Description
This delightful Gingerbread Christmas Tree recipe combines classic gingerbread spices and royal icing decorations to create a festive and edible holiday centerpiece. The gingerbread dough is richly spiced, rolled out and cut into star shapes of various sizes, baked to a crisp golden perfection, and then decorated with zesty lemon-flavored royal icing. The stars are assembled on a dowel rod to form a charming Christmas tree, perfect for holiday celebrations and as a sweet decorative treat.
Ingredients
Scale
Gingerbread Dough
- 100g (1/2 cup, firmly packed) brown sugar
- 125ml (1/2 cup) golden syrup
- 50g butter
- 340g (2 1/4 cups) plain flour
- 75g (1/2 cup) self-raising flour
- 1 1/2 tbsp ground ginger
- 1 1/2 tsp mixed spice
- 1 tsp ground cloves
- 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 1 egg, lightly whisked
Decoration
- 330g packet royal icing
- 60ml (1/4 cup) fresh lemon juice, strained
- Silver cachous, to decorate
Instructions
- Prepare sugar mixture: Place the brown sugar, golden syrup, and butter in a small saucepan over low heat. Cook, stirring for 3-5 minutes until the butter has melted and the sugar has fully dissolved. Remove from heat and set aside to cool slightly for 5 minutes.
- Make the dough: In a large bowl, combine the plain flour, self-raising flour, ground ginger, mixed spice, cloves, and bicarbonate of soda. Add the cooled sugar mixture and the lightly whisked egg. Stir to combine into a dough. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface, knead until smooth, then divide into two portions. Shape each portion into discs, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 1 hour to chill.
- Roll and cut shapes: Preheat the oven to 170°C (150°C fan forced). Line three large baking trays with baking paper. Roll out one portion of the chilled dough on a lightly floured sheet of baking paper to 3mm thickness. Use star-shaped cutters to cut out stars in various sizes: four 2cm, six each of 4cm, 6cm, 8cm, 10cm, and 12cm stars. Use a 1cm plain piping nozzle tip to cut a small hole in the center of each star. Place the stars on the prepared trays. Bake for 10-12 minutes until they are light golden and crisp. Allow to cool completely on the trays.
- Prepare royal icing: Place the royal icing in a large bowl and add the fresh lemon juice. Whisk vigorously with a balloon whisk for 3-5 minutes until thickened and increased in volume. If the icing becomes too thick to pipe, add a small amount of hot water and whisk again to loosen slightly. Transfer icing into a piping bag fitted with a 1-2mm plain nozzle. Pipe decorative points on each star. Set aside for 3-4 hours or until the icing is fully set.
- Assemble the tree: Using a plastic dowel rod, thread the 12cm stars one by one, applying royal icing between each layer to glue and slightly rotate them to resemble a tree shape. Continue with the remaining stars in decreasing size, finishing with a 2cm star glued upright at the top. Pipe extra icing decoratively to mimic snow and embellish with silver cachous. Allow the assembled tree to set completely before display or serving.
Notes
- If you wish, reserve the second portion of dough for baking extra stars or other gingerbread treats later.
- Make sure the dough is chilled well before rolling to prevent sticking and tearing.
- The hole in the center of stars allows threading, so be careful not to make it too large to maintain shape integrity.
- For best results, allow the icing to set fully to ensure the assembled tree holds together well.
- The assembled tree makes a lovely edible centerpiece but handle gently to avoid breaking the gingerbread stars.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1/12 of the assembled tree
- Calories: 250
- Sugar: 18g
- Sodium: 150mg
- Fat: 8g
- Saturated Fat: 5g
- Unsaturated Fat: 3g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 38g
- Fiber: 1.5g
- Protein: 3g
- Cholesterol: 30mg
