Gingerbread Shapes

Gingerbread has been a popular treat all over the world for many years. It features in popular fairy tales such as ‘Hansel and Gretel’ and ‘The Gingerbread Man’. Use different-shaped cutters to make seasonal treats for festivals and events.

Ingredients

1 small orange
1 egg
125g plain flour (plus extra for dusting)
125g wholemeal flour
½ x 5ml spoon bicarbonate of soda
1 x 15ml spoon ground ginger
1 x 5ml spoon ground cinnamon (optional)
50g soft brown sugar
50g unsaturated fat spread
Decorations such as currants and glacé cherries

Equipment

Weighing scales
Baking trays x 2
Baking parchment
Scissors
Grater
Chopping board
Sharp knife
Juice squeezer
Small bowl
Measuring spoons
Fork
Sieve
Mixing bowl
Table knife
Rolling pin
Biscuit cutters
Fish slice
Cooling rack
Pan stand

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/160°C fan or gas mark 4.
2. Cut pieces of baking parchment the same size as the baking trays.
3. Grate the zest and squeeze the juice from the orange.
4. Break the egg into a small bowl. Add the orange zest and 2 x 15ml spoons of the juice and beat together with a fork.
5. Sift the flours, bicarbonate of soda, ginger and cinnamon (if using) into the mixing bowl and add the sugar.
6. Add the spread and cut into pieces using the table knife.
7. Rub the spread into the flour and sugar using clean fingertips until the mixture looks like breadcrumbs.
8. Add the egg and orange mixture and stir with the knife to form a stiff, smooth dough, adding a little more orange juice if needed. Squeeze the dough into a ball using your hands.
9. Sprinkle flour onto a clean, dry work surface and rolling pin and roll the dough out evenly.
10. Using a biscuit cutter, cut out the shapes. Use a fish slice to carefully place them on the baking tray.
11. Decorate with dried fruit. For example, if making gingerbread people, use currants for eyes and buttons and a small piece of glacé cherry for a mouth.
12. Bake for 8–10 minutes in the middle of the oven until golden.
13. Take the baking trays out of the oven and when the biscuits are cool and hard, lift them onto the cooling rack using a fish slice.

Skills used include:
Weighing, measuring, rubbing-in, mixing/combining, rolling, baking and serving.

Top Tips

• When sifting the flour add any grains left in the sieve from the wholemeal flour back into the bowl.
• Using baking parchment on the baking tray prevents the biscuits from sticking and keeps the tray clean!

Something to try next time

• Try making different shapes and decorating them with a variety of dried fruit or icing.
• To make Chocolate Orange Gingerbread Shapes replace 1 x 15ml spoon of plain flour with 1 x 15ml spoon of cocoa powder and continue to make the dough in the same way.

Prepare now, eat later

• The spread can be rubbed into the flour and sugar in advance. Keep this in sealed plastic bags in the fridge for up to 5 days.
• Make the dough up to step 8, then wrap it in cling film and keep in the fridge for up to 2 days.
• Store the gingerbread shapes in an airtight container for up to a week.