On the Coast – Over 55 Issue 32 I November/December 2019(clone) | Page 5

Gingerbread Christmas Tree
Ingredients
100g (½ cup, firmly packed)
brown sugar
125ml (½ cup) golden syrup
50g butter
340g (2 ½ cups) plain flour
1 teaspoon ground cloves
½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1 egg, lightly whisked
330g pkt royal icing
75g (½ cup) self-raising flour 60ml (¼ cup) fresh lemon juice,
strained
1 ½ tablespoons ground ginger Gold or silver cachous, to decorate
1 ½ teaspoons mixed spice
Method
STEP 1
Place the sugar, golden syrup and
butter in a small saucepan over low
heat. Cook, stirring, for 3-5 minutes,
until the butter is melted and sugar
is dissolved. Set aside for 5 minutes to
cool slightly.
STEP 2
Combine flours, ginger, mixed spice,
cloves and bicarb in a large bowl.
Add sugar mixture and egg. Stir to
combine. Turn dough onto a lightly
floured surface. Knead until smooth.
Divide into 2 portions. Shape into
discs. Wrap in plastic wrap and place
in the fridge for 1 hour to chill.
STEP 3
Preheat oven to 170C/150C fan
forced. Line 3 large baking trays
with baking paper. Roll 1 portion of
dough out on a lightly floured sheet
of baking paper until 3mm thick. Use
star cutters to cut out four 2cm stars,
six 4cm stars, six 6cm stars, six 8cm
stars, six 10cm stars and six 12cm stars
from the dough, re-rolling the dough
if necessary (use the second portion
if you need to, or reserve for another
use). Place on prepared trays. Use the
tip of a 1cm plain piping nozzle to cut
out a hole in the centre of each star.
Bake for 10-12 minutes or until light
golden and crisp. Set aside on the trays
to cool completely.
STEP 4
Place the royal icing in a large bowl.
Add the lemon juice. Use a balloon
whisk to whisk the icing for 3-5
minutes or until the icing is thick
and increased in volume. If the icing
is too thick and stiff to pipe, add a
little hot water and whisk again to
loosen up slightly. Place icing in a
piping bag fitted with a 1-2mm plain
nozzle. Decorate the points of the
stars with icing. Set aside for 3-4
hours or until set.
STEP 5
To assemble the tree, thread the 12cm
stars onto a plastic dowel rod, glueing
each layer with icing and rotating
stars slightly as you go (see top tips).
Continue threading and glueing the
remaining stars, in decreasing size,
finishing with a 2cm star glued with
icing upright at the top of the tree.
Pipe extra icing on the stars to create
a snowy look and decorate with
cachous. Set aside to set.
NOTES
You can purchase ‘Christmas tree’
cookie cutter sets with all the
different sized star cutters that are
required for making a gingerbread
Christmas tree.
Purchase plastic dowel rods from
specialty cake or craft stores. Ensure
the width of the dowel rod is less than
1cm. Before you start glueing the
stars with icing, thread the stars onto
the dowel rod to measure how tall
the tree will be. Then, use a serrated
knife to trim the dowel rod to fit.