Making Gingerbread People
So for my prac, I have a lesson coming up where I want my students to write a procedure on how to decorate a gingerbread person, and after when they finish writing it, they can try it out and decorate one, and see if by following their instructions they have written, they would get the result they are after. That's the theory anyway! And of course, on the day of that lesson (Wednesday) my supervisor will be coming in to watch me >_<" Crossed fingers it will go well! So in preparation of that lesson, and since I know that I would have little or no time at all to make and bake the gingerbread people before that day, I made them tonight! Since they can keep for up to a month after being baked - as long as they are in an airtight container!
So, for the recipe!
Ingredients:
Gingerbread People
250g of Butter
1 cup (firmly packed) or 200g of brown sugar
250mL or 1 cup of Golden Syrup
2 Egg Yolks
750g or 5 cups of Plain Flour
2 tablespoons of Ground ginger
2 teaspoons of Bicarbonate Soda
2 teaspoons of Mixed Spice
Equipment:
1 Large Mixing Bowl
1 Electric Mixer
Measuring cups/scales
Baking Trays
Baking paper
Rolling pin
Wooden Spoon
Measuring spoons
Glad wrap
Gingerbread man cookie cutter
Method:
1. Use an electric mixer, and beat the butter, and gradually add in the sugar until the colour is a light brown and the texture is creamy. The butter should be at room temperature - if not, grate the butter in and it will be soft enough to use.
2. Add in the golden syrup and the egg yolks and beat until combined.
3. Switch to a wooden spoon, and mix in the plain flour, ground ginger, bicarbonate soda and mixed spice in gradual amounts.
4. Knead the dough with your hands until it is smooth. Once done, make a lump of it, and glad wrap it, and put it into the fridge for half an hour to rest.
5. Then take it out of the fridge, unwrap it.
6. It should be this colour.
7. Get baking paper and spread a length of it onto the table. Break off chunks of the dough and put it onto the baking paper.
8. Get another (equal) length of baking paper, and lay it over the dough.
9. Get a rolling pin, and start rolling it until the dough is roughly a bit less than 1cm thick (75mm is ideal). By using the baking sheets, you won't make a huge mess on the kitchen table, and the dough won't stick to the rolling pin either.
10. Remove the top sheet of baking paper, and using the gingerbread man cutter, press it into the dough firmly to cut out the shapes.
11. Once that is done, preheat the oven to 180'C, and cover some baking trays with baking paper, and lay the gingerbread men onto it. Make sure that there is about a 2 to 3cm gap between each gingerbread men. They expand a bit when cooking, and you don't want them to get stuck together!
12. Bake them for about 10 minutes, or when you see the edges going a bit brown.
13. While the first batch is baking, you can keep on rolling out and cutting out more from the left over dough. So anyway, you pull them out once you see the edges going a bit brown or after 10 minutes.
14. The middle should still be a bit soft to the touch. Don't worry, you need to flip them over while still on the tray.
15. Once you have all of them flipped over on the tray, leave them there for about 3 minutes.
16. And then transfer them onto cooling racks.
17. Once they have cooled down completely, they should be hard to the touch, and ready to eat, or to store into an airtight container!
So-o-o-o, that's how I make my gingerbread people. I will post soon about how I make the icing for them - since I can only make them a day in advance for the lesson, and of course, with the icing you can used them in conjunction with smarties, m&m's, mini m&m's, mini marshmallows, sour rainbow straps, jelly beans and so on, to decorate them! From the recipe I used, I made a batch of roughly 30 gingerbread men, but that's because I made them quite thick. They needed to be sturdy for students to decorate, else, I suspect they will be broken far too easily, and tears will be in effect!
^_^
So, for the recipe!
Ingredients:
Gingerbread People
250g of Butter
1 cup (firmly packed) or 200g of brown sugar
250mL or 1 cup of Golden Syrup
2 Egg Yolks
750g or 5 cups of Plain Flour
2 tablespoons of Ground ginger
2 teaspoons of Bicarbonate Soda
2 teaspoons of Mixed Spice
Equipment:
1 Large Mixing Bowl
1 Electric Mixer
Measuring cups/scales
Baking Trays
Baking paper
Rolling pin
Wooden Spoon
Measuring spoons
Glad wrap
Gingerbread man cookie cutter
Method:
1. Use an electric mixer, and beat the butter, and gradually add in the sugar until the colour is a light brown and the texture is creamy. The butter should be at room temperature - if not, grate the butter in and it will be soft enough to use.
2. Add in the golden syrup and the egg yolks and beat until combined.
3. Switch to a wooden spoon, and mix in the plain flour, ground ginger, bicarbonate soda and mixed spice in gradual amounts.
4. Knead the dough with your hands until it is smooth. Once done, make a lump of it, and glad wrap it, and put it into the fridge for half an hour to rest.
5. Then take it out of the fridge, unwrap it.
6. It should be this colour.
7. Get baking paper and spread a length of it onto the table. Break off chunks of the dough and put it onto the baking paper.
8. Get another (equal) length of baking paper, and lay it over the dough.
9. Get a rolling pin, and start rolling it until the dough is roughly a bit less than 1cm thick (75mm is ideal). By using the baking sheets, you won't make a huge mess on the kitchen table, and the dough won't stick to the rolling pin either.
10. Remove the top sheet of baking paper, and using the gingerbread man cutter, press it into the dough firmly to cut out the shapes.
11. Once that is done, preheat the oven to 180'C, and cover some baking trays with baking paper, and lay the gingerbread men onto it. Make sure that there is about a 2 to 3cm gap between each gingerbread men. They expand a bit when cooking, and you don't want them to get stuck together!
12. Bake them for about 10 minutes, or when you see the edges going a bit brown.
13. While the first batch is baking, you can keep on rolling out and cutting out more from the left over dough. So anyway, you pull them out once you see the edges going a bit brown or after 10 minutes.
14. The middle should still be a bit soft to the touch. Don't worry, you need to flip them over while still on the tray.
15. Once you have all of them flipped over on the tray, leave them there for about 3 minutes.
16. And then transfer them onto cooling racks.
17. Once they have cooled down completely, they should be hard to the touch, and ready to eat, or to store into an airtight container!
So-o-o-o, that's how I make my gingerbread people. I will post soon about how I make the icing for them - since I can only make them a day in advance for the lesson, and of course, with the icing you can used them in conjunction with smarties, m&m's, mini m&m's, mini marshmallows, sour rainbow straps, jelly beans and so on, to decorate them! From the recipe I used, I made a batch of roughly 30 gingerbread men, but that's because I made them quite thick. They needed to be sturdy for students to decorate, else, I suspect they will be broken far too easily, and tears will be in effect!
^_^