Cookie in Shape of Woman

Heat the sugar, syrup, treacle, spices and butter in a pan over a low heat, stirring until melted.

Remove from the heat and stir in the bicarbonate of soda and the flour, to form a soft dough. Wrap in cling film and leave to cool, then chill for 2 hours.

Knead the dough until smooth and pliable and divide in half. Roll out each piece between 2 sheets of non-stick baking paper, about 5mm|1/4" thick. Chill (in the paper) for 30 minutes.

Chill the rolled out dough, still in the baking paper in the fridge for 30 minutes or until firm.

Heat the oven to 190°C (170° fan) 375°F gas 5.

Peel off the top piece of baking paper and using a large cookie cutter or card template, cut out a gingerbread man or woman shape from each dough sheet.

Place each piece on a baking tray (still on the paper) and bake for about 12 minutes until golden. Cool on the baking trays.

For the icing: sift the icing sugar into a bowl and beat in the lemon juice and just enough water to give a thick consistency. The mixture should be thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Put half into another bowl and stir in a few drops of food colouring.