German Lebkuchen Christmas Market

Way back in October I started work on my Lebkuchen market stall; I love the German Christmas markets which come to visit us in England in November and December the gingerbread and German biscuit stall is my absolute favourite!   It isn't something which many other miniature food makers had done either so it seemed the perfect choice of a theme to base my market stall around and something I could definitely put my own stamp on!  I completed this project in December 2015.

 

No traditional lebkuchen stall would be complete without these giant gingerbread hearts with piped messages!

 

I made a Christmas wreath with dried slices of orange and candy canes and used fake snow and ice on the roof and base of my market stall to give it a more festive look!

 

I made two large decorated gingerbread houses which are placed either side of the market stall, next to the display of traditional biscuits.  On the back shelves there are also a number of mini sized miniature gingerbread houses.

 

Inside the 'glass' display case there is a German Tree Cake (Baumtorte/Baumkuchen), a traditional iced Christmas cake, Black Forest Gateaux (Schwarzwaelder Kirschtorte) German Bee Sting Cake (Bienenstich), Stollen and German Marble Cake (Marmorkuchen).

 

It also has working Christmas lights to light up those dark winter nights!

 

 

Here is a close-up of the biscuits I made for the market stall.  They are all traditional and festive themed German biscuits. 



 

 

First row (left to right) :

Tray 1 

Aachener Printen -  Gingerbread biscuits with almonds
Kokosmakronen - Chocolate coconut macaroons

Tray 2

Spritzgeback - Chocolate dipped piped cookies
Wainachsrollen - Cinnamon and almond cookies

Tray 3
 

Vanillekipferl  - Vanilla crescent shaped cookies
Zimtsterne - Cinnamon star cookies

Pfeffernüsse -  Chocolate and hazelnut covered spiced cookies

Tray 4

Spitzbuben - Raspberry jam filled cookies
Haselnussmakronen - Hazelnut meringues
Lebkuchenbäume - Iced gingerbread trees 

Second row (left to right) :

Tray 5

Butterplätzchen  - German butter cookies

Nusstaler  -  Chocolate dipped hazelnut cookies
Pfeffernüsse - Iced spiced cookies

Tray 6

Linzer cookies  - Jam filled cookies
Lebkuchenmann  - Gingerbread man
Frankfurt Bethmӓnnchen  - Marzipan almond cookie

Tray 7

Schwarz-Weiß-Gebäck  - Chequerboard shortbread
Kokosmakronen - Chocolate coconut macaroons
Lebkuchenherz - Iced gingerbread heart biscuits

Tray 8

Schokoladen Lebkuchen - Chocolate covered gingerbread
Pfeffernüsse - Spiced cookies dusted with icing sugar
Spritzgeback - Chocolate dipped piped biscuits

Christmas doughnuts

These are some festive themed doughnuts I've made for Christmas this year.  They are currently on sale here and here in my Etsy shop.  They're a perfect stocking filler!

 

 

Christmas cake

 

I love Christmas cake! I have very fond memories as a child of helping my Nana bake Christmas cakes.  I loved the way she used to decorate them too.. with little plastic snowmen and Santa's and gold coloured 'Merry Christmas' signs, it was 1980's Christmas kitsch and I loved it.  These cakes were inspired by the ones my Nana used to make but with a modern twist.  Novelty cakes nowadays are often crafted with fondant and sugarpaste elements and this is the look I wanted to recreate with my Christmas cakes.   On each cake there is a mini snowman with a carrot nose, coal eyes and buttons, a top hat and blue scarf; two Christmas trees with multi-coloured baubles; an iced gingerbread man and festive candy cane.  These cakes are currently available to buy in my Etsy shop here.

 



 

 

 

Pecan Pie

I was very lucky to be asked by the lovely Auralea, editor of American Miniaturist, to make a Fall themed food scene for their November issue and write an article to go with it.  A pecan pie making scene immediately came to mind as I knew it was a Thanksgiving favourite and fit in with the theme perfectly.  I had no trouble with the food scene, but I was a bit nervous about writing the article.  It's been a few years since I'd written an essay but was more worried being an English girl writing about an American and much loved national dish...I didn't want to get the facts wrong and upset anyone! Hopefully I didn't and the AM readers enjoyed it.  We don't really eat so much pecan pie over here in the UK. I have tried it a few times and it was absolutely delicious! The last time I made it myself I made it with some homemade Jack Daniels flavoured ice cream and it tasted amazing!  I will definitely have to hunt that recipe down and make it again!

 

 

 

Turkish Delight

My third project to appear in The Dolls' House Magazine was a box of Turkish Delight.  The theme of the November issue centred around magic and fairy tales and this project was inspired by The White Queen from the Chronicles of Narnia who tempts Edmund with a box of Turkish Delight! It is a simple but very effective project, so ideal for a beginner wanting to have a go at making polymer clay food for the first time.  

Also in the magazine I was very lucky to have my Mad Hatter's Tea Party photograph on one of their 'Inspiration' pages and a 'Meet The Maker' profile about me!

 

Free Christmas pudding tutorial!

If you would like to know how to make Christmas puddings like mine, there is a free project in this months email newsletter from Dolls' House And Miniature Scene.  Follow this link to register your email address and it's all yours!

(A bit late) Halloween

I'm a bit behind in updating my blog, as you can tell because Halloween has been and gone! Anyway, I made a number of Halloween themed food items because Halloween is one of my favourite times of the year! I love it as we buy loads of sweets, decorate the house, carve the pumpkins and get dressed up to go trick or treating.  "Trick or Treat" inspired my miniatures this year as I made lots of Halloween themed treats, sweets and candy. There were lollipops, candy canes, boiled sweets with Jack O'Lantern, ghost, skull, bat and "Boo!" designs as well as liquorice allsorts and dolly mixtures.

 

 

I made a Frankenstein's monster style trick or treat candy bowl.  This was really fun to make as it looked like it was made from green zombie skin all sewn up and stitched together!

 

 

 

I also made three different trick or treat candy buckets/mini cauldrons which each had a Jack O'Lantern, Frankenstein's Monster and spooky ghost design.  Like the candy bowl these too were filled with Halloween sweets and candy.

 

 

 

 

 

I made a tray of homemade style candy apples.  This item consisted of a metal tray with six Golden Delicious apples dipped in milk chocolate and covered in rainbow coloured sprinkles.  There is a wooden stick through the centre of each apple ready for the trick or treaters to hold.

 

 

I made two sets of Halloween themed doughnuts.  The first set of doughnuts were coloured purple, orange and white; the second set were coloured green, orange and black.

 

 

 

 

I made a red velvet layer cake which was decorated in white fondant icing with a knife sticking out through the centre of the cake, with lots of fake blood trickling down the sides as if the cake has been 'stabbed'!

 

 

I made three plates of Halloween themed gingerbread biscuits.  Amongst the designs were gingerbread man skeletons and Frankenstein's monster, spooky ghosts, bats, spiders, tombstones and pumpkin lanterns.

 



 

 

 

Last but not least I made two spooky gingerbread houses.