Magenbrot

Ingredients

Dough

• 500 gplain flour
• 250 ghoney
• 100 gsugar
• 100 mlmilk
• 50 gbutter
• 1egg
• 10 gbaking powder
• 1 tspbicarbonate of soda

Spice

• 2 tspcinnamon
• 1 tspground clove
• 1 tspground anise
• 1 tspground coriander
• ½ tspground nutmeg
• ½ tspground cardamom
• ¼ tspground star anise

Glaze

• 300 gicing sugar
• 40 gcocoa powder
• 80 mlwater
• 20 gbutter
• 1 tbspkirsch, optional

Directions

1. Warm the honey, sugar, milk and butter together until melted, then cool it completely.
2. Mix the flour, all the spices, baking powder and bicarbonate.
3. The spice blend is the whole character and it should smell almost medicinal in the bowl. The name means stomach bread, from a nineteenth-century belief that the spices aided digestion.
4. Combine everything with the egg into a soft, sticky dough.
5. Wrap it and rest it overnight in the fridge.
6. The overnight rest lets the honey draw through the flour and the spices marry. A same-day batch tastes sharp and disjointed.
7. Roll the dough into long flat strips about 4 cm wide and 1.5 cm thick, directly on lined trays.
8. Bake the strips at 180°C (355°F) for 20 to 25 minutes, until firm and dry.
9. Bake the strips whole and cut them afterwards. Cutting first gives dry hard cubes; cutting after baking leaves the cut faces soft.
10. While they are still warm, cut the strips on the diagonal into pieces about 3 cm.
11. Cut them warm. Cooled magenbrot shatters under the knife.
12. For the glaze, warm the water and butter, then beat in the sifted icing sugar and cocoa until smooth and pourable.
13. Tip the warm pieces into a large bowl and pour the glaze over, tossing until every face is coated.
14. Toss them while both are warm, so the glaze spreads thin rather than sitting in a thick shell.
15. Spread them on a rack to dry, separating any that have stuck.
16. They keep for weeks in a tin and soften slightly, which most people prefer.
17. They are sold by the bag at Swiss autumn and Christmas markets, at the Basler Herbstmesse and the Zibelemärit, and buying a bag is part of going.
18. The Swiss and southern German versions are close, and Basel is the city most associated with it.

Technique

• It is closer to a soft gingerbread than to a biscuit and should never be hard.
• The chocolate glaze is standard in Switzerland; German versions are sometimes plain.
• The digestive claim in the name has no basis and the spices simply taste good.

Substitutions

• Ready-made Lebkuchengewürz in place of the individual spices.
• Golden syrup for part of the honey.

Variations

• Glazed white rather than with chocolate.
• With chopped almonds through the dough.
• Made softer, with more honey.

History

A Swiss funfair and Christmas market sweet whose name means stomach bread, from its digestive spices.

Frequently asked questions

What is Magenbrot?

Magenbrot is a street food from Switzerland: chocolate-glazed spiced gingerbread pieces sold by the bag at fairs. A Swiss funfair and Christmas market sweet whose name means stomach bread, from its digestive spices.

How long does Magenbrot take to make?

Magenbrot takes 30 min plus overnight resting of preparation and 25 min of cooking. The recipe makes about 60 pieces. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Magenbrot?

Yes, within limits. Ready-made Lebkuchengewürz in place of the individual spices. Golden syrup for part of the honey.

What is the most important thing to get right in Magenbrot?

The spice blend is the whole character and it should smell almost medicinal in the bowl. The name means stomach bread, from a nineteenth-century belief that the spices aided digestion.