We've talked a lot about gingerbread and "Lebkuchen" as it's a perennial favorite this time of year. For you who are looking for a special brunch or tea time treat, try this cake warm from the oven with some whipped cream, or spoon the batter over applesauce in a Dutch oven and steam it like a pudding cake. This whole grain cake has no refined sugar but lots of flavor.

This would be a good cake to whip up for guests over Thanksgiving, too. It is a different flavor and texture from all the pies and other fare served on Thursday and Friday, plus the whole grains will make up for the indulgences to come.

_{Photo © J.McGavin}

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Wordless Wednesdays

Here are more Wordless Wednesdays on About.com and other Wordless Wednesday Blogs...

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Is Frankfurt in the north of Germany or the south? Where is the Weiswurst Equator? Do they say "Moin moin" or "Gruess Gott"?
Answers:

1. Frankfurt am Main is in the south-west, but considered more north than south.

2. Along the Main river, so Frankurt is just on the border. The Weiswurstgrenze or border is a fictitious division of Prussia from the Deep South (where they eat Weiswurst).

3. Neither, they say "Guude!" ("Guten Tag", hello) in Hessian dialect.

They also eat well, as this blog entry about food in Frankfurt (great pictures) shows, and have many food specialties.
Here is a description of typical dishes in Frankfurt and other tidbits. For instance, did you know that Frankfurt's main street is called "Fressgass" (Glutton Alley)?

For more on regional specialties in German-speaking countries, check out this page.

_{Photo © dontworry Creative Commons license}

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Basel is a quaint town on the border of Switzerland to Germany. In addition to speaking Schwyzerdütsch (Swiss German), being home to many pharmaceutical companies such as Novartis and Hoffman-LaRoche and holding "Basler Fasnacht", the largest Carnival celebration in Switzerland, every year (where I forgot my passport and was almost detained once!), it has a famous Lebkuchen (gingerbread) specialty, the Basler Läckerli (or Leckerli, both spellings are correct). These cookies were developed in the mid-1400s for a bishop's conference, as something even more special than the other towns could provide (show offs!).

Of course, like Coca Cola, the recipe is a strict secret. We who cannot afford the seventy Swiss franc shipping charges for a kilogram of cookies must improvise. And so we come to the (knock-off) recipe for "Basler Läckerli". Made with the traditional potash and hartshorn as leavening agents and filled with cinnamon, candied lemon peel and nuts, these are a great holiday cookie. One batch makes 3-4 dozen dense bar cookies which just get better with age.

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If you have been to Germany you may have noticed that at most of the open-air markets and many of the fruit stands, paper cones are used to carry fruit, nuts, candy, spices and almost anything else that is not pre-packaged, but weighed at the counter.

Children even receive "Schultueten" on their first day of school, filled with trinkets and candy.

"Papiertueten" or "Spitztueten" (Paper cones and pointed cones, respectively) are very old and have been written about since the 1500s. They do not need to be glued for light items, but "Tueten kleben" (to glue bags) is a euphemism meaning to be in prison.

Learn how to make your own paper cones with a sheet of paper, wrapping paper or newspaper. You can use them to wrap small gifts for Christmas or for hostess gifts (think burnt sugar almonds as a thank-you gift instead of wine).

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Everyone has their favorite Currywurst from their favorite "Imbissbude" (snack shop). They are especially passionate about them in Berlin, where East meets West. East Germany served unsliced sausage sprinkled with curry powder and ladled with a thin, cold tomato ketchup, like in Konnopke's Imbiss in Prenzlower Berg (see map). West Berlin kiosks such as Krasselt in Berlin-Steglitz, (see map) serve them sliced, with a soft roll for soaking up the warm curry sauce.

Recreate your own "Curry-Imbiss" with this Currywurst recipe.

Based on this article in the Berliner Zeitung.

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...try a hearty soup for lunch. How about some lentil soup with frankfurters, carrots and potatoes? Served in many corner diners or "Imbisse", this soup is an old standby. Make sure you add a spoonful of vinegar or lemon juice just before you eat it and have a Fladenbrot, Bauernbrot or rolls for dipping.

_{Photo © Flickr user bucklava}

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Last week, I published a recipe for Nuernberger Lebkuchen. I wrote that you could use 1-2 tablespoons Lebkuchen spice or mix your own, as seen at the bottom of the recipe. While you can buy "Lebkuchen Neunerlei" (Nine-Spice) at germandeli.com (Texas) or germangrocery.com (New York), you can also "cheat" with apple pie spice (cinnamon, nutmeg, mace and cloves) or pumpkin pie spice mix (cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, ginger, mace and cloves), or mix them one to one with "Chinese 5-Spice Powder" (cinnamon, star anise, anise seed, ginger and cloves), which are found at your local grocery store.

Penzeys Spices sells all of these too, plus a new "Baking Spice" mix with cinnamon, anise, allspice, mace and cardamom, which is a good mix to use on its own or with ground ginger. They also have something called "Cake Spice" with cinnamon, star anise, nutmeg, allspice, ginger and cloves. A listing of their retail outlets is found here, or purchase online and let them ship to you.

The point is, there is nothing magic about "Lebkuchen" spice. The ingredients are well known and can be found all over the place. So go ahead and make your ginger cookies or honey hearts or Pfeffernusse and don't worry. They'll taste great!

BTW, Penzeys also sell poppy seeds, used in this recipe, and Nigella seeds, used in this recipe.

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Fennel is related to celery but has a distinctive anise taste and aroma. Fennel goes well with tomatoes, in soups and raw in salads. This side dish recipe is a nice addition to a simple meal. Mustard and white wine give this fennel side dish a tangy taste.

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My challenge this week is to make quark. Quark, a German fresh cheese product, is hard to come by in the US. It is cultured like yogurt, but with different bacteria. Often rennet is added and then the quark is always allowed to drain, producing a thick, ricotta-like product. If you don't drain it, it's called "Dickmilch", similar to our buttermilk.

For my first attempt, I used a freeze-dried culture from "Danlac Canada Inc." with the addition of "Junket" rennet tablets. I'm not quite finished tweeking the product, it turned out runnier than expected. I had trouble with temperature and I added fresh cream instead of using only milk. This turned my quark into a créme frâiche style cheese tasting like very good yogurt. I am breakfasting on it with sugar and fruit.

For my next attempt, I will use a different temperature, more rennet and only milk. I'm sure you will all tune in for the next installment of "Quark - the Real Thing". Meanwhile, here's a bit of information on quark and where to buy it.

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