Gingerbread Men .... I was writing up the header for this blog post and wondered if I should rather be writing Gingerbread Women, or People? ...it's all so confusing these days! I've always loved making these over the Christmas period, they are super easy (and I'm no home baker) and the kids love decorating them. A little bit of research has revealed some interesting facts about the history of Gingerbread Men I thought you might like to know. They date back to Queen Elizabeth 1 in the 16th Century. Seems she was a creative with a good sense of humour and had her baker fashion Gingerbread Men as replicas of visiting dignitaries, probably as an ice breaker at formal functions. On the flip side they were also made as love tokens by folk medicine practioners for young women looking for love. If they could get the man of choice to eat their Gingerbread creation, they would have him as their true love.... just a thought before you hand out those Gingerbread Men willy nilly this year.......
Makes: 15 Prep Time: 30 mins Cooking Time: 10-15mins Eat Time: 30 seconds
Ingredients:
450g plain flour
2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp bicarb of soda
115g butter
5 Tbsp golden syrup
150g soft brown sugar
1 egg, beaten
How to make the magic:
1. Preheat your oven to 180 deg C. Line a baking tray with grease proof paper.
2. Sift the flour, ginger and bicarb of soda together into a bowl and mix
3. Gently heat the butter, golden syrup and sugar in a saucepan until syrupy. Add to the flour mixture, together with the beaten egg. Mix to form a soft dough.
4. Roll out the dough on a floured bench top to roughly 8mm and using a shaped cutter, stamp out your gingerbread men. Re-roll dough as needed. Place on to your baking sheet at least 5cm apart and bake for 10-15 mins, until brown. Leave to cool for a few minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
5. Have fun decorating with icing, chocolates and sweets.
6. Share or eat them all!
Would love to know how you get on: For added Gingerness, light our Gingerbread Candle or Wax Melts whilst you devour them!
Comments will be approved before showing up.
