Honig Brot is the German name for this Christmas recipe. Honey Bread in English, can be bought at German groceries and it is a spiced bread that we enjoy with some cold butter in the afternoon with a cup of black tea.
Video: How To Bake Honey Bread
What is Honey Bread?
This is a bread that my husband loves and I have to admit that my baking of it never turns out as moist as the one from the store. I’m not sure what their secret is. However, the taste is the same and by that, I mean a feast on the tongue with wonderful Christmas spices.
Besides the honey, there is the taste of German Gingerbread Spice, a spice mix that you can make yourself easily with my recipe for it. Or you look online and see if you can get some. Sometimes it is sold out here in the US by December.
How We Enjoy it in the North
I come from a family of tea drinkers. Drinking tea is quite common in some northern areas of Germany while I would say that the majority of Germans enjoy coffee. But regions like Nordfriesland, Ostfriesland in the North-West a known for their black tea with rum … or in my family mostly some orange or lemon juice. In winter, that tea is often accompanied by cookies or honey cake. With some cold butter, as slice of it with some tea tastes like heaven and the scent of Christmas is in the entire room.
How To Keep It Fresh
I always put my honey bread in a plastic bag. I remove the air in the bag as good as possible. That way the bread stays fresh and won’t mold for quite some time.
Honey Bread
A German Christmas Bread
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If not already done, chopp and roast the almonds and grate the oranges and lemons for the zest.
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Combine the 350 g Honey, 175 g Cane Sugar, and 180 g Butter in a pot an heat just enough for everything to melt and dissolve. Add 3 tbsp Milk.
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Preheat the oven to 350°F / 180°C.
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In a bowl, mix the 700 g Flour, 125 g Almonds, 1 tsp German Gingerbread Spice, 1 tsp Ginger, 1 tsp Potassium Carbonate Powder, and ½ tsp Baker’s Ammonia. Also add 1 pinch Salt. Stir and combine it.
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Pour the honey mixture into a large mixing bowl, add the cest of the 4 Oranges and 6 Lemons. While slowely mixing, add the dry ingredients spoon after spoon. When the batter is created, add 3 Eggs, one at a time. And mix in.
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Grease the loaf pan and fill with the batter. Bake for an overall of 75 minutes (regular loaf pan) but cover the bread with aluminum foil after the first 35 minutes.The smaller loaf pans bake for about 60 minutes or until a wooden toothpick comes out clean.
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Let cool and serve with cold butter.
This recipe makes 1 regular bread loaf or 2 small loafs as seen in the video.
Calories: 6952kcalCarbohydrates: 1150gProtein: 132gFat: 232gSaturated Fat: 104gPolyunsaturated Fat: 27gMonounsaturated Fat: 83gTrans Fat: 6gCholesterol: 883mgSodium: 1445mgPotassium: 3995mgFiber: 66gSugar: 537gVitamin A: 6607IUVitamin C: 624mgCalcium: 1015mgIron: 45mg