the mixture out on a floured board until it is ½cm (1/4”) thick.
Cut out using different shaped pastry cutters.
Make a hole in the top using a straw (this will ensure the hole does not fill up again during cooking).
Lift onto a greased baking tray and bake for 10 minutes.
Let the biscuits cool on a wire rack.
Sieve the icing sugar into a bowl and add lemon juice to make a thick icing.
Decorate and, when the icing is dry, thread a ribbon through the hole.
Store in an airtight container, ready to hang on the tree, or eat straight away!

Listen to the audio version

Also in Hampshire Now

Honey lebkuchen