Baking Gingerbread

A little while ago I was contacted by online store Find Me A Gift (www.findmeagift.co.uk) to see if I would like to review this Joseph Joseph food preparation set.

Yes please!  I had been looking at the set for a while (to the point where I have once actually popped the box into my shopping trolley before becoming consumed with guilt - I'm supposed to spend our food money on sausages and things) so I was excited to finally give them a try.

Postage was fast - I emailed on the Friday evening with my address and the postie was knocking on the door early the next morning with my parcel in his mitts.  Super speedy.

I love this set.  Aside from the fact that the colours are gorgeous, the stackability* of it appeals to the [currently AWOL] neat freak in me and saves valuable space in my already groaning kitchen cupboards.

Look at those zingy colours! 

mixing bowl, colander, sieve, pouring bowl and measuring cups

The large mixing bowl is a good size and could take a six-egg cake batter quite comfortably.  I made gingerbread and it was easily big enough for a good wodge* of dough.  The bowl also has rubber feet to stop it slipping when you get busy with the hand mixer.



If you've fancied picking up some of these bowls, it's worth having a look at Find Me A Gift.

Link here

So.  Want to make some gingerbread men, too?  Gingerbread biscuits are enjoyed all year round in our house and not just at Christmas.

It's a dead simple recipe and makes perfectly tasty biscuits.  I have used other recipes involving a longer list of ingredients but this is most consistently enjoyed by people of all ages in my experience.  I found the recipe on the internet a few years ago - sorry if it's yours! (If it is, let me know and I'll do a link back to you).

You will need: 

125g butter

125g soft light brown sugar

200g golden syrup

1 egg yolk

425g plain flour

1 tablespoon ground ginger

1 teaspoon bicarb of soda

Cream together the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy.  Beat in the golden syrup and egg yolk.  Sift and stir in the dry ingredients in two batches, press mixture into a ball and knead on a lightly floured surface until smooth.  Cover and put in fridge for about 30 mins.  

Roll out to about 5mm thick (I always roll onto a sheet of greaseproof paper because the dough can be a bit sticky).  Cut into shapes and bake on gas mark 5 (190C) for 8 - 10 minutes.  The longer you bake, the crunchier they will be.  Their colour doesn't change all that much when baked - they are quite pale biscuits.  If they turn brown they are burning!  I bake for the shortest amount of time because we like our gingerbread men to be quite soft. 

Leave on the baking tray to cool for a few minutes then transfer to a wire rack.   They will still be quite soft at this point but they will crisp up.   Once completely cooled, decorate however you fancy.  I use strawberry buttons, mini chocolate beans, jelly tots and all kinds of small sweets.  You can also, of course, get creative with the royal icing.  A gingerbread man wearing Y-fronts and a bow tie is super cute.

Keep your eyes peeled because next time I'll be stopping by with a baking-themed giveaway!

Speaking of keeping eyes peeled, I've injured my left eye.  A torn cornea which has developed into an ulcer.  AN ULCER ON MY EYEBALL.  How gross does that sound?!   Quite the most painful and irritating experience.  I am applying eye drops on an hourly basis and even have to set my alarm three times throughout the night to use the drops.  Morale is low.  I'm wearing geeky glasses and a grimace most of the time.  

Sympathy around here is in short supply.  I think the husband's patience started to wane when I woke him up at 4am on Wednesday wailing that I was going blind.  I am a bit of a drama queen but, man, it was scary! :-)

Have a good weekend! 

Nicki 

x

*I don't think these words are in the dictionary, but they should be.  Probably just an oversight.