Lebkuchen fairytale: How the Elisen received its name

Elisen Lebkuchen (short: Elisen) is considered as the noblest and most delicious among Lebkuchen.

The term Elisen-Lebkuchen probably goes back to a baker who had lost his beloved wife and was therefore all the more attached to his daughter Elisabeth. When his daughter got ill and no treatment was effective, so that she became weaker and weaker, the desperate father put his last hope in the healing powers of spices and nuts such as almonds, hazelnuts and walnuts. So he baked a Lebkuchen for the sick girl from the good oriental and Franconian ingredients, but without any flour. And he was successful, because his daughter recovered. The story goes that the pastry developed for the Lebkuchen maker's daughter was named after her, thus giving rise to the name Elisenlebkuchen or Elisen.

Beautifully illustrated by Julia Kluge