Make this Gingerbread Wreath the star of your Christmas table! Decorate buttery spiced gingerbread cookies with coloured icing to match your Christmas theme.
Basic Gingerbread Dough
Ingredients
125 g Western Star Original Salted Butter, chopped
1/3 cup (75 g) firmly packed brown sugar
1/3 cup (80 mL) golden syrup
1 egg
2½ cups (375 g) plain flour
1 tablespoon ground ginger
2 teaspoons cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
Method
Melt butter, brown sugar and golden syrup together in a saucepan, stirring until smooth. Cool slightly.
Whisk the egg and butter mixture in a large bowl. Sift the flour, spices and bicarbonate of soda over the butter mixture and mix until combined into a smooth dough. Flatten into a disc shape, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour or until just firm.
Tips & Hints
The Gingerbread Star Wreath recipe only requires half this batch of dough. Wrap extra dough tightly in plastic wrap in a disc shape, then freeze for up to 2 months. Defrost in fridge overnight, then roll and bake as usual.
Gingerbread stars
Ingredients
½ quantity of Basic Gingerbread dough, chilled
Method
For the biscuits, preheat oven to 180°C/ 160°C (fan forced). Roll the dough to 4-5mm thickness, between two pieces of baking paper
Using different sized star cutters measuring between 3cm and 9cm, cut out approximately 30 stars. Transfer to 2 baking sheets lined with baking paper and cook for 10 minutes or until lightly coloured. Place on a wire cooking rack to completely cool
Icing
Ingredients
1 egg white
200g icing sugar, sifted
Red food colouring paste
Method
For the icing, whisk the egg white in a bowl until frothy. Add the icing sugar and whisk until very thick. Place half of the icing into a piping bag fitted with a fine nozzle
Using a toothpick, add a tiny amount of red colouring to the remaining icing and stir until bright red. Place into another piping bag fitted with a fine nozzle
Decorate the stars using the piped icing, sprinkles and baubles. Allow the icing to set for 30 minutes. To prevent the tips from drying out, cover the piping bags with cling film while the stars set
To assemble, choose the flat platter or board that you’ll serve the wreath on. Place a 22cm plate or piece of cardboard in the middle of it. Using dots of icing, mark around the outside of the plate so you have a guide as to where to place the stars
Arrange the biscuits on top of your guide, placing a little squeeze of icing under each star to keep it in place. You don’t need to use all of the biscuits. Once arranged, leave to set for 30 minutes
Place the ribbon bow at the top of the wreath and serve
Tips & Hints
You can easily customise the look of the wreath to match your Christmas table setting colours. Simply colour the icing and top with matching-coloured sprinkles and a ribbon bow.