Aachener Printen

Aachener Printen

Category: Culinary recipes

Kitchen: german

Ingredients
honey	250 g
sugar	2 tbsp
flour	250 g
salt	pinch
cinnamon	1 tsp
anise	1.5 tsp
coriander	1 tsp
carnation, shower. pepper, cardamom, nutmeg	by a pinch
candied orange and lemon peels	50 g
soda	pinch
potash (replaced with baking powder)	1 tsp (I have 1/4 tsp)
caramelized sugar	50 g
cold water	1 tbsp
milk, nuts	for lubrication and decoration

Cooking method

• Aachen Gingerbread is a traditional German rectangular gingerbread, sprinkled with a variety of nuts, candied fruits, as well as spices and marzipans. They come from a small town called Aachen, where they were baked in 1820. In the 9th century, the city was the capital of the empire of Charlemagne, who invented the recipe for making Aachen gingerbread. At that time, his empire occupied the area of ​​what is now Germany, France and Italy. Now the city of Aachen is located at the intersection of three countries: Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands. The Germans call the Aachen gingerbread Aachen, the Dutch call it Aken, the French call it Aix-la-Chapell. Decorated with imaginative bakers and exuding ineffable aromas, these gingerbread cookies fill the windows of numerous pastry shops in this small German town. Residents sell their specialty gingerbread to numerous tourists from other cities, and also give them to their friends as souvenirs. If you ever find yourself in the historic center of Aachen, be sure to visit the Aachener Printenmuseum, where you can learn about the making of traditional Aachen gingerbread. During the excursions, you will be told about the necessary ingredients for gingerbread, how to make dough and traditional and modern pastries. There are many legends and myths in Aachan. One of the legends tells about Aachen gingerbread: In the city of Aachen in 1656, there was a fire of unprecedented power, which became known as the Great City Fire. At that time 4664 houses out of 5300 then existing fell victim to the fire. After this fire, the city was engulfed in hunger, people felt an acute shortage of food. At this time, an old baker found in his book a mention of an old recipe for gingerbread, which Charlemagne was very fond of. The Achenians were sure that Charlemagne took the recipe with him to his grave. But no one even thought to disturb and desecrate the peace of the deceased emperor. And only the student of the old baker dared to get to the grave of Charlemagne to get an old recipe. The exact burial place of the emperor was unknown, and therefore, the boy decided to make a deal with the devil. The deal consisted in the fact that the devil would lead to the grave of Charlemagne and receive the key of his treasury as his reward. The devil fulfilled his end of the deal and showed the boy the tomb of Charlemagne. Trembling with fear, the youth entered the tomb. Upon his appearance, the late emperor suddenly opened his eyes and in a menacing voice asked the reason for the outrageous invasion. The frightened apprentice timidly told the emperor about the great need of the Aachen people. And Charlemagne could not refuse the request of the inhabitants of his beloved city. The happy student returned to his bakery teacher. The old baker was frightened at first, but after making the apprentice's recipe for gingerbread, he quickly realized the benefits. The fame of the wonderful gingerbread quickly spread not only around the city, but also outside it. The baker and his apprentice quickly enriched themselves and forgot about the debt. But all of a sudden, a ruthless devil appeared, who demanded to give him the key to the treasury.Trying to appease the guest, the baker's apprentice invited him to try the gingerbread cookies that had not yet cooled down, the wonderful smell of which spread throughout the kitchen. The devil eagerly swallowed a tin baking sheet along with gingerbread. Howling with pain in his stomach and forgetting about the purpose of his visit, he immediately rushed off to his underworld and never returned ... This is how, according to legend, the recipe for these German gingerbread was obtained.
• 
• In Aachen, gingerbread is sold all year round. They are dry and hard and can therefore be stored for a whole year, just until next Christmas. Local residents jokingly say: “Take care of your teeth!”, And remember the cases when Aachen gingerbread was sent abroad as a gift. Not everyone who received the present knew that the gingerbread was edible. The Aachen people are so proud of their gingerbread that they created a special tobacco with their aroma. The invention is similar in color to a baked cake.
• Prepare candied fruits - cut them smaller, otherwise it will be difficult to cut the gingerbread. Put the caramel sugar in the freezer, then crumble it with a hammer. Heat honey with sugar until sugar dissolves. Mix flour, salt, spices, candied fruits, add honey. Dilute potash in 1 tbsp of cold water (I did not add it, only water and baking powder) and add to the dough. Knead the dough and leave it for at least 2 days at room temperature for the aromas to open up, or better for 2 months in a cool place. Roll out 5mm thick, sprinkle with caramel sugar crumbs, fold in half and cut out rectangular gingerbread cookies 3x7cm or 5x12cm, grease with milk and sprinkle with nuts. Bake on parchment or seals. rug sprinkled with water at 200 degrees for 10-12 minutes.
• 

The dish is designed for

2 trays

Time for preparing:

2 days-2 months

Cooking program:

oven

Note

Aachen gingerbread should be allowed to rest for 2 days and they will become a little softer, they are "tough-biting", they look like a hybrid of roasted nuts and gingerbread. And if you put them in the refrigerator, they bite off like caramel and crunch. If your teeth are loose, then I advise you only to dip them in tea !!!

It is difficult to find candied citrus peels on sale, so I prepared them myself according to the long method of 6 days.
This is a quick drying method by sugaring the evaporated syrup

And these are dried naturally

wonderful recipe, thanks! : wow: I was looking for the Aachen recipe myself, but I could not find the right one. Now we will try, I really ordered potash, I don't know when they will bring it. And how much of it is needed according to the original recipe? Please throw off the link to it7

Very nice post! Amazing story and excellent recipe!
I collect everything related to gingerbread with a passion and love, strange even for myself ...
So your recipe went to the piggy bank.
And your photographs are exactly what they smell! ... They smell of spices, holiday, expectation of a miracle ...
Thank you very much for the excellently thought out and designed theme, for the wonderful story!

Wonderful! And gingerbread, and the history associated with them.
I will definitely make them, and first I want to try with beet syrup and potash.

Wow, I will definitely try

and I! I want too! Thank you!

What is Patash?

Wonderful recipe!
It smelled like New Year, a tree, gifts and tangerines.
And do not tell me the recipe for "candied fruits in 6 days", I wanted to try to make it myself, I have not seen it in stores.
Thanks for the interesting story, and the delicious recipe!

What is Patash?

such a baking powder, very dangerous in the preparation process, is harmless in the final product. In the old days and in production they used it and ammonium. Now, ammonium is definitely banned in Russia as a food additive (although I don't know why), but I don't know about potash, but it doesn't seem to be on sale here. It can be freely purchased in the Scandinavian countries, where it is commonly used for baking.

Oh .... My favorite gingerbread! Adore! It's great that the recipe has appeared. I will definitely cook it. Where can you buy potash? Veichka, will you really go to Scandinavia for him? Natasha, what about the taste without potash? Lost a lot to the original?

[Vei]

Vei, for my recipe 1 tsp potash, the recipes are all different in the internet, in another I saw 600 g of flour and 500 g of sugar. syrup 10gr, LS wait I will send

[Mikhaska]

Mikhaska, Ira, thank you nice!
+ Gala +, in this case / recipe, I would say that honey / beet syrup does not change the essence, they are as solid as they should be, because there is very little water, and honey crystallized after baking just like sugar ... I put a couple in the refrigerator for fun, so in general, like a lollipop, they barely bite off! and crunches, breaks like caramel!

supplemented the recipe, or maybe someone does not know that they are hardening)))

if there is no sugar beet syrup, then you can just boil sugar syrup in it 70% sugar and 30% water, but we have sugar from sugar beets, here are some more syrups to buy)))) we ourselves can do everything here on HP

lungwort, potash does not affect the taste, but on the loosening of the dough .... Potash is used in the preparation of the dough for gingerbread with honey and syrup, which contain the necessary loosening of the acid. dough made with potash should stand for a long time. For 1 kg. flour is spent 1-2 tsp of potash. It is advisable to add potash together with ammonium carbonate, then gingerbread cookies with honey and syrup will be better suited and will be tastier.
I cannot compare the taste with the original, since I did not eat German gingerbread. But I treated all the German cookies that I baked for the competition to my friend (she flies to Germany every year), she said that I was a sorceress, everything is just like from there!

Trishka Soak citrus peels in cold water for a day, changing the water 2-3r per day, on the next. cut the day into cubes of the desired size (why not cut right away, because the peel will swell, it is more convenient to cut and after drying they will be smaller than they would have cut right away) and continue to soak for a total of 5 days, changing the water and washing ... I had 3 oranges and 2 lemon .... 4 stk of wet cubes came out after soaking, the next day I poured 2 stk with a glass of sugar and evaporated over medium heat until the sugar crystallizes on candied fruits for about an hour or a little more (candied fruits become more transparent and kind of "turn glass" ) since transparency will not be visible in this method, we do not achieve it ,

the remaining 2 stk poured water + sugar and boiled until the syrup was transparent and thickened, then thrown in a colander and dried on the surface.

Thank you!

maybe someone does not know that they are hardening

How do you eat them? Only those with strong teeth?

[izumka]

izumka, for those who have loose teeth, it’s definitely not worth eating them, or then dipping them in tea) but they are not comparable with our gingerbread, I would call it a hybrid of roasted nuts and gingerbread "spinning" do not be afraid, bake) they are like candy from the refrigerator , and at room temperature they are "tough"

gingerbreads are different

Girls, very tasty gingerbread, Natalya treated me to - I could not tear myself away !!! Thank you very much for the recipe - I will learn how to make them.

[The whole world is not enough]

The whole world is not enough, Hi! Thanks for the tip, the pecks are larger at once, they are stored for a long time! you now look like a bribed flumper

Friends went to Aachen. They said that there are soft gingerbread. I'm waiting for their arrival, they promised to bring it. Found a recipe and technology in German. Translated. I will try.

What is Patash?

In our area, this is the second name of soda.

Potash is calcium carbonate. Soda - calcium bicarbonate

Friends went to Aachen. They said that there are soft gingerbread.

Here, gingerbread is never tough ... All are soft and tasty.

[Soda:]

Soda:
Soda Ash, Linen Soda - Sodium Carbonate Na₂CO₃
Wikipedia:

🔗

Baking soda (drinking):
Sodium hydrogen carbonate - NaHCO₃
Wikipedia:

🔗

Potash:
Potassium carbonate - K₂CO₃
Wikipedia:

🔗

Registered as a food additive E501
E501 - Potassium carbonates:
(I) Potassium carbonate - K₂CO₃
(II) Potassium hydrogen carbonate - KNSO₃
Wikipedia:

🔗

Thank you !!!!!!! It is more logical to replace potash not with baking powder, but with soda. There is acid in the dough that will react with soda. Be it honey or invert syrup. Translated a recipe found in a German source. The difference from the proposed is minimal.Only there is a difference in cooking technology. All sweet ingredients are warmed up (syrup + split lollipops + sugar). Spices are mixed with flour + candied fruits. Everything comes together - sweet ingredient + flour mixture + dissolved potash. The dough rests overnight (or 12 hours). But I couldn't bake it on a greased baking sheet. All nafig stuck! I will try, as usual, on a silicone mat. There are many varieties of Aachen gingerbread. Can't wait to taste a souvenir from Aachen itself

I went to read the recipes ..
There is also soda with potash, there is also one ammonium, and there is a mixture of ammonium with soda .. and there is even a baking powder, but in a company with potash ..
In general, for every taste ...
By the way, one smart comrade wrote about Tula gingerbread, about ammonium "I always replace ammonium with baking powder. But it should be taken from the calculation of 4 grams per 100 grams of flour." .. end of the quote.

With great pleasure I would try to bake, but I'm afraid that it will turn out very hard. But I would try soft ones. Now, if Phloxovodik could print a recipe for soft gingerbread .......

I'm experiencing now. If possible, I will write. When I bake gingerbread cookies according to the Sahara recipe, for 1 kg of flour I take 3 teaspoons of soda without a slide. Here, for 300 g of flour, I took 1 tsp



Having climbed through German sites in search of a recipe for Aachen gingerbread, I came across one, where, in addition to the recipe, the features of the composition and preparation were described.
The base of the dough consists of flour, water, sweeteners, spices, without any added fats. Powdered sugar is used as sweeteners (in the original Farinzuker, knowing from growing primroses that farina is dusting, powdery bloom, risked suggesting that it is powdered sugar), candy crumbs (crushed caramel sugar) and granulated sugar. All this is used alternatively, as well as beet syrup, honey. As a baking powder, basically potash, originally Hartshort (literally deer, antlers. It turns out that the crushed antlers). The spice mix consists of cinnamon, anise, cloves, cardamom, coriander, allspice, cloves, nutmeg, as well as candied orange peels, lemon peel and ginger. Moreover, the percentage of the seasoning is the secret of the manufacturer.
So, the recipe. It practically does not differ from the proposed one. Syrup 250 g (I took invert), sugar 50 g, candy 75 g (I took caramelized sugar, which I made myself), water 1.5 tbsp, Flour 300 g, potash 2.5 g (I took 1 tsp of soda without a slide), spices (ground) - cinnamon 1 tsp, anise 1.5 tsp, coriander 1 tsp, cloves 1 chips, allspice 1 chips, cardamom 1 chips, nutmeg 1 chips, candied fruits (I made orange and lemon) 50 g. Preparation. Heat the syrup with water. Finely chop the lollipops, add sugar. Dissolve potash in a small amount of water and add to the syrup. Add spices. Knead the dough. Leave the dough overnight (12 hours). I mixed all the sweet ingredients, heated until the sugar dissolves. I added soda to flour, spices and candied fruits. I sifted everything and poured heated sweet ingredients into it. In my opinion, plain sugar can be replaced with caramelized sugar, that is, take 125 g of caramel sugar. The dough is very soft at first. I covered it right in the bowl with plastic wrap. The next day the dough became very firm. She rolled it out on the table with flour. 3 mm is still a bit thin. Rolled up to 5-6 mm.

I cut out rectangles 3 x 7 cm, laid them on a baking sheet with a silicone mat and sprinkled it with flour. I smeared it on top with milk and sprinkled with nuts, sesame seeds. When I did it for the first time, I put it on a baking sheet moistened with water. Everything stuck, you can't tear it off. I baked at 160-170 * min 10. Here you have to look at your oven. In the baking process, the sugar caramelizes, so you overexpose it a little, and the gingerbread will be hard. I baked samples. Filmed easily, were soft. The bottom was soft too. In the process of cooling, the bottom hardened a little. I cleaned the bottom of the cooled down from flour with a cloth.


Melted chocolate and anointed some with chocolate, with a brush.

I took off the samples - the gingerbread cookies are delicious, soft enough, the bottom is tight, but not critical. The teeth are intact. I put everything in a container.In the morning I took a sample again. The gingerbread cookies have softened even more, the bottom has also become softer. I'll leave it for 2 weeks. But I feel that they will not survive, we will go to sleep. From this count, I got 30 gingerbread.
There are many varieties of Aachen gingerbread. Therefore, I will try with honey, and with the addition of ginger (freshly grated), and try with powdered sugar (I will add it to the flour, and heat the syrup and caramel sugar.).

And this is a gingerbread brought to me as a gift from Aachen. After tasting, we found out that mine tastes exactly the same. Translated the composition of the gingerbread. Part of the flour there is replaced with rye (I do this in my usual gingerbread). Here is the composition (in the order it says on the label - Sazar, caramel syrup, lollipop, icing sugar, white flour (I think it's wheat), rye flour, candied orange fruits, spices, baking powder (sodium bicarbonate, potassium carbonate), rice flour, glucose syrup, invert sugar, almonds, peanut butter, vegetable fat, humectants (sorbitol), thickener (carboxymethyl cellulose CMC, gum arabic), dye. (paints are added, as I understand, if painting on mastic is used.) Protect from heat and direct sun rays.

The gingerbread is plump, 6-7 mm, which means they are rolled out far from 3 mm thick, soft, I taste more coriander. In the gingerbread, pieces of caramelized sugar. Very tasty!
Now I made a dough with a part of rye flour, I took all the sugar caramelized + invert syrup, warmed everything together

in the original Farinzuker, knowing from the cultivation of primroses that farina is dusting, a powdery bloom, she ventured to assume that it was powdered sugar

Not brown sugar .. But fine sugar - feiner Zucker
Powder is this ..


Hartshort - deer antlers is ammonium ..

white flour (I think it's wheat)

Weizenmehl-probably it was written like that .. Yes, this is ordinary wheat flour.
Well, in general, we need to do ..
thanks for the recipe ..

Thank you. I muddied 2 test options

Phloxovodik, thank you very much for the work done. Now I think I'll take on the gingerbread. Previously, they were all the same harsh (no matter what recipe I used). Thanks again!

Report on two test options. In the first I put all the caramelized sugar, which I made myself, to warm with the syrup. The dough is watery at first. But when the day stood, it became normal. In the second option. 250 syrup, 50 caramelized homemade sugar warmed together. And 75 g caramelized in the form of candy, store, finely chopped and added to the dough. Mixed everything up. What can I tell you ...... The dough turned out to be just sooooo dense. It stood for a day. I kneaded it with difficulty. The first option was baked, rolling out 5-6 mm (do not roll thinly !!!!). The second is about 7-8 mm. Blinnnnnnnn! Both are so delicious !!!!! The second ones after baking are also soft.
I forgot to write. This time, in both cases, part of the flour was replaced with rye. Out of 600 g of flour, 400 white and 200 rye.
Yes, and watch out, don't bake! And then the sugar in the oven caramelizes, and the bottom becomes solid. Make a couple of test baked items, look in your oven.
Judging by the label on the Aachen gingerbread, soda and potash (sodium hybrocarbonate and potassium carbonate) as a baking powder. Maybe the author of the recipe has hard gingerbreads because the baking powder did not rise properly?

[Elena]

In the first I put all the caramelized sugar, which I made myself, warm with syrup

Elena, tell me, if you put a lollipop with syrup and heat it, as you did in your first version of the test, then why do you need a lollipop at all, it will dissolve, why not ordinary sugar?

I didn't put in candy, but caramelized sugar. That is, it is like ordinary sugar, only in the process of caramelization it became like cane sugar. And the crushed lollipops themselves are put into the dough