Gingerbread
Christmastree
MAKES 24 BISCUITSTOMAKE1 L ARGE
TREE.HANDS-ONTIME 30 MIN,OVENTIME
30 MIN,PLUSDECORATINGANDSETTINGMAKE
AHEADStore the decorated biscuits
in a cake tin for up to
2 weeks – an airtight
container could cause the biscuits
to turn a bit soggy/discolour.- 3 quantities master gingerbread
dough, rolled and chilled - 1 quantity master royal icing
- 1 quantity master icing glue
- Icing sugar to dust
YOU’LL ALSO NEED...
Snowflake or star-shape cookie
cutters of 7 varying sizes (we used
14.5cm, 14cm, 11cm, 7cm, 4.5cm,
3.5cm snowflake cutters and
a 3cm star-shape cutter); 4 baking
sheets lined with compostable
baking paper; 2 piping bags:
one with a no. 2 plain nozzle
and one with a no. 8 star nozzle1 Heat the oven to 180°C/160°C fan/
gas 4. Take 3 quantities of rolled
chilled gingerbread dough, put on
the prepared baking sheets and
cut out: 3 biscuits using a 14.5cm
cutter; 4 biscuits using a 14cm
cutter; 6 biscuits using an 11cmcutter; 5 biscuits using a 7cm cutter;
3 biscuits using a 4.5cm cutter;
2 biscuits using a 3.5cm cutter;
and, lastly, a 3cm star-shape biscuit
for the top of the tree. Leave a 2cm
gap between each biscuit. Peel off
the trimmings, re-roll and cut out
as needed (see baking tips, p72).
3 Put the biscuits 2cm apart on
the prepared sheets (you may need
to reuse these) and freeze for 30
minutes or until very firm. Bake in
batches for 12-15 minutes until light
golden. Cool slightly on the sheets,
then put on a wire rack to cool.
4 Spoon the royal icing into the
piping bags and decorate the
biscuits however you like. After
you’ve used the thicker royal icing
for details and edges (use the bag
with the star nozzle for any star
decorations), put the runnier icing
glue into the now-empty bag with
the plain nozzle to flood a few
biscuits with icing. Set aside for
the icing to set for at least 4 hours.
5 To assemble the tree, stack the
biscuits on a plate from largest
to smallest, securing with dots of
icing glue in between each cookie.
Dust the gingerbread tree with
a little icing sugar to serve.
PER BISCUIT (AVERAGE) 470kcals,
14.2g fat (8.6g saturated), 6.2g
protein, 78.1g carbs (41.4g sugars),
0.2g salt, 2.1g fibremake it special.
NEXT
MONTH
Easy bakes and
showstoppers
for holidays
and, of course,
the big day