Gingerbread star decorations

Makes 12
Preparation time 30 minutes
Cooking time 10 minutes

Ingredients
175g plain white flour
½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tbsp ground ginger
½ tbsp ground cinnamon
¼ tsp ground cloves
65g butter
90g soft brown sugar
2 tbsp golden syrup
1 egg

For the icing
1 egg white
Sifted icing sugar
Food colouring

Gingerbread is a childhood favourite and conjures up warm images of gingerbread houses in fairy tales like Hansel and Gretel. For the ultimate homemade Christmas, why not try making these delicious gingerbread stars with the kids?

Method
1. Blend the butter with a mixture of the spices, bicarbonate of soda and flour. Do this until it is like breadcrumbs and then mix in the sugar.

2. Beat an egg into slightly warmed syrup and pour into the mixture from step 1, mixing until it becomes a soft dough. Kneed until smooth.

3. Make a 5mm (¼ inch) thick dough layer on a floured surface and cut out biscuit shapes using various cutters.

4. Pierce a 5mm hole in each one for putting ribbon through later on, for hanging.

5. Put two non stick baking sheets on two baking trays.

6. Place the shaped cut outs on the baking sheets approximately 2cm apart and back at 190°C / 375°F / gas mark 5 until golden brown, checking after 10 minutes.

7. Allow to cool and harden for 10 minutes before placing on a wire rack until cold.

8. For the icing, add sifted icing sugar to a beaten egg until stiff enough for piping. Add colouring if required to brighten up the decorations.