Gingerbread Men

It's my nephew Louie's 6th birthday today! And so there is a big birthday party at his house this Saturday. I was placed on gingerbread man duty which I was very pleased about! I hadn't made gingerbread men since I was a little girl with my nana. I did drink a bottle of wine, and then some as i made them, so the icing is a little skewif! But I'm sure Louie and his friends will devour them! I was lazy (and drunk) so instead of making up my own icing I used the colourful, premade icing in the tubes. It did make it a lot quicker and easier. However, the premade icing tastes like musk. I believe a true gingerbread man should have home made icing. But overall they were really fantastic! I was very proud!



Melted butter, to grease
125g butter, at room temperature
100g (1/2 cup, firmly packed) brown sugar
125ml (1/2 cup) golden syrup
1 egg, separated
375g (21/2 cups) plain flour
1 tbs ground ginger
1 tsp mixed spice
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
Plain flour, to dust
Icing, to decorate
Smarties, to decorate

Preheat oven to 180°C. Brush 2 baking trays with melted butter to lightly grease.
Use an electric beater to beat the butter and sugar in a bowl until pale and creamy. Add the golden syrup and egg yolk and beat until combined. Stir in the flour, ginger, mixed spice and bicarbonate of soda. Turn onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth. Press dough into a disc. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge for 30 minutes to rest.


Place the dough between 2 sheets of baking paper and roll out until about 4mm thick. Use a 9cm gingerbread man cutter to cut out shapes. Place on trays about 3cm apart. Repeat with any excess dough.


Bake in oven for 10 minutes or until brown. Remove from oven. Transfer to a rack to cool.
Pipe icing over gingerbread men to decorate. Finish with Smarties.


E.