Gingerbread according to Grandma Annemarie

Ingredients for 1 servings:

• 125 g butter
• 220 g sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1 packet of vanilla pudding powder or almond pudding powder
• 200 g flour
• 160 g dark chocolate, in cubes
• 1 pack of gingerbread spice, approx. 15 g
• 100 g hazelnuts or almonds, ground
• 1 packet of vanilla sugar
• 125 ml milk
• e.g. walnut halves, hazelnuts and almonds, whole
• lemon juice
• powdered sugar

Instructions

Working time approx. 20 minutes; Cooking/baking time approx. 30 minutes; Total time approx. 50 minutes

Roast the whole nuts in a pan without fat and let cool slightly. Then take a handful, rub them together, and loosen the shells a little. Set the peeled nuts aside. Preheat the oven to 175-180°C fan/gas mark 3. Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Separate the eggs and stir in the egg yolks. Stir in the custard powder, flour, chocolate, spice, ground nuts, vanilla sugar, and milk. Beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form and carefully fold in. Spread the batter onto a baking sheet lined with baking paper and spread evenly with the almonds, hazelnuts, and walnuts. Bake in the lower center of the oven for about 25 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool slightly. Mix the powdered sugar and lemon juice to make a piping glaze and pipe it over the cooled gingerbread. I cut the gingerbread into small rectangles, depending on how the nuts are distributed. This recipe comes from my mom’s secret baking book and has been an essential part of the pre-Christmas season for as long as I can remember.