Co-owners Belinda and Carol Bigold
High Tea Bakery
If pasteurized egg whites are unavailable use 1 Tbsp meringue powder mixed with 2 Tbsp water and omit cream of tartar to make the icing.
Ingredients
Gingerbread
1 cup sugar
1 Tbsp ginger
2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup dark corn syrup
1 cup softened butter
4 cups flour
2 tsp baking soda
Royal Icing
2 Tbsp pasteurized egg whites
1 1/4 cups icing sugar
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
Method
Cookies
- Preheat oven to 375˚F.
- Place butter in a large bowl.
- In a small pot bring to boil sugar, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, water and corn syrup. Remove from heat.
- Pour over butter, and stir until butter melts. Cool to lukewarm.
- Stir in dry ingredients, mix well.
- Cover and chill.
- When ready to use, let the dough return to room temperature and divide into quarters.
- On a lightly floured board, roll out to 1/8-inch thick. Cut with your favourite cookie cutters and transfer to cookie trays. Bake 12-15 minutes. Cool completely before icing.
Icing
- Mix all ingredients in a small mixing bowl at low speed.
- Colour, if desired, with food colouring and put in pastry bag for decorating.
- For covering the cookies, use a #3 tip, and let each colour icing dry before piping on a new one.
Yield 25-30 cookies