The name comes from the surname Wibel, the pastry chef who created the recipe. This small hard meringue is only about 2 cm (0.8 inches) long with a very characteristic and distinctive "eight" shape.
This recipe comes from the region called Franconia, which is currently divided between several federal states, although most of it is in Bavaria. The most important city in Franconia is Nuremberg. Today Wibele are in fact considered a recipe of Swabian cuisine, so they are often popularly known as Schwäbische Wibele (Swabian wibele).
They require very few ingredients and are easy to make.
INGREDIENTS :
- 250 grams (9 oz) of icing sugar
- 200 grams (7 oz) of white wheat flour
- 5 egg whites
- 1 heaping tablespoon vanilla sugar
- 1 pinch of salt
- A few drops of lemon juice
First, beat the egg whites with a few drops of lemon juice and a pinch of salt until they are stiff. They must be very firm, so that when you turn the bowl over, the egg whites stick to it and do not fall out.
Sift the sugar, flour and vanilla sugar, mixing them in a bowl. Then add the whipped egg whites and beat well to obtain a homogeneous mass.
Fill a pastry bag with the resulting dough, with a small nozzle, and then place a small ball of dough on a piece of parchment paper (or baking paper).
Then, right next to the previous one, we deposit other balls of the same size that will adhere by proximity to the first. This will form the typical figure eight shape of these cookies. We finish the dough contained in the pastry bag and let it rest overnight to harden (8 hours).
Remember that the maximum length is about 2 cm (0.8 inches). At 8 hours we preheat the oven to 180 degrees (356 F) and place the cookies in the central part of the oven and leave them for about 6 minutes.
They are eaten cold and are a delight, the best to accompany tea or coffee.