Nat’s gingerbread stars (or trees or people!)

* Begin preparing a day in advance.

Ingredients

85g unsalted butter, softened

90g dark brown sugar

1/4 cup golden syrup

1 egg yolk

235g plain flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg, freshly ground

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1/4 teaspoon white pepper

1/4 teaspoon allspice

1/2 quantity royal icing


Royal icing

2 egg whites

1 cup pure icing sugar

Method

Cream butter, sugar and golden syrup on medium speed in an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Mix in egg. Sift all dry ingredients together and incorporate into mixture on low speed. Spoon dough onto a piece of plastic film and press to form a 16 cm long rectangle. Wrap and chill overnight.

Next day, take dough from refrigerator and allow to sit for 1 hour to soften (if it is a warm day, 20 minutes will be ample).

Lightly flour 2 sheets of plastic film and roll out dough between these to a thickness of less than 5 mm. You will have a rectangle of about 26 cm x 30 cm.

Slip this (still between plastic sheets) on to a baking tray and chill for 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 170C and line another baking tray with baking paper. Cut out shapes from dough and, if making Christmas decorations, use a no. 3 piping nozzle or other implement to put a hole in each shape close to the upper edge. Be sure holes are large enough: if too small, they will close over during baking.

Transfer shapes to prepared tray and bake for 10–12 minutes until firm to the touch.

Meanwhile, squeeze any scraps of dough together and flatten to a rectangle as before, then chill for 20 minutes before re-rolling, cutting and cooking more shapes. Cool shapes completely before icing.

Pipe or spread royal icing* on to gingerbread shapes and allow to set for 1 hour. Tie raffia through holes to hang gingerbread on the Christmas tree, if desired, or store shapes carefully between sheets of baking paper in an airtight container.

*To make royal icing: Combine egg whites and icing sugar in an electric mixer on low speed.

Increase speed and beat until glossy and holding stiff peaks. Keep bowl covered with a damp cloth until icing is required (it will form a crust quickly when exposed to air).

Makes 15-18

Source: From Stephanie Alexander’s Cook’s Companion App for iOS or Android, free with In-App purchases from the App Store or Google Play.