Spiced Chocolate Lebkuchen Recipe

As the countdown to Christmas begins we've asked the team to each share one of their favourite festive recipes. Whether it's nostalgia, festivity or sugar content that makes these recipes popular, they are sure to go down well with family and friends over the Christmas period.

This week Sarah shares her Lebkuchen recipe:

This is a really easy recipe that I picked up whilst I was living in Germany. Christmas is a great time of year in Germany and these soft spiced gingerbreads remind me of Christmas markets and warm Glühwein!

Makes 30

Ingredients

250g plain flour

85g ground almonds

2 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1tsp baking powder

Ground cloves, grated nutmeg and black pepper (pinch of each)

85g butter

100ml clear honey

100ml maple syrup

1 lemon, finely grated zest

For the icing

100g icing sugar

1 egg white, beaten

75g of dark chocolate

1. Combine all of the dry ingredients into a large bowl and mix. Heat the honey, maple syrup and butter in a pan over a low heat until the butter melts, then pour into the flour mixture along with the lemon zest. Mix well until the dough is combined and becomes hard to stir. Cover and leave to cool (relax and make a cuppa!).

2. Heat the oven to 180C/fan160C/gas 4. Using your hands, roll the dough into balls, each around 3cm wide, then flatten each one slightly into a disk, you should be able to make around 30. Line two baking trays with parchment paper and divide the biscuits between the two. Make sure to leave enough room for them to expand as they bake. Bake for 15 mins until they begin to turn golden, then leave to cool on a wire rack.

3. Ice the biscuits by mixing together the icing sugar, egg white and 1 tbsp water to form a smooth, runny icing. Dip the top of each biscuit in the icing and leave to rest on a plate. You can build up the layers of icing if you want a thicker glaze. Once the icing has dried melt the chocolate over a bain-marie and dip the bottom of each lebkuchen into the chocolate. Leave to dry...enjoy!

Product round up - November

Over the past few weeks we have been hard at work developing new products and designs perfect for Christmas and new year gifting. Here are a selection of our favourite new products:

The Wanderlust Range:

Travel has been a strong theme during our last month and our wanderlust range combines fun and inspiring quotes with your own personalised messages, making them perfect gifts for a loved one or friend with big travel plans for 2016!

From top left: Personalised Wanderlust Wooden Luggage Tag, £20 // Personalised Wooden Ticket Cufflinks, £55 // Personalised Compact Compass, £15 // Personalised Wooden Adventure Begins Luggage Tag, £20 

From top left: Personalised Wooden Coordinate Cufflinks, £55 // Personalised Time To Explore Compass keepsake, coming soon // Engraving on back of compass // Personalised working compass cufflinks, £40

Make it a Christmas they'll remember:Our range of personalised Christmas decorations and festive gifts will ensure that it's not just a day but a season to remember. Our favourite design has to be the Our Year Bauble, a glass bauble which opens to reveal a beautiful cherry wood insert personalised with up to 5 memories or milestones from the past year!
From top left: Personalised Glass Proposal Bauble, £20 // Your Own Dog Bauble In Walnut Wood, £12 // Personalised Christmas Jumper Cufflinks, £55 // Personalised Glass Our Year Bauble, £20

From top left: Personalised Wine Glass Charms, £30 for set of 10 // Personalised Our Year Star Garland from £22 // Laser Cut Calligraphy Place Names, £35 for set of 10

Visit www.mariaallenboutique.com for more Christmas home and gift ideas!

Meet our stockists: Eleven

This month we talk to our Channel Island stockist Anna about her shop Eleven in the beautiful St Peter Port, Guernsey.

How long has Eleven been open and how did the business begin?
Eleven opened its doors in May 2013. We had three months to refurbish the retail space. We discovered that the building was actually built by an ancestor of my husbands in the late eighteen hundreds. It still features the original fireplace and safe.

You are based in the beautiful St Peter Port in Guernsey, tell us a little about island life!
We are a little town, charming, compact, with a beautiful harbour front, attractive restaurants, boutiques and shops that attract visitors from all over the world. We will have had over 100 cruise liners visit our shores.

Like us, the environment and sustainability are very important to your business, why is this?
I feel that as a society we have to look seriously at the precious few resources from which we produce our items and that we do our utmost to recycle, upcycle or find sustainable sources.

We make a lot of bespoke cufflink designs for you, do you have a favourite?
All the bespoke cufflinks are wonderful as they normally come from clients who have said “do you have?” and the idea blossoms from there.

Why do you think this bespoke service works so well for you and your customers?
The bespoke service provides my clients with something that is personal to them or to the person they are giving the gift to.

Once the shopping rush is over, how will you be spending your Christmas?
At home beside a long burning fireplace with my family and a large mug of some warmed wine punch.

Above are examples of the bespoke cufflink designs that we make for Eleven. For more information about our bespoke design service please visit our website here.

You can visit Eleven at 11 Commercial Arcade, Guernsey, Channel Islands. The shop can be contacted on 01481 714211 and more information can be found on their facebook page here.

Our Eco Wishlist

Our November wishlist is here and it's all things eco. Our impact on the environment is incredibly important to us here at Maria Allen Boutique and here are a selection of companies and products that share our passion for sustainability and style:

1. Sister & Co. - Glow Set, £44.95

Sister & Co create unique skin & body products using raw and active superfoods from around the world. The base to the products is extra-virgin organic coconut oil, cold-pressed at a small organic farm in Kerala, India.

2. Matt & Nat - CHANDA - GRAVEL - £95

Matt & Nat which stands for Material & Nature are a vegan brand committed to using no animal-based materials in their designs. Their huge collection of bags and purses are innovative in sustainability using recycled nylons, cardboard, rubber & cork. The linings of their bags are made from 100% recycled plastic bottles.

3. Maria Allen Boutique - Wooden Triangle Necklace - £30

Maria Allen Boutique is committed to using only reclaimed and sustainably sourced wood in their extensive collection of jewellery, accessories, gifts and homeware. Much of the wood is reclaimed from the local Sussex area, close to their studio in Brighton.

4. Kowtow Clothing (New Zealand) - Trace Dress - $195

Kowtow is a New Zealand clothing brand using only 100% organic fair trade certified cotton. Their simple and minimal designs certainly don't come at cost to their factory employees in Kolkata India, who receive a living wage, pension, free transport, medical insurance and free schooling for their children. The company also sponsors projects such as Girls Education, Cow Shed and Cow Donation programmes in local farming villages.

5. Cred Jewellery - Hex stacking bangle, £95

Cred Jewellery established the first transparent supply chain of Gold and Platinum from Oro Verde in Columbia, and were the first jewellery company to pay social premiums for Ecological Gold. They use 100% recycled silver and fair trade certified gold.

6. H&M CONSCIOUS - Satin maxi dress £29.99

As well as ensuring that every worker at their factories and supply chains earn a living wage, H&M introduced their Conscious line in 2012, bringing clothing made from conscious materials such as recycled wool, hemp and organic leather to the high street. 

7.  Elephant Branded - Laptop Case, £30

Elephant Branded have a clear mission, to make a positive, long term, sustainable change to the communities that produce their products and the children that receive their school kits. For every one of their ethically made bags sold the company gives one ergonomically designed school bag and kit to a child in Africa or Asia. The company is also committed to ensuring that their employees learn valuable skills that permit them to have a sustainable and effective way to get out of poverty.

8. Green People - Limited Edition Facial Care Gift Collection Owl, £15.95

With a promise to never use aggressive ingredients, synthetic chemicals or to test on animals, Green People's mission is to be Britain's favourite ethical skin care company. It's hard not to love their new woodland gift collections which donate 30p to the Woodland Trust with each sale.

9. The People Tree - Happy Cats Tee in Eco White - £30.00

People Tree is recognised as a pioneer in Fair Trade and environmentally sustainable fashion. For over twenty years, People Tree has partnered with Fair Trade artisans and farmers in the developing world to produce ethical and eco fashion collections.