GINGERBREAD TREE DECORATIONS.

I don't think that the run up to Christmas is complete without some gingerbread in your life. With that in mind I wanted to create a super festive centrepiece perfect for any upcoming Christmas parties. To do this I decided to create my own decorations out of gingerbread to adorn my twig tree from Hobbycraft. 

YOU WILL NEED:

350g plain flour, 1 TSP bicarbonate of soda, 2 TSP ginger, 1 TSP cinnamon, 125g butter, 175g light brown sugar, 1 egg and 4 TBSP golden syrup. You will also need cookie cutters and to decorate the gingerbread you will need white designer icing and cake decorations. 

METHOD:

Start by sifting the flour, bicarbonate of soda, ginger and cinnamon into a bowl. Add the butter and mix until the mixture looks like breadcrumbs. Now follow up by stirring in the sugar. In a separate bowl mix together the egg and golden syrup with a fork and then combine with the original mixture. Your dough is ready when it clumps together. Next up you need to tip out the dough onto a floured surface and knead briefly until smooth, wrap the dough in clingfilm and leave to chill in the fridge for 15 minutes. Preheat the oven to 180C/Gas 4 and line two baking trays with greaseproof paper. Once the dough has chilled for 15 minutes roll it out onto a floured surface until the dough is roughly half a centimetre thick. Using cutters, cut out the different shapes and place on a baking tray making sure to leave a gap between each to ensure they don't merge in the oven. Bake for 12 - 15 minutes or until golden brown and then move onto a wire rack to cool. Whilst the gingerbread is fresh out of the oven and still warm use a metal straw or something similar to create a hole to thread your gingerbread with later. Once completely cooled all you need to do is decorate your gingerbread using icing and cake decorations. Leave the icing to set fully overnight before hanging them up using some suitably festive bakers twine. 

Not only do these gingerbread decorations look beautiful hanging in the centre of the dining table but they also create that delicious gingerbread scent around the table just encouraging you to nab one off the tree to enjoy with a lovely cup of tea.

For more gingerbread ideas for this Christmas why not check out a post from last year where I made a gingerbread house/lantern?