Two Different Cookie Christmas Trees
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Difficulty:
moderate
Difficulty
Preparation:
50 min.
Preparation
ready in 2 h. 20 min.
Ready in
Ingredients
for
6
- For the dough
- 4 cups self-rising flour (plus extra for dusting)
- ¾ cup light brown sugar
- 1 Tbsp Ginger powder
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- ½ tsp grated Nutmeg
- 1 pinch ground cloves
- ¾ cup butter (chopped)
- 10 ozs light corn syrup
- 1 egg
- 2 balls fresh ginger (from a jar, finely chopped)
- For the icing
- 1 large egg white
- 2 ½ cups powdered sugar (more if needed)
Preparation steps
1.
Put the flour, sugar, spices and butter in a food processor and blend until crumbly. Add the syrup and egg and blend until combined.
2.
Knead in the chopped ginger on a floured surface until smooth, then wrap in cling film and chill for 1 hour.
3.
Divide the dough in half and roll out each piece between 2 sheets of non-stick baking paper about 5mm|1/4" thick. Chill for 30 minutes.
4.
Heat the oven to 180°C (160° fan) 350°F gas 4. Line 2 large baking trays with non-stick baking paper.
5.
Cut out stars, from 1 piece of dough, using star-shaped cookie cutters in graduated sizes; the smallest cutter should be about 4cm|1 1/2"and the largest about 10cm|4".
6.
Cut out Christmas tree shapes from the other piece of dough, using cookie cutters or a card template, re-rolling the trimmings and rolling again. Roll 3- 5 small balls of dough.
7.
Place the trees and the stars on the baking trays and bake for 10-15 minutes until golden. Smaller stars will need only 10 minutes. Cool on the baking trays for a few minutes, then place on a wire rack to cool completely.
8.
For the icing: sift the icing sugar into a bowl. Gradually add the egg white whisking with an electric whisk until smooth and thick. If required add more icing sugar. Spoon some of the icing into a piping bag.
9.
Spread the remaining icing over the Christmas trees and leave to set.
10.
Place the largest star on the base, securing with a dab of icing. Repeat with the remaining stars in order of size, pressing down slightly so the icing holds them together, finishing with the smallest stars at the top. Place a dough ball on the top of the tower.
11.
Pipe icing over the tower, to resemble snow and pipe on the flat Christmas trees, as in the photo.
