Re: German leaf cookies
From: Gene
Date: 1/4/2022, 7:23 AM
To: phaedrus@hungrybrowser.com
On 1/3/2022 10:39 PM, Gene wrote:
My first name is Gene. I have been having dreams of a leaf cookie
with a layer of hard dark chocolate over it. This cookie is from
my childhood and probably 10 to 15 years ago this bakery closed
and couldn't get it anymore. this bakery also had a 5-in lebkuchen
covered with the same chocolate and delivered in a can with five of
these beautiful cookies in it served horizontal and layered on top
of each other. I am thinking it is probably about 55 years ago when
my grandmother and mother brought me to a store front to purchase
these cookies and other delicacies made with marzipan, almonds and
chocolate it was also located somewhere in the city of Chicago a
lthough I don't know where I was too young to know. The name of the
company was Ericann Candy and Confection company. This was a special
treat around Christmas time my grandmother and Mom would always go
down and purchase our cookies and candy they also made fantastic
candy that was so delicious and all very interesting and all handmade.
Fast forward about 10 years and they move to Union Pier Michigan and
made candy, lebkuchen, leaf cookies and the most delicious butter
cookies ever. They did a mailing probably in September or October you
place your order on the sheet of paper that they supplied put a check
in the mail with the paper and then deliver it to you around December
1st this was probably a little before 1980s it's hard for me to remember
when they stopped and close their doors we're thinking it could be around
2000. They knew my family name for years and years and it was so amazing
one year my wife and I sent the order blank to them with no check and in
those days we'd be buying about $150 of cookies for delivery and we didn't
realize it until we received our cookies and a note just politely saying
just please put the check in the mail whenever you find time. We are sad
to see them not bake anymore and didn't know the reason why it was a family
run bakery and I truly do miss it the recipes were marvelous I have to
thought of hoping that somebody would produce them again. I hope this may
be helps in some way to leave cookie I remember was definitely not a biscuit
you could tell it was a sticky batter and crispy good luck take care.
Hello Gene,
Here is what I was able to find out about Ericann lebkuchen:
The Ericann Candy Company was founded by German immigrants, brother and sister Erich Hamburger and Ann Hofmann.
Erich was a baker, and the two opened a candy and bake shop on East 55th Street in Chicago in 1949, later moving
to Chicago's South Shore neighborhood sometime in the 1960s. As time passed, the company's main business became
mail-order sales of their products and was based in the Pinewood Lodge in Michigan. The company was sold in the
1980s. Erich passed away in 1991, and Ann in 2003.
I could not verify it for sure, but I believe that it was sold to what became "Ericann Cookies & Ramberg's Bakery"
at 9811 Union Pier RD, New Buffalo, Michigan 40117. This establishment sells, or used to sell, the Ericann lebkuchen
and other products. Information about this company is quite limited online, and I could not determine whether they
are still in business. You will have to call their listed phone number 269-469-1010 or write to them at that New
Buffalo address to find out for sure whether they are a going concern. They may be closed.
They, however, are not your only option for purchasing Ericann lebkuchen. Another company, "Leckerlee", produces
lebkuchen based on the Ericann recipe. See: Leckerlee Lebkuchen
Leckerlee products appear to be available at multiple retail shops in several states. Perhaps there is a location
near you. See the list here: Leckerlee Locations
You can also purchase their lebkuchen online from these two outlets:
Zingerman's
Mouth.Com
You did not ask me specifically for a recipe to make these lebkuchen yourself, but you should know that there does not
appear to be a recipe available.
I wish you success!
Phaed
Hello Again Gene,
I noticed that my entire response to you was about Ericann Lebkuchen and nothing about "German Leaf Cookies". I cannot find anything at all about "German Leaf Cookies". The situation regarding them has not changed since I searched for them in 2016. There are no recipes for them and no mention of them as a particular cookie. They must have another name besides "leaf cookies." What is their name in German? What would they be called in a bakery in Germany? Read my 2016 post about them here, where they are called "oak leaf cookies":
1-25-2016
Phaed
Hello Again Gene,
I have discovered some information about "leaf cookies" that may interest you.
All along, we have all been assuming that "leaf cookies" were originally a traditional German recipe, because at least two German bakeries in the US sold them - Bauer's and Ericann. As a result, I have been pursuing the "German" angle. However, that may not be the case. In America, at least, it appears that "chocolate leaf cookies" were popularized by a company that made baking supplies - cookie cutters and cookie molds in particular. That company, "Ateco", has been in business for many years and is still in operation.
"Ateco" makes an oak leaf mold or "stencil" and if you buy one, they send with it a recipe for an almond-flavored cookie that is topped with chocolate. Ateco calls these cookies "Wafer Leaf Chocolate Cookies." I think it is possible that the bakeries that sold "chocolate leaf cookies" were simply using the Ateco recipe and the Ateco Wafer Leaf Stencil to make the cookies. Of course, the recipe and the stencil itself may have been based on something that originally existed in Germany, but I have not been able to find any evidence of that. The recipe for the cookies is below. The stencil itself may be quite difficult to find. Most every place that had them for sale is now saying that they are "unavailable." These sites have photos of the stencil and advertise having one for sale:
Wafer Leaf Stencil
Ateco Wafer Leaf Stencil
The recipe is below.
Phaed
Ateco Wafer Leaf Chocolate Cookies
1/4 cup plus 1 teasp. butter
1/3 cup fine granulated sugar
1 egg
3/4 cup plus 2 Tablesp. sifted cake flour
6 Tablesp. ground almonds
1/4 Teasp. almond extract
Cream butter with sugar, then with egg, until
very light and fluffy. Mix in flour, almonds,
extract.
Grease baking sheets and dust lightly with flour.
Spread mixture through Ateco's Wafer Leaf Stencil
onto sheets with spatula.
Bake at 350° F. till golden just at edges, about
10 minutes. Remove, loosening at once from sheets;
cool on wire racks.
On a plate over hot, not boiling, water, melt about
6 oz. dark sweet chocolate that has been cut into
pieces. Spread on bottoms of leaves. Mark veins in
leaves with knife. Let chocolate set at room
temperature, several hours or overnight.
========================================================================
On 1/20/2022 9:00 PM, Jacquie wrote:
Hello, I have searched and searched for Stork's Oak leaf cookie recipe. I have
also searched your site many times.Today after seeing Ateco again, I decided to
look on eBay.I found the stencil and recipe.I bought it and will make it when I
get it.I took a pic of the recipe that was on Ebay if you can't see it clearly
I will take a pic when I get it and send it to you If you scroll down from the
recipe you will see the leaf stencil.I am not sure if this is the recipe b/c I
was thinking brown sugar as the cookie was a little in the dark side or maybe
roasted almond flour.But I know so many people are looking for these cookies as
they were delicious and a big part of my childhood.We went to Stork's often and
that is the only thing I always wanted.I will let you know if this is the cookie
recipe I remember The Best, Jacquie
Hi Jacquie,
Thanks for sending this! I could not read the ingredient amounts, but I found a more legible copy of the booklet recipe online.
Phaed
Subject: Ateco oak cookie stencil and recipe
From: Jacquie
Date: 1/30/2022, 5:04 PM
To: phaedrus@hungrybrowser.com
Hi I said I would get back to you after I made Stork's Oak leaf cookie. First I
bought the wrong stencil....2 small leaves instead of the large leaf that Stork's
made But I figured the recipe was more important than the size This is definitely
NOT the cookie This recipe is just like a butter cookie with almond flavor.Stork's
was darker in color,thicker and hard.Oh well! I will keep looking!
Jacquie, where was Stork's located?
On Sun, Jan 30, 2022, 5:38 PM Jacquie wrote:
Yes it was in Whitestone which is in Queens NY. It was the next town over from
Flushing where Bauer's was located.They were there for many years.It was run by
Mrs Stork and her son maybe husband and daughter Heidi. They sold maybe in the
90s I think they changed hands a few times but the recipes stayed the same Some
time in the late nineties I think they were closed by the Board of health and
then reopened again for several yrs and then finally closed (at least that's
what I think happened) I think they closed around 2012 or so for good They were
an excellent bakery when the Stork's owned it and they became famous later for
their chocolate.They were on TV etc. They had a lot of German oasteruesvand
cakes but not strictly all German.I guess I just wanted to bring back a part
of my past as those cookies were my favorite! Thanks for getting back to me.
If you ever come across them please drop me a line!
Hi Jacquie,
You may already know this, but Krieg's Bakery, in Hampton Bays, Long Island, is owned & operated by Wally Krieg, the grandson
of Stork Bakery's owner, and he worked at Stork's for many years. Krieg's doesn't have the oak leaf cookies on their menu, but
if you call there and talk to him, he might be willing to talk about them.
See:
My Recipes
Facebook
Phaed
