Gingerbread decorating recipe

2024 Author: Isabella Gilson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:14

On the eve of the New Year holidays, recipes for all kinds of pastries are becoming especially relevant. Gingerbread, including gingerbread, is very popular among confectionery products. In this article, we will present to your attention not only interesting recipes for this pastry, but also ways to decorate gingerbread with a photo. It is customary to decorate gingerbread with multi-colored icing and give as a gift.

The story of gingerbread

This product was brought to Europe a very long time ago, in 992. The gingerbread was brought by an Armenian monk, whose name was Gregory Makar. After living in France for seven years, during that time he taught French Christians how to bake gingerbread.

In the 13th century, gingerbread appeared in Sweden, where it was brought by an immigrant from Germany. In this country, in the 15th century, a guild of craftsmen was created, which controlled the production of gingerbread. The first found trading documents indicate that their sale was started in the 17th century. In those days, gingerbread could be purchased atfarmers' fairs, pharmacies and monasteries. In medieval England, gingerbread was believed to have medicinal properties.

Cooking gingerbread

The tradition of baking and decorating these gingerbread came to our country from the West and has firmly established itself in Russian homes. To create gingerbread, you will need the following products and spices:

• 165g honey;
• 500 g flour;
• 100g sl. oil;
• 125g sugar;
• 2 tsp ground coriander;
• 1 tsp with a slide of cloves;
• cinnamon and ginger - 1 tsp each;
• 2 large eggs;
• a little s alt;
• 2 tbsp. l. soda;
• 40ml lemon juice.

Heat sugar and honey in a saucepan over low heat until these ingredients are completely dissolved and the first bubbles appear on the surface of the mass. After that, the pan should be removed from the heat and pour soda into the contents, while the mass will begin to foam strongly. At the next stage, add the oil to the mixture, mixing well. After the oil has dissolved, add the egg, mix well. We add flour in small portions and quickly knead the dough. Gingerbread dough should not be kneaded for a long time, as it can drag on and bake from it will turn out hard. We remove the prepared dough in the refrigerator for several hours (3-4 is enough), after wrapping it with cling film. Next, figures of arbitrary shape are cut out of the dough - Christmas trees, snowmen, cones, bears, gingerbread men. Such gingerbread cookies are baked for 12-15 minutes at oven temperature.200 °C. Products from the baking sheet should be removed when they have cooled down a little, otherwise the gingerbread cookies may be deformed.

Gingerbread decoration

After baking, this traditional European delicacy needs to be decorated. Remember that the icing should be applied to already cooled pastries. Let's choose a few different recipes for colored glaze.

Classic frosting

To prepare this icing for decorating gingerbread (master class - in the article), we need a very small amount of products. To prepare it, take:

• 200g fine powdered sugar;
• juice of one lemon;
• one egg white.

All of the listed products are mixed and whipped at low speed with a mixer. You can make the icing colorful using food coloring or using natural products, for example, instead of lemon juice, add juice (decoction) of other fruits and vegetables: carrots, sage, broccoli, beets, strawberries, red currants.

Citrus frosting

Squeeze juice from an orange (tangerine) and pour it into a container, add powdered sugar to it in small portions. Citrus frosting should have a liquid consistency so that it can easily spread over pastries. To prepare orange glaze for decorating gingerbread, take:

• ¾ st. powdered sugar;
• 4 tbsp. spoons of orange juice.

Chocolate frosting

This icing for decorating gingerbread is easyand easy to cook. To prepare it, we need:

• 400g powdered sugar;
• 4 tbsp. spoons of milk;
• thirty grams of butter;
• 2 tbsp. l. cocoa;
• vanillin.

Add cocoa, icing powder and vanillin to the softened butter. Grind the mass well and pour milk into it, stir until smooth.

Caramel frosting

Pastries decorated with caramel have an unusually beautiful appearance. To create it, we will prepare the following components:

• half cup brown sugar;
• 1 tbsp powdered sugar;
• a couple tablespoons of butter;
• three tablespoons of milk;
• a bag of vanillin.

The butter should be melted in a saucepan, pour milk into it and dissolve brown sugar in this mass. Boil the mixture for one minute. Remove the mass from the heat, add half the powdered sugar to it. Beat everything well, cool, add the remaining powdered sugar and vanilla. Beat again in order to get the finished glaze of a uniform consistency.

Professional confectionery glaze

To decorate gingerbread, you can use the icing prepared according to this recipe. You need to take the following products:

• sugar syrup and milk - two teaspoons each;
• 1 tbsp powdered sugar;
• fourth part of t.l. almond extract;
• food colorings.

Powder and milk combine and mix until softpastes. Pour sugar syrup into the mass and beat until the icing acquires a smooth and shiny appearance. Then spread it over several containers and mix in food coloring. The hue will depend on the amount of dye added: the more dye added, the brighter and richer the color.

Glaze application

Gingerbread cookies can be decorated with icing using a pastry bag (syringe), parchment paper cornet or a simple plastic food bag with a cut corner.

Fill any of the above items with icing and apply patterns on the surface of the gingerbread. The time for complete drying of the glaze ranges from 3 to 6 hours. With the help of glaze, you can assemble gingerbread pyramids, for example, in the shape of a Christmas tree. To do this, you need to make several dough products of different sizes, then collecting them according to the pyramid principle, fastening them with glaze in the middle.

Gingerbread cookies decorated with icing can be stored for quite a long time. To do this, they must be placed in a hermetically sealed container, glass or metal jar.

Useful information

Royal icing, or icing, is a mixture made from chicken eggs or using dry protein (albumin). It is used not only as a decoration for gingerbread, but also to create different patterns for cakes and all kinds of confectionery. This glaze is very sweet in taste. After the protein glaze dries, it becomes quite strong.

Forin order to prepare icing, you will need a mixer, preferably with a spatula attachment, but you can also use a whisk for whipping. The icing must be whipped at low speed, otherwise it will become brittle after drying.

It is best to add very fine powdered sugar (finely dispersed) to icing. Do not use powder prepared at home, this can ruin the finished product. If ordinary powder was purchased at the store, it must be sieved several times through a strainer.

The frosting is best made just before cooking, but in a tightly closed container it can be stored in the refrigerator for several days. Ready icing after cooking should be left for 10-15 minutes, covered with a damp cloth. This is done to completely dissolve the powdered sugar, and during this period, the air bubbles formed during whipping will come out.

The time required for the icing to dry completely depends on the humidity and temperature of the environment, as well as on its consistency. It takes about 20-30 minutes to dry contour gingerbread, and for products completely covered with glaze - 1-2 hours. Gingerbread decorated with icing can also be dried in the oven using meringue cooking technology.

Royal icing recipes

There are two ways to prepare icing for decorating gingerbread. In the first case, we will learn how to prepare it from the protein of a chicken egg, and in the second - with the help of albumin (dry protein).

First way:

• 90g chilled protein (from 3 eggs);
• 500g fine powdered sugar;
• ½ tsp lemon juice (to stabilize the structure of the egg white).

Place the protein in a clean bowl and start beating at minimum speed, when it bubbles evenly, add lemon juice and pour powder in portions. The mass is whipped until it becomes shiny and white (until soft peaks are obtained). This process will take about five minutes. Depending on what kind of icing we need (we'll talk about its types a little later), we dilute the mass with warm boiled water or add additional powder.

Second way:

• 15g albumin;
• 85g chilled boiled water;
• 500 g icing sugar.

First, you need to combine dry protein with water and dissolve it thoroughly. Leave the mixture for 15 minutes, then place in a bowl and beat slowly, gradually adding the powder in small parts. The readiness of the glaze is checked in the same way as in the first case.

Aising: types

Icing of different consistency is used to decorate gingerbread and other confectionery products. Consider what types it is.

Contour glaze is the basic consistency of icing. This icing creates soft peaks when whipped, applying this icing to the surface of the product eliminates spreading. This glaze is used to apply inscriptions and outline the pattern.

Filling is a contour glaze diluted with waterto the consistency of liquid sour cream. It is used to fill the surface of the gingerbread.

Gluing (another name is "cement") - icing of a very thick consistency, used for extrusion. Get it by adding more powder to the base glaze. With the help of "cement" gingerbread houses are glued together, 3D structures and relief patterns are created, using confectionery nozzles for this. The icing is dyed with food coloring in a known way.

In order to decorate the gingerbread, you first need to outline the selected pattern. When it hardens, fill the surface of the gingerbread with a more liquid substance. After the filling has dried, various patterns can be applied to the product using food markers or contour glaze. Confectionery decorations should be applied to a surface that is not yet dry.

Christmas decoration options

One of the most popular ways to decorate gingerbread for the New Year is, of course, a Christmas tree. Using a cookie cutter, prepare Christmas tree-shaped gingerbread cookies. Apply a contour to the cooled product, using contour glaze for this. When it hardens well, apply filling to the gingerbread, smooth it with a toothpick. For a more even distribution of the icing, the confectionery can be shaken slightly. After the icing has hardened, proceed to decorate the New Year's gingerbread cookies. The Christmas tree can be painted using food grade markers or a thicker glaze. As a pattern for decoration, we suggest choosing Christmas toys, garlands, balls.

You can assemble a gingerbread tree from different productssize, cut out in the shape of an asterisk. You can decorate the New Year's beauty with icing using different options.

For table setting, we recommend making an original edible wreath. To create it, it is recommended to use Christmas trees, stars, snowflakes, small houses decorated with icing. From small painted gingerbread you can make an unusual and tasty garland.

No less popular are gingerbread in the form of snowflakes, angels, snowmen, cones, balls, bells, birds. By decorating these products with icing and making small holes in them, you can use gingerbread cookies as Christmas decorations.

Gingerbread as decorations

Relatively recently, toppers appeared in our country - gingerbread on a stick for decorating cakes. They are prepared from a special dough. Take the following gingerbread recipe for decoration. To prepare the dough, you need to take:

• 100g sugar;
• 165g honey;
• 1 tsp with a slide of ginger;
• 125g butter;
• 1 tsp cinnamon;
• one egg;
• 2 tsp soda;
• flour about 500 g (depending on the quality of the flour).

For frosting:

• 200 g powdered sugar (necessarily fine);
• one egg white;
• a little citric acid.

The toppers baked from this dough do not get stale for a long time and are extremely tasty. They are baked for a short time, only from 7 to 10 minutes, at a temperature of 175 ° C. Gingerbread for decorating the cake can be made in the formcartoon characters, words, letters of the name of the birthday person, numbers indicating the year of birth. On such gingerbread, filled with icing, you can attach a waffle picture. First, it is recommended to stick it on a mastic or sugar base, and only then on the surface of the gingerbread. Sticks are inserted into still warm toppers and cooled in a horizontal position. You can put a small load on top of them.

Following all the above recommendations, you can easily cope with the preparation of goodies. You can involve children in the process and together with them it is interesting and fun, and most importantly, to spend your leisure time usefully.