Gingerbread Recipe
INGREDIENTS
425g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
1tbsp ground ginger
2 tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp ground nutmeg
¼ tsp ground cloves
1 level tsp baking powder
½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
1tsp vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract
140g unsalted butter, softened
165g dark muscovado brown sugar
1 large egg yolk
165g black treacle
1tbsp milk
- In a mixing bowl, sieve together the flour, spices and raising agents.
- Cream the butter and sugar together in a bowl. Blend the egg yolk with the black treacle and milk. Add the vanilla and whisk into the creamed mixture.
- Add the spiced flour and mix until combined. Wrap the dough in cling film or place in a sealed container and chill for 30 minutes (or keep chilled for up to 3 days)
- When you are ready to bake, preheat the oven to 180C.
- Lightly dust a work surface with flour and roll out the dough to a thickness of 4-6mm.
- Stamp out your cookie shapes, place apart on a baking tray lined with baking paper and bake in the oven for 8-10 minutes until golden and browning on the edges.
COOKIES ON STICKS – insert a paper straw carefully once the cut out shape is on the baking tray, try to keep this as flat as possible. Place an extra piece of dough on the back to seal the straw before baking.
COOKIES WITH RIBBON – use the scribe tool to make a hole 0.75mm cm diameter in the cut out cookies before baking.
TO DECORATE - WITH ROYAL ICING
100g lightly pasteurised egg white at room temperature
450-500g icing sugar
Juice of ½ lemon
Lightly whisk the egg white until frothy. Add the icing sugar and whisk until frothy, glossy and meringue like. Change the whisk for the beater, add the lemon juice and beat on a medium speed for 10 minutes until smooth and glossy. Transfer the icing to a sealed tub and store at room temperature for up to 5 days.
Use this royal icing for all hand piping. The outlines and all white hand piping is applied using a No 2 nozzle. For finer detail (such as the flowers, lines, eyes, buttons) use a 1.5 nozzle or apply less pressure
TO COLOUR:
Portion the royal icing into smaller bowls and colour with gel concentrates to achieve your desired colours.
FLOODED ICING:
To flood the biscuits add a few tsp cold water to the icing and stir with a spoon. Flooding consistency is reached then the icing leaves a trail that completely settles and disappears by the count of 10.
This icing can be applied with a piping bag with no nozzle, or in a squeezie bottle if you are decorating lots of biscuits.
Between decorating, or not in use, keep all filled piping bags and nozzles in a sealed container to avoid the tips and icing from hardening. If the ends harden, wipe with a damp clean cloth and if necessary, clear with a pokey tool
TOP TIP
Fill a bowl with the flooded icing and dip each biscuit in the icing.