Gingerbread From Lucerne (Luzern)

4 1/2 dl Fresh cream

3 Lemons; juice

- to sour the cream 120 g Pear puree

200 g Sugar

10 g Mixed spices; star aniseed,

- cloves, cinnamon, ginger 5 g Bicarbonate of soda

500 g Whole wheat flour

150 g Walnuts; roughly crushed

(Units: 100 g = 3 1/2 oz; 1 dl = 3 1/2 fl oz = 2/5 cup; 180 oC = 350 oF; 200 oC = 400 oF; 230 oC = 450 oF; 250 oC = 475 oF; 2.5 cm = 1 inch)

Gingerbread from Lucerne, the story: There has always been a place for gingerbread on market stalls and at fairs. It was customary for a young man to offer his sweetheart a gingerbread cake, which she would acceptwith delight. Since the Middle Ages, Lucerne has seen the creation of a large number of such delicacies influenced by its governors and merchants. The recipe: Add the lemon juice to the cream and leave for a few minutes. Mix together the cream, pear puree sugar, mixed spices and bicarbonate of soda. Add the flour. Mix until well blended and then add the nuts. Fill a flan ring (24 cm diameter, 6 cm high) and bake in the oven for 50 minutes at 190 oC. Serve cold. Culinary Art and Traditions of Switzerland, Pro Gastronomia, 1992 Typed for you by Rene Gagnaux @ 2:301/212.19