I have recently returned from Switzerland and whilst there (in the airport!) I bought something called ‘Leckerli’ which is like a fruity, honey almond infused gingerbread with a sweet icing. It doesn’t look the most exciting thing but this dense, yet lightly chewy treat is incredible and very, very addictive! I hope you want to try it out, it’s very easy to make!
How to make Leckerli (a Swiss style honey gingerbread)
First up in a saucepan warm the honey and sugar over a medium low heat, stir briefly at first to combine, then warm it gently until it starts to foam gently. Remove from the heat.
In a large mixing bowl add the candied peel, ground almonds plus the sliced almonds. Pour the warmed honey sugar mixture carefully on top of them. Now add in the flour, baking powder, mixed spice and cinnamon, stir together well with a spatula, it’ll still probably be warm so don’t put your hands in just yet, just keep stirring until it starts to thicken.
It’ll get to a point where stirring it may not absorb all the flour, it’ll be tough, so once cool enough to touch, with clean hands work and knead the mixture together in the bowl until all the flour is dissolved and a light brown consistent thick dough is achieved.
Take 2 pieces of baking parchment place one down on the counter, put the dough on top, then put another piece on top and roll out to approx. 1.5 inch thick. Lift onto a baking tray and remove the top layer of parchment. It won’t expand / rise too much during baking so the height you’ve rolled out too is pretty much the final thickness. The shape doesn’t matter either, you’ll slice it up in a moment anyway.
Bake in a pre-heated oven at 150fan/170c/340f or equivalent for 25 minutes, or until just starting to go lightly golden brown. Allow to cool on a wire rack.
As it cools make the icing by mixing the icing sugar and water together until dissolved and brushing this on top of the leckerli, this will set as it cools and form a nice frosting. Once fully cooled and the icing has set, slice into cubes or rectangle strips and serve or store in an air tight container – good luck!