As it's the day before Valentine's Day I couldn't resist baking some love heart shaped gingerbread valentine cookies to celebrate the occasion. But let me start by saying, Valentine's Day is definitely not something that I particularly look forward to. I'm always single. And there's a day a few days before it that receives my full attention and excitement; my birthday. But there's nothing to say that you can't treat yourself. Or your nearest and dearest. To some sweet treats in the run up to the day itself.
This bake is a little more advanced than last month's bake. But trust me when I say that it's well worth the extra time and energy. Plus you don't necessarily need to spend a good thirty minutes trying to decorate them like I did. But just look how cute they are!
Ingredients
350g Plain Flour
1 teaspoon of Bicarbonate of Soda
2 teaspoons of Ground Ginger
1 teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
125g Butter
175g Soft Brown Sugar
1 Egg
4 tablespoon of Golden Syrup
Writing Icing
Cake Decorations
Step One:
Sift the flour, bicarbonate of soda, ginger and cinnamon into a bowl. And rub in the butter until the mix resembles bread crumbs. Stir in the sugar to the mix.
Step Two:
Lightly beat the egg and golden syrup together. And add until the mixture clumps together. Knead briefly until smooth, wrap in clingfilm and leave to chill in the fridge for 15 minutes.
Step Three:
Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4. And line two baking trays with greaseproof paper.
Step Four:
Roll out the dough onto a lightly floured surface into the shape of your choice (I bought these heart shaped cutters from Tesco).
Step Five:
Bake for 12-15 minutes until lightly golden-brown. When cooled decorate with the writing icing and cake decorations.
Writing with icing is actually quite a difficult skill to master. As you can see from my two first attempts below. Hehe. After struggling to write a couple of letters onto these two. I decided to get a little more artistic with the others, as you can hopefully see above.
So what did you think of this baking post? Will you be attempting your own take on these gingerbread valentine cookies? And are there any specific bakes that you would like me to tackle next?
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