Who doesn’t love yummy little Gingerbread men at Christmas time? This is our Head Chef’s favourite Gingerbread recipe that Apollo Care residents and visitors will be enjoying in each of our communities this festive season.
For something different, we love pairing these Gingerbreads with a French-inspired syrup. It’s delicious drizzled over the biscuits and definitely adds a fancy touch to this Christmas classic.
Here’s the recipe so you can try at home:
Gingerbread (makes 24)
Ingredients
580g plain flour
3 tsp ground ginger
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp salt
175g softened butter
175g caster sugar
2 eggs
2 tbsp orange juice
1/2 cup molasses
Sugar to dust
Method
1. Cream butter and sugar together.
2. Combine all dry ingredients in a separate bowl.
3. Add eggs, orange juice and molasses to the creamed butter and sugar mixture.
4. Slowly add the dry mixture and stir until it comes together as a dough.
5. Roll the mixture on a floured bench with a rolling pin to a consistent thickness of approx. 0.5cm.
6. Use a cookie cutter to make gingerbread-shaped biscuits and place on a baking tray lined with baking paper, then dust with sugar.
7. Bake at 175 degrees for 8-10 minutes, or until lightly golden.
8. Cool completely on a wire rack before decorating with piped icing
Pain D’Epice Syrup
Ingredients
125g Sugar
500ml water
¼ tsp ground cinnamon
¼ tsp ground ginger
1 star anise
1 cardamom pod
Small pinch ground cloves
Small pinch ground nutmeg
Method
1. Combine all ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a gentle simmer.
2. Keep simmering until syrup has reduced to desired consistency, then remove star anise and cardamon pod from the mixture.
3. Allow to cool and then serve syrup as a drizzle or dipping sauce with the Gingerbreads.