Dominoes

I know, I'm a bit late with this post of a traditional German Christmas treat... But work is keeping me pretty busy.
Anyways, I think these dominoes - a lebkuchen base, with quince jelly and orange-scented marzipan on top, dipped in chocolate - are a wonderful little treat any time during winter.
Dominoes - Dominosteine in German - aren't particularly hard to make; they do take some time, though. But there is no doubt they are worth the effort!

For 35-40 dominoes you will need:

For the lebkuchen-base:

• 130g (4.6 oz.) runny honey
• 30g (1 oz.) sugar
• 40g (1.4 oz.) butter
• 100g (3.5 oz.) milk chocolate
• 150g (5.3 oz.) all-purpose flour
• 2 heaped tsp. gingerbread spice (cinnamon, cloves, ginger, allspice, nutmeg)
• 1 tsp. ground tonka bean
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• a pinch of salt
• 1 egg 

For the filling:

• 200g (7 oz.) thick-cut quince jelly
• 200g (7 oz.) marzipan
• zest of one organic orange
• 1 tbsp.orange flower water
• 1-2 tbsp. icing suhar
• 200g (7 oz.) dark (couverture) chocolate

1. Preheat your oven to 160°C /320 F. Line a baking tray with baking parchment. Place a 20x20cm / 8x8 inch baking frame on the baking parchment. 
For the base, place honey, sugar and butter into a pan and bring to the boil. Let cool slightly. Chop the chocolate and add to the warm honey mixture and melt while stirring. Sift flour, baking powder, spices and salt into a large mixing bowl. Add the warm honey mixture and the egg and stir until you get a homogenous but gooey batter. Fill the batter into he baking frame and bake at 160°C / 320 F for about 25-30 minutes.

The base will feel very tough right after baking and cooling, which is normal. The base will become nice and soft after a day and have a perfect lebkuchen texture.

2. Knead the marzipan, adding the orange zest, orange flower water and the sifting sugar until smooth and no longer very sticky. Roll out to match the size of your baking frame and set aside.
After cooling, spread the quince jelly onto the lebkuchen base (you might want to gently heat the jelly to make it spreadable). Place the marzipan layer on top and refrigerate for about 30 minutes to help the layers stick together.

3. Cut your dominoes plate into cubes of about 3/4 inch x 3/4 inch.
Gently melt the chocolate over a hot-water bath. Dip each dominoe into the chocolate and let them set on a cooling rack or on a parchment-lined baking tray. Decorate with edible gold dust if you like.