Hayma Neunerlei and Treibkraft: what’s behind them

Hayma Neunerlei and Hayma Treibkraft on a baking table with Lebkuchen, spices and fir twigs

Hayma Neunerlei and Hayma Treibkraft

Hayma Neunerlei is a Pfefferkuchen spice, also called Lebkuchen spice on the pack. According to the packaging, Hayma Treibkraft is a “raising agent for Lebkuchen and Pfefferkuchen”. “Treibkraft” is the product name; the usual technical terms for it are raising agent or leavening agent. On this page you will find out what lies behind the names and the ingredients.

What does Neunerlei mean?

“Neunerlei” is a German numeral word like dreierlei or achterlei and, according to Duden, means: of nine different kinds or sorts.

A blend of nine spices for Lebkuchen and Pfefferkuchen has been handed down under the name Neunerlei spice. Which nine spices these are is not fixed.

The Hayma pack lists nine ingredients: pepper (white), coriander, aniseed, cloves, ginger, nutmeg, cinnamon, lemon and orange peel. According to the packaging, they are “particularly gently cold-ground ingredients”.

A brand with a history

According to the Preußische Allgemeine Zeitung (2022) and the Lippische Landes-Zeitung (2021), Hayma is an old brand of Pfefferkuchen spice with roots in Silesia. Both newspapers also report that the spice company J. Staesz jun. took over the Hayma-Werke in 1982 and that, for several years afterwards, the Pfefferkuchen spices from Hayma and Staesz came off the same production line.

Baker’s ammonia: why it belongs in flat baked goods

Alongside sodium hydrogen carbonate and potassium hydrogen tartrate, the ingredient list of Hayma Treibkraft also includes baker’s ammonia. Baker’s ammonia is a leavening agent and consists mainly of ammonium hydrogen carbonate. When heated, it breaks down into ammonia, carbon dioxide and water vapour; these gases aerate the dough.

The ammonia must be able to escape in the process. That is why baker’s ammonia is particularly suited to flat baked goods such as Lebkuchen, Printen, speculoos and biscuits, from which the ammonia dissipates during baking. In tall baked goods such as cakes, it would remain trapped and impair the flavour and colour.

Baker’s ammonia and potash are the classic raising agents for Lebkuchen; today they are often replaced by baking powder or baking soda. According to the packaging, one sachet of Hayma Treibkraft is enough for 1 kg of flour.

Pfefferkuchen or Lebkuchen?

Both words refer to the same baked good; Duden and DWDS list them as synonyms. Which one you hear depends on the region. “Pfefferkuchen” is used mainly in East Central Germany, for example in Saxony and Thuringia; in the south, west and north of Germany, “Lebkuchen” predominates. The Hayma pack names both: “Pfefferkuchengewürz (Lebkuchengewürz)”.

And the pepper in the name? Here, “Pfeffer” has served as a collective term for spices since the Middle Ages. According to the Leitsätze für Feine Backwaren (2025 revision), this part of the word merely indicates strong spicing.

Traditional Pfefferkuchen recipes from the GDR

The three recipes come from the 1968 edition of the GDR cookbook Wir kochen gut (Verlag für die Frau, Leipzig) and name no brand for the spice or the raising agent. The quantities follow the book. We have added the conversion to Hayma Neunerlei and Hayma Treibkraft; for the raising agent it is based on the package statement “Ausreichend für 1 kg Mehl” (“sufficient for 1 kg of flour”) and not on the original recipe.

Pfeffernüsse

From the chapter “Weihnachtsgebäck” (Christmas baking) – based on: Wir kochen gut, Verlag für die Frau, Leipzig 1968, p. 200.

Ingredients

  • 125 g invert sugar cream or syrup
  • 65 g sugar
  • 50 g lard
  • 250 g flour
  • 5 g Pfefferkuchen spice – that is ⅓ sachet of Hayma Neunerlei (15 g per sachet according to the package)
  • 8 g potash – instead of the potash: ¼ sachet of Hayma Treibkraft (3.75 g); in our version it replaces the potash of the original; the quantity is based on the package statement (according to the packaging, 1 sachet is sufficient for 1 kg of flour, here 250 g of flour), not on the original recipe
  • 1 tablespoon rum
  • egg white and sugar glaze as desired (the book gives no quantity)

Method

  1. Heat the invert sugar cream or syrup, the sugar and the lard together and let the mixture cool.
  2. Sift the flour with the Pfefferkuchen spice and dissolve the potash in the rum. If you use Hayma Treibkraft, sift it with the flour and spice and use the rum plain. This is our assumption: the package only gives the quantity, not how to add it; for the Honigkuchen, the same book has the baking powder sifted with the flour.
  3. Work the flour and the rum with the dissolved potash (or the plain rum) into the cooled mixture.
  4. If possible, let the dough rest for a few days.
  5. Shape the dough into logs just under 3 cm in diameter and cut them into slices 1 cm thick.
  6. Bake the slices at high heat for 8 to 10 minutes. The book gives a heat level, not a temperature in degrees.
  7. If you like, coat the Pfeffernüsse with egg white and sugar glaze while they are still warm.

Honigkuchen

In the book as a slab topped with almonds and as a thinner cut-out variant with sugar glaze – based on: Wir kochen gut, Verlag für die Frau, Leipzig 1968, p. 201.

Ingredients

  • 125 g honey
  • 65 g sugar
  • 1 pinch of salt
  • 65 g fat or margarine
  • 375 g flour
  • 1 packet of baking powder – instead of the baking powder: ½ sachet of Hayma Treibkraft (7.5 g); in our version it replaces the baking powder of the original; the quantity is based on the package statement (according to the packaging, 1 sachet is sufficient for 1 kg of flour, here 375 g of flour), not on the original recipe. Mathematically it comes to 0.375 of a sachet (5.6 g); since, according to the package statement, ¼ sachet is mathematically only sufficient for 250 g of flour, we round up to ½ sachet
  • 8 g Pfefferkuchen spice – that is just over ½ sachet of Hayma Neunerlei (15 g per sachet according to the package; ½ sachet is 7.5 g)
  • 1 large egg
  • sugar water for brushing (the book gives no quantity)
  • almond halves for topping (the book gives no quantity)
  • for the cut-out variant: sugar glaze (the book gives no quantity)

Method

  1. Heat the honey, sugar, salt and fat, take the pan off the heat and let everything cool.
  2. Sift the flour with the baking powder and the Pfefferkuchen spice. If you use Hayma Treibkraft, sift it in instead of the baking powder; this too is an assumption, because the package says nothing about how to add it.
  3. Work the flour and the egg into the cooled honey mixture.
  4. Roll the dough out into a slab 1 cm thick and brush it with sugar water.
  5. Mark out rectangular pieces and top each one with almond halves.
  6. Bake the slab at moderate heat and cut it into the marked pieces while it is still warm. The book gives neither a baking time nor a temperature in degrees.
  7. For the variant, roll the dough out thinner, cut out any shapes you like and coat them with sugar glaze after baking.

Schokoladenspitzen

Pfefferkuchen triangles in chocolate-fat glaze – based on: Wir kochen gut, Verlag für die Frau, Leipzig 1968, p. 200, the glaze p. 203.

Ingredients

  • 375 g syrup or invert sugar cream
  • 500 g flour
  • 1 pinch of salt
  • 1 teaspoon Pfefferkuchen spice – measured out from a sachet of Hayma Neunerlei (15 g)
  • 2 teaspoons cocoa
  • 1 egg
  • 2 tablespoons rum or brandy
  • 5 g baker's ammonia and 5 g potash – instead of both: ½ sachet of Hayma Treibkraft (7.5 g); in our version it replaces the baker's ammonia and the potash of the original; the quantity is based on the package statement (according to the packaging, 1 sachet is sufficient for 1 kg of flour, here 500 g of flour), not on the original recipe

For the chocolate-fat glaze (Schokoladen-Fett-Glasur, p. 203)

  • 150 g icing sugar (powdered sugar)
  • 2 tablespoons cocoa
  • 3 tablespoons water
  • 2 tablespoons melted coconut fat (in the book excerpt we checked, the last word is cut off; the reproduction on ddr-rezepte.net has “Kokosfett”, i.e. coconut fat)

Method

  1. Warm the syrup and let it cool again.
  2. Sift the flour with the salt, Pfefferkuchen spice and cocoa.
  3. Dissolve the baker's ammonia and the potash separately in the rum or brandy. If you use Hayma Treibkraft, sift it with the flour in step 2 and use the rum or brandy plain. This is our assumption: the package only gives the quantity, not how to add it; for the Honigkuchen, the same book has the baking powder sifted with the flour.
  4. Knead the flour, the egg and the dissolved raising agents (or the plain rum or brandy) into the cooled syrup.
  5. Shape the dough into strips about 3 cm wide and bake them at moderate heat. The book gives neither a baking time nor a temperature in degrees.
  6. For the glaze, sift the icing sugar and cocoa together, stir in the hot water and then the melted coconut fat. We describe this step in our own words based on the reproduction on ddr-rezepte.net; the book does not say whether the quantity is enough for all the Schokoladenspitzen.
  7. While the strips are still fresh, cut them into triangles, spear each triangle on a roulade skewer and dip it into the glaze.

Sources of the recipes: Wir kochen gut, Verlag für die Frau, Leipzig, 1968 edition – Pfeffernüsse and Schokoladenspitzen p. 200, Honigkuchen p. 201, Schokoladen-Fett-Glasur (chocolate-fat glaze) p. 203. Checked against the reprint “Wir kochen gut. Nach der Ausgabe von 1968”, BuchVerlag für die Frau, Leipzig, ISBN 978-3-89798-329-8, and against the reproduction of the recipes on ddr-rezepte.net (pages /pfeffernuesse/, /honigkuchen/, /schokoladenspitzen/ and /schokoladen-fett-glasur/; the glaze detail “Kokosfett”, i.e. coconut fat, comes from there). The information on Hayma Neunerlei (Pfefferkuchen spice, 15 g per sachet) and Hayma Treibkraft (raising agent for Lebkuchen and Pfefferkuchen, 15 g per sachet, “Ausreichend für 1 kg Mehl” – sufficient for 1 kg of flour) comes from the packages. That Hayma Treibkraft replaces potash, baking powder and baker's ammonia in these recipes is our own conversion and not a statement on the package.

Hayma in the shop

You will also find all three in the Autumn & Winter Special category. The full food information is on the product pages.

Sources

  • Duden and DWDS, dictionary entries
  • Preußische Allgemeine Zeitung, 8 October 2022
  • Lippische Landes-Zeitung, 2021
  • Wikipedia, articles “Hirschhornsalz”, “Lebkuchengewürz”, “Lebkuchen” and “Triebmittel”
  • Leitsätze für Feine Backwaren, Deutsches Lebensmittelbuch (2025 revision)
  • Consumer portals: Verbraucherfenster Hessen, VerbraucherService Bayern (2024)
  • Packaging information for Hayma Neunerlei and Hayma Treibkraft