gingerbread - the christmas collection

gingerbread - the christmas collection

• 20 Dec 2011

I've always loved gingerbread men. If I find myself in a cake shop that has gingerbread men on the shelf, one always seems to come home with me. I think I may have made them once when I was still at school but that was a long time ago. I vowed I was going to make them this year so hunted for a recipe. The first one I tried was a bit of a disaster as the addition of the baking soda turned the mixture into honeycomb. I found another recipe and tried again.



This one worked like a charm and in a short while I was using my new gingerbread cutter to turn out some of these little men.



I didn't want to ice the gingerbread men so I used currants for eyes and glace cherries for the mouth then placed them into cellophane bags sealed with bakers twine. All my friends will be getting one of these tucked into their Christmas gifts this year.



Gingerbread Men (makes 14)
Adapted from Good Taste Magazine December 2007 (printable version)
Ingredients
50 g butter
100g (½ cup) firmly packed brown sugar
125 mls (½ cup) golden syrup
1 egg, lightly whisked
300 g (2 cups) plain flour
75 g (½ cup) self raising flour
2 teaspoons ground ginger
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
¾ teaspoon ground cloves
¼ teaspoon ground white pepper
½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
Glace cherries and currants to decorate

Method
Place the butter, sugar and golden syrup in a small saucepan over a low heat.
Stir until the butter melts and the sugar dissolves. Set aside for 10 minutes to cool slightly.

Combine the butter mixture and egg in a large bowl. Sift the combined flour, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, pepper and bicarbonate of soda over the butter mixture. Stir until well combined.

Turn onto a lightly floured surface and gently knead until smooth. Shape into a disc. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge for 1 hour to rest.

Preheat the oven to 180ºC/350°F. Line 2 baking trays with non-stick baking paper. Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface until 5 mm thick. Use a 12 cm gingerbread man shaped cutter to cut out shapes. Re-knead offcuts and chill before rolling out again.

Place the gingerbread men on the lined trays leaving room to spread. To decorate, press in currants to make eyes and buttons and a sliver of glace cherries for a mouth. Return trays to the fridge for a further hour before baking.

Bake the gingerbread men for 10-15 minutes or until golden. Set aside on the trays for 5 minutes to cool before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

The gingerbread men will harden as they cool.



See you all again tomorrow for Day 3 of the Christmas Collection.

Jillian