Romanian Vegan Gingerbread with Linden Leaves

Ingredients

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 340F
Make the Linden Leaf concentrate: Grind, finely chop or crumble linden leaves (you want to get about 1/8 cups of ground linden leaves.)
Place Linden leaves in a cheesecloth or tea infuser
Boil 1 cup water and remove from the heat
Add Linden leaves and let steep for 10 minutes
Remove leaves and set aside to cool
In a medium pot, pour sugar and allow caramelizing until amber color has been reached
Remove from the heat and add the cup of Linden leaf concentrate
Be careful not to burn yourself
It will bubble a lot and it is very hot
Mix until the sugar is melted and you have thick syrup
Add the vegetable oil
Set aside to cool down
Place the flour in a mixing bowl; add the baking soda and the spices
Pour the cool caramelized syrup over the dry ingredients and mix to combine
Optional add the raisins, chopped walnuts and orange peel
Place the mixture in a 9×13 baking pan and bake it for 25-30 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean
Cut in squares and serve