gingerbread characters

so this year i may have gone a little crazy with the gingerbreads, i made three batches, the first one was to share with family and friends, the second was for work (although not many of the gingerbread actually made it to work), and the last was with my best friend and her lovely little girl. the last batch were definitely the most fun to make, and probably the cutest too - my decorating techniques improved over the holiday season as you will see!

hope you enjoy!!
much love,
frankie.pleure

gingerbread characters

ingredients

400g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp ground ginger
2 tsp crushed ginger
100g brown sugar
4 tbsp golden syrup
1 egg
75g melted butter


icing ingredients
3 cups icing sugar
1 tsp lime or lemon juice
3 tsp water
red and green food colouring

sift flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and ground ginger together

add crushed ginger, egg, sugar, golden syrup and butter, mixing to form a smooth dough then chill until firm

preheat oven to 190C
turn dough out onto a floured surface and roll until approx 0.5 - 1cm thick

cut out shapes and arrange on baking trays

bake for 8 to 10 minutes then allow to cool


icing

mix icing sugar and lime or lemon juice, then add water until it forms a thick paste (consistency of play dough)
divide icing into thirds and add food green food colouring to one and red to another, mix a few more drops of water through white mixture until they are smooth and thick

pour each colour icing into a separate plastic bag, cut a tiny corner off the plastic bag and use to pipe designs onto your gingerbread

gingerbread batch 1

gingerbread batch 1 again

gingerbread batch 2

gingerbread batch 2 again

gingerbread batch 3

gingerbread batch 3 again