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Leckerlis from Basle

Preparation

1. -Beat the eggs and sugar together.
   

1. -Gradually add all the other ingredients except for the flour, gently stirring all the time.
   

1. -Add in the flour.
   

1. -Make sure everything is well combined - use your hands if necessary and add a little water to help combine if needed.
   

1. -Wrap in foil and let it rest overnight in the fridge.
   

The next day...

1. -The next day, roll out the dough to a large rectangle on baking paper.
   

2. Roll out to a thickness of 0.5cm.
   

3. Then transfer to a baking tray.
   

1. -Cook in a hot oven at 180℃ for about 15-20 minutes.
   

2. 
   

3. -When you take it out the oven, let it cool a little and when luke warm prepare the icing: mix a little water with icing sugar to form a smooth paste and using a brush spread it over the top.
   

4. 
   

5. -Then cut the gingerbread into diamonds on the angle about 4cm wide.

Leckerlis are swiss little gingerbreads which come from Basel on the border of France and are often cooked in South Alsace ... one is never enough!

Suggestions

Be careful when cooking because if they are overcooked they will be too hard. Stay near the oven and check them regularly. When cooked they should be firm but give when pressed - as if cooking a dense cake.

When cooking use a sheet of baking paper, this will avoid having to grease the baking sheet and the mixture won’t stick.

To keep the leckerlis for a length of time and to stop them going hard, store them in a metal cake tin making sure the lid is tightly sealed. They will then keep well up to about 4 weeks ... this means you can bake them in advance of Christmas!

This is probably one of the best known Alsatian traditions. The Bredalas (the spelling changes depending on local Alsatian dialects) are small cakes cooked before Christmas, during the Advent period.

They can have a multitude of different shapes and tastes, and are often offered as a gift to friends and family, beautifully packaged.

The Bredala takes different name depending on the ingredients used and its shapes:

Butterbredele (iced with lemon),

Anisbredle (round biscuits perfumed with aniseed),

Shwowebredele (with almonds and brushed with egg yolk),

Spritzbredele (small shortbreads with lemon zest),

Lebkuchen (little spiced cake fingers with satin frosting),

Leckerli (diamond shaped, from Basel, Switzerland), and

Springerle (aniseed bread).

To know more about Christmas Bredalas from Alsace...

Ingredients

1. •600g plain flour sieved
   

2. •500g caster sugar
   

3. •150g candied citrus fruit cut in small cubes
   

4. (mix of cedro / orange etc.)
   

5. •150g ground almonds
   

6. •4 eggs
   

7. •1 teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda
   

8. •2 dessert spoons of honey
   

9. •1 dessert spoon of ground cinnamon
   

10. •1 dessert spoon of ground cloves
    

11. •icing sugar and water for the topping

About leckerlis and Christmas cookies from Alsace...

Basler Leckerli recipe... Leckerlis Kochrezepte... Basler Läckerli Kochrezepte...

Leckerlis de Bâle