Ever wondered how to bake lembas? Here's the recipe!

[The Evenstar]

Hey!

This is for all you curious chefs who want to bake the Elven bread, Lembas. When I made it, it was a great success. Why don't you try it?

LEMBAS:

What Tolkien says about Lembas:
-They contain honey
-they are light-colored on the inside and light brown crust
-they are thin and regular-shaped. This implies they were made on some kind of griddle iron. The closest modern equivalent is a Krumkake iron. I used a pizzelle iron.
Some other things we can guess:
-They contain the fruit and maybe the flower-water of the Mallorn tree. I substituted oranges, although kumquats What Tolkien says about Lembas:
-They contain honey
-they are light-colored on the inside and light brown crust
-they are thin and regular-shaped. This implies they were made on some kind of griddle iron. The closest modern equivalent is a Krumkake iron. I used a pizzelle iron.
Some other things we can guess:
-They contain the fruit and maybe the flower-water of the Mallorn tree. I substituted oranges, although kumquats or a hand of Buddha fruit might be better.
-They probably had some kind of finely ground light-colored nut in them. I used almonds.
-They contained some kind of nourishing flour. I used semolina flour, which is a more primitive flour, and also more nourishing.
-Galadriel probably used some kind of grinder to refine the ingredients. I used a blender.
The recipe:
3 eggs
1 cup honey (preferably wild honey)
1 tablespoon grated orange peel or three kumquats or one large finger of a hand of Buddha.
2 teaspoons orange flower water (optional)
3 oz blanched almonds
1/4 cup melted butter
2-1/4 cups semolina flour
1/2 teaspoon salt Place eggs, honey, orange peel or other fruit, orange flower water, and almonds in blender.
Blend on high for 3 minutes. Add 1 cup of the flour. Blend for 1 minute. Scrape into a bowl and add remaining flour and salt.
Whisk or stir until well blended. Bake lembas on a pizzelle or krumkake iron 15 seconds each or until lightly brown.
You may substitute a waffle iron but add a teaspoon of baking powder. (The texture will not be quite accurate in a waffle iron.)
or a hand of Buddha fruit might be better.
-They probably had some kind of finely ground light-colored nut in them. I used almonds.
-They contained some kind of nourishing flour. I used semolina flour, which is a more primitive flour, and also more nourishing.
-Galadriel probably used some kind of grinder to refine the ingredients. I used a blender.
The recipe:
3 eggs
1 cup honey (preferably wild honey)
1 tablespoon grated orange peel or three kumquats or one large finger of a hand of Buddha.
2 teaspoons orange flower water (optional)
3 oz blanched almonds
1/4 cup melted butter
2-1/4 cups semolina flour
1/2 teaspoon salt Place eggs, honey, orange peel or other fruit, orange flower water, and almonds in blender.
Blend on high for 3 minutes. Add 1 cup of the flour. Blend for 1 minute. Scrape into a bowl and add remaining flour and salt.
Whisk or stir until well blended. Bake lembas on a pizzelle or krumkake iron 15 seconds each or until lightly brown.
You may substitute a waffle iron but add a teaspoon of baking powder. (The texture will not be quite accurate in a waffle iron.)

[Elotareth]

Thanks, The Evenstar! Can't wait to try this one! (don't know what happened to your text, though. You've got a few repeats smilies/eek.gif )

[Niluial]

Oh this stuff is yummy! I made it I made ‘Lambas’ with out burning it (for once I dont burn something smilies/wink.gif) and it was the greatest! Repeat WAS the greatest but my batch doesn’t exist anymore, lets just say the family smelt it and got their grubby little hands on it! So now I am busy making some more and this time I will hide it! Yummy…

[Annalaliath]

Dude I tried this today evan before i saw the post. Instead of using those things to cook them in you can cook them on a flat griddle like a tortilla. The only thing is, you need lot of buttr or the batter stuff will stick to EVERYTHING.

[Elotareth]

Ooh, I just made this and it turned out perfect! Instead of using an iron, I put square shaped globs of batter on a slightly greased cookie sheet and baked for about 5 minutes at 350. Then I flipped them, like pancakes, and baked for another approximate 5 minutes. They are just like the elf bread as I imagine it, because they are extremely filling and have a light taste, but are still flavourful. Now, if only I could find some mallorn leaves... I'm thinking of trying banana.
I was just joking that everyone would know how big an LotR freak I was if I stocked my Civil Air Patrol 72 hour survival pack with Lembas.... but anyway, thanks for the recipe!

[Faybevin Bombadil]

Mmm ... sounds tasty. I'm sooo glad you posted this Evenstar. Can't wait to get the cooking pans out.

Love,
Faybevin

[The Evenstar]

Oh, it's my pleasure. Thank you for trying out the recipe!

[Lyra Greenleaf]

Any suggestions about how to do it without the aid of a blender? Has anyone tried? Will it work?

[The Evenstar]

Hey!

I'm not actually sure if it'll work - maybe not as well as with the blender. You could try

[Annalaliath]

try a cuisin art that is the only thing that i am remotly close to that resembled an blender if not you could barrow one but that is usually difficult sience they may be llike sewing machines and completly go nutts. Now when i made the stuff the first time i use all purpose flour cause that is what i had and it stayed to gether well bu this new flour i have to bake it and not cook it on my griddle. but i guess the elves my have had fun with the instruction of cooking it like a tortilla. i should send some to christoper and see if he responds. hes in the Army and Korea, sigh....

[Elotareth]

I would also try one of those hand held electric mixers. When I made it, I went ahead and used the blender, but I remember thinking at the time that it probably would have worked fine just stirring by hand.
Also, I substituted 1 tsp Lemon extract and 1 tsp almond extract in place of the 2 tsp orange water. I also added about a tablespoon full of plain yogurt, which made it really good smilies/biggrin.gif

[Elotareth]

Oh yeah, the reason I didn't need a blender was that, instead of blanchd almonds, I used almond meal, which is basically ground up almonds. You can probably get it at a health food store.

[Annalaliath]

or albertsons. you can get the ground up almonds at alberstsons. but i think that this was fun....... and my stepdad threatedned that he would not eat my lembas if he could not find it.....

[ April 07, 2003: Message edited by: Annalaliath ]

[Heathie4479]

Me and my friends tired to make this only we didn't have honey so we used maple syrup insted. Also we mixed the ingredients wrong. It would have tasted so good, except for our mistakes and it was awful!! LoL I want to try it again, RIGHT, soon!

[Elanor]

Hmm, I've tried this too, and I'm sorry to say it was one of the most disappointing things I've made. smilies/frown.gif Although I have no idea what semolina flour is, so I used self raising, and perhaps that is what made the difference. Also, the honey I used had a very strong fragrance, which overpowered the rest of the flavours.

[Annalaliath]

next time don't worry about the flour(it is pasta flour by the way) just use all purpose, not self rising. if you use all- purpose you can cook it like a tortilla(on a griddle), or in eastern terms, a pancake.

[Arafangwen]

Wow that sounds great! I've always wanted to try lembas bread. Where can I find that special flour? I know that it's some sort of pasta stuff but thats all. How did you figure out the recipe? Oh, to many questions so little time! Thanx for helping! smilies/biggrin.gif

[Raefindel]

Hmmm... I know Mark 12:30 fries her lembas on a griddle, too. but I bake mine like bread and slice it (thus, the regular shape).

Lembas and many other Middle-earth inspired recipes are found here in the Arda recipe book (http://forum.barrowdowns.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=14&t=000609).

[Goldberry]

Mmmm, this sounds good! smilies/smile.gif

Speaking of lembas (sorry if this is the wrong place to post this) in lunch, they sell something called Elfin Crackers by Keebler. I just had to buy some; I couldn't possibly resist! Anyway . . . yep that's about it. lol, sorry, that was pretty dumb. smilies/biggrin.gif

The Evenstar - thanks for posting this! I'm gonna make some lembas as soon as I have free time.

[Annalaliath]

you can find that flour at Albertsons, or any place like wildoats or whole foods. I just used it and it gives it a griny texture. And i found the reciapee on some web site that had them all ya need to do is type in Lebas in dogpile and you might be able to find it. Same recapee as the originall poster so she propbable found it on the same web site... hey we all are fans arn't we?

[Annalaliath]

As soon as I get more almound I shall make more! I like it it is pretty much good. I would like to bring this thread back into the light! Yes this special flour makes the texture all strange. I am not going to use that again unless I can get some soy flour. That will make it more nutritious. And I shall try the yogert, no matter how much I hate it. I can also add soy nutts instead of almunds and then to flavor it I can use almond extract for flavor. I will let you all know how it turnd out.

[Olorin]

Oooo. This sounds yummy. Very yummy indeed. smilies/biggrin.gif

[Alatariel Telemnar]

Yep! Sounds very delicious! I shall have to try it one time smilies/biggrin.gif

[Aredhel Ar Feiniel]

Woohoo!! Must beg mother dearest to take me ingredient shopping when she returns... smilies/biggrin.gif

[Annalaliath]

I did a serch. There are at least two other recapies out there. I will put them down next time I have the time.

I will make this Lembas if it is the last thing I do. Tonight...... after the long school hours.

[Neferchoirwen]

I was wondering about what to do this weekend, and POOF! A lembas recipe right in front of me!

thanks for making me feel less mundane!

[ July 15, 2003: Message edited by: Neferchoirwen ]

[Tarien Ithil]

I've just scoffed myself with lembas (I feel full) and thanks so much Evenstar!

Anyway, I didn't grill it in a waffle iron; I fried it, but it wa still yummy! smilies/smile.gif

Thanks again.

[Annalaliath]

It was all in the old thingsin the back. Had to search fro this old thread........... Have fun, I wanted to bring this one back anyway.

[Neferchoirwen]

Kudos to you, then, Annalaith!

question to Tarien:
you fried them? with what? Butter? canola oil? LARD? what's the difference?

[ July 16, 2003: Message edited by: Neferchoirwen ]

[Niluial]

Fried it? Did it taste the same? Oh tell us how you fried it?

Oh when I visited The_Evenstar we made lots of Lembas and scoffed it talking about Tolkien and watching LotR it is the only way to do it!!!

[Linnamalle]

I bake mine in a cast iron frypan, but you could fry it (the Scots do that with their "griddle scones".) I always use butter. And as for the best way to eat it (do you mean "scarf"?) I find that a quiet little trail through a beech forest or a pine ridge makes the Lembas especially enjoyable. It is "waybread" after all.

[Tarien Ithil]

Well, I simply did it like a pancake.

I put the batter in the frying pan with olive oil (you can use sunflower oil too) and it tasted very pleasant (and filling!) smilies/wink.gif

[Niluial]

Yumm… sounds yummy Tarien!!!! Linnamalle I suppose you are right… it is nice to do it outside n an adventure! The_Evenstar and I would have don it but it is winter here!

[Roccotari Eldandil]

He he he... I am so bringing this to school for lunch. And to the movie premiere. If only I can overcome my baking disabilities...

[Annalaliath]

Well depending on the flour that I use I cook them on a griddle like a tortilla. Although the honey makes the batter stick to everything, so I have to use lots of butter to keep it from sticking. Wow my spelling in that last post is horrable! I like this thread because it was one of the first ones I posted in....... Back to topic, when I say it depends on the type of flour used I mean that if you use semolina it is doesn't stay together on the griddle as well than if you use all purpose. the special flour just gives it a differnt texture.......

[Niluial]

If only I can overcome my baking disabilities... Hmmm…I suffer from that! I doubt we will be cooking a meal together (apart from two minute noodles..???) anytime soon smilies/wink.gif!

it depends on the type of flour used I mean that if you use semolina it is doesn't stay together on the griddle as well than if you use all purpose. the special flour just gives it a different texture....... I know I also find that!!

[Aredhel Ar Feiniel]

Mmmmmmmmm! Just finished baking my first batch of lembas- it was delicious!! smilies/biggrin.gif Thanks so much for the recipe, Evenstar! smilies/smile.gif

[celeborn]

What is lembas

is it cake?? Why does it get cooked with honey and nuts?

[Tarien Ithil]

Lembas, or "way bread" is a bread made by the Elves for long journies. It is very filling and nourishing. Why don't you try the recipe? smilies/smile.gif

[elfearz1]

mmmm, sounds really good. Thanks for the recipe I've been wanting them for a while now. smilies/biggrin.gif I'm really excited to try this recipe out, hopefully it will come out ok I'm not the best cook. smilies/confused.gif

[Airerûthiel]

And there was me thinking this would be a boring summer...now I've got something to pass the time if I get bored! Thanks, Evenstar!

[Malhwesta]

I just ate my delicious lembas! It was all crispy and black, it doesn’t taste bad burnt at all smilies/wink.gif! Well I did try but I am not the best of cooks better luck next time smilies/biggrin.gif”

[Annalaliath]

My mother is the master of cooking things to carbon. After 19 years of eating her cooking, most of the time it is good, as long as it isn't pancakes or toast, I have come to terms with burnt food. But the lembas is messy and good.

[Niluial]

Oh... I miss my mothers cooking she always did perfect and she never burnt anything... those were the good old days!

I made lembas for a Lunch for my Debating Students and they almost freaked it was so nice. So I have printed a recipe for them... they all say thanks Niluial smilies/wink.gif!

[The_Grey_One]

Great Lembas, smilies/biggrin.gif thanks a bunch! smilies/biggrin.gif smilies/biggrin.gif

[StarJewel]

Is there anything that one can substitute for the almonds/almond flour? I ask because i can not eat any kind of nut ( allergic).

[Annalaliath]

you know that is a good question, how 'bout you try soy flour or some other thing such as this.

[Tarien Ithil]

Soya flour could work or just plain cake flour maybe. It's good to try something new with the lembas. If you do, tell us the results!

[Genevieve]

Nehani and I made lembas today....and...erm....it turned out a little weird. It's good (REALLY good) but we're not sure if we did it right. It tastes like fortune cookie cornbread. Eek! Did we do it right? How did others taste like? Are we way off the mark??

[Annalaliath]

The taste of my lembas was a bit strange, but the honey was definatly a prominate trait. how did you manage the fortune cookie taste?

[Nehani]

We're not really sure how we got the fortune cookie taste. smilies/frown.gif Kind of weird. You can definitely taste the honey though. Ours was raw, and wasn't as sweet, but there are still traces of it. The texture was more like cornbread. Does that help?

[elfearz1]

mmmmm! thanks again! They were so delicious!I substituted semolina flour for bread flour and it still turned out great! Maybe not as accurate, but it tastes good.

[eleanor_niphredil]

I made lembas once. Even the birds wouldnt eat it! smilies/tongue.gif

[Annalaliath]

I had a better reaction with the all purpose flour. My body did not like trhe semolina flour, and I kinda didn't like the texture of it. the cornbread texture is from the pasta flour, by the way.

[Amarantha_Daisy]

Hmmm... I've baked lembas before, but I used a different recipe. Here's mine:

1 stick butter (8 Tbsp)
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup honey
1/2 cup milk
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp nutmeg
3 - 4 cups flour
1 egg
Mallorn leaves

Combine all ingredients in a bowl, setting aside about a tablespoon of the egg. Add enough flour to make the consitancy similar to a loose cookie dough. Drop by large tablespoon onto lightly greased cookie sheet and slighty flatten. You can also get a nice shape by cooking in a muffin tin. Brush tops with egg set aside earlier.

Bake at 400 degrees for about 10 minutes or until lightly browned. Store by wrapping in golden mallorn leaves. If the leaves are unavailable, simply store in airtight container. Makes approximately 12 - 24 lembas cakes depending upon size.

They were good, but they tasted...bread-ish. I liked them, but my friends didn't
smilies/frown.gif my dad liked them, so between the two of us, we finished them off pretty quickly. *laughs* I'm making them sound horrible! They weren't! Really!

Any-woo, I'll have to try that other recipe! It's getting some pretty good comments... Mmmm... lembas.

[Tarien Ithil]

Mallorn leaves

Pardon me, Amarantha, how are we to find them? Sadly, this is not Middle-earth ... smilies/frown.gif

Your fellow chef,

~Tarien

[Tarien Ithil]

I made lembas once. Even the birds wouldn't eat it!

That's negative, right? smilies/tongue.gif

[Amarantha_Daisy]

Pardon me, Amarantha, how are we to find them? Sadly, this is not Middle-earth ...

Well, it does say that if you can't store your lembas in mallorn leaves, you can store them in an airtight container. Although I don't know why you would want to replace the leaves. I have a mallorn tree right outside my front door......Okay, so it's an oak, but bear with me! smilies/wink.gif

[Annalaliath]

Or pretend ts a tamale and wrap it in corn husks.

[Sindafalathiel]

Quick question: is it as filling with the AP flour as it is with the special flour? I hope to make it today...this should be fun. I'm very glad that I have never managed to burn things, although it's probably only because I can hear the oven timer for completely across the house. (blame it on my elven hearing. smilies/tongue.gif)

[Rilwen Gamgee]

It tastes like fortune cookie cornbread.

Yeah, mine ended up like that, too.
Plus, I don't have a krumkake or pizzelle iron. I just used a frying pan, so they looked like pancakes. They turned out yummy anyway! smilies/smile.gif

[Annalaliath]

just to kick a dead horse! I am gonna try a Tangalo in my recipee this time.... :D


MM bringing back dead threads is fun....

Well, anyway i think that in the next batch i am gonna try some other things that i found at the Oriental food market.... mmmm. Any Ideas?

[Faramir]

I wonder what they use for Lembas in the movies....

[Annalaliath]

for some reason i don't want to know...

[~Lady Of The Wood~]

Ooh, I just made this and it turned out perfect! Instead of using an iron, I put square shaped globs of batter on a slightly greased cookie sheet and baked for about 5 minutes at 350. Then I flipped them, like pancakes, and baked for another approximate 5 minutes. They are just like the elf bread as I imagine it, because they are extremely filling and have a light taste, but are still flavourful. Now, if only I could find some mallorn leaves... I'm thinking of trying banana.
I was just joking that everyone would know how big an LotR freak I was if I stocked my Civil Air Patrol 72 hour survival pack with Lembas.... but anyway, thanks for the recipe!

That's great! I don't have a pizelle or crumcake iron, and I wondered if anyone had tried it on a cookie sheet! Now I can try it. Thanks!

[Annalaliath]

it doesn't matter i made mine like cornbread and it was good(insert Grr's voice here)

[zifnab]

If you are interested in other recipes, I had a thread a few years ago that I never actually went back and did what I was supposed to. So. please check it out for all you chefs out there.


http://forum.barrowdowns.com/showthread.php?p=126737#post126737

[Nazgûl-king]

I and my family cooked a batch of Lembas earlier today; I think it is really good! My Mom and Dad like it too.

[Annalaliath]

Cool. I haven't made this in a LONG time. I hope you enjoy.

[Groin Redbeard]

I made these for my family one morning, and everyone loved them (and me:D). THANK YOU LEMBAS.

[TheGreatElvenWarrior]

I should try making lembas, it would be fun my mom and I could make them. It would be great mother/daughter time!
:)

[Annalaliath]

Let us see if I can make this without setting anything on fire, or ticking my grandmother off.

I have learned a few more tricks to cooking in the last 6 years(?). I think I am gonna try honey and maybe a mixture of all purpose flour and Semolina. And oranges. Heck, I'll just write down my subs and maybe post them later.

So, anyone try this of late?

Edit

Okay so I have it in the oven and it looks good. This I just flew by the seat of my pants.

I put in the tale end of some ST. James Red Wine. It is one of the dryer wines they have.

I Also used some butter milk and regular milk.

I spaced the butter.

I put in 3 cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon, and anise seeds. I have a mortar and pestle so everything but the nutmeg and the cinnamon I ground up. I also used a little sea salt.

I covered the bottom and sides of an Iron skillet with Olive oil and poured the batter in it. It is baking now. When it is firm enough I will take it out and cover it with a glaze that I made with an egg white, Honey, melted butter, vanilla, and orange juice.

Also, I used 1 cup all purpose flour and 1 1/4 cup semolina flour.

I'll tell you how it tastes when its done.

Edit

It is not bad, but it is not exactly something I would want to take with me on a long trip. It is too moist.

[Laurinquë]

On a utter whim I decided to make lembas a couple of days ago. I'm really not sure what came over me. Probably procrastination.

Anyway, I followed the original recipe save for substituting all purpose flour for semolina. The first one I attempted to fry in a pan. This did not go well. Next I baked them in the oven for about 20 minutes at 350 degrees. This proved to work well for me and the lembas turned out quite tasty, just ask TheGreatElvenWarrior, she tried them. However, I would not recommend anyone else baking lembas quite the way I did; my oven is crazy and requires about twice to three times longer to cook than a sane oven. Follow the original instructions if you can.

In conclusion, the lembas were excellent. Must make more.

[TheGreatElvenWarrior]

The lembas was good! I loved it. Best lembas I've ever had... Only lembas I've ever had...

[Aiwë]

I think I'm going to try it...

[TheGreatElvenWarrior]

I think I'm going to try it...Oh very good! Lembas is lovely!