Ingredients
• 125g butter, at room temperature
• ½ cup raw caster sugar
• 1 egg
• 2 ½ cups plain flour
• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 3 tsp ground ginger
• 2 Tbsp golden syrup
• Extra flour, for kneading
• 1 eggwhite
• 2 cups pure icing sugar, sifted
• Cachous, to decorate
Method
-
Preheat oven to 180°C. Line 3 oven trays with baking paper. Put butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat until light and creamy. Add egg and beat until well combined.
-
Sift flour, bicarb and ginger over butter mixture. Put golden syrup in a microwave jug and cook on high/100% for 10-20 seconds or until warm. Add to butter mixture and stir until well combined.
-
Turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface and gently knead. Roll out dough, in batches, between 2 sheets of baking paper to 3mm thick. Using star-shaped biscuit cutters, cut out 6 each of 9.5cm and 3.5cm stars and 12 each of 8cm, 6.5cm and 5cm stars. Press remaining dough together, re-roll and cut out to make all 48 stars. Transfer to prepared trays, about 3cm apart. Bake, 1 tray at a time, for 10-12 minutes or until golden and firm to touch. Cool completely on trays.
-
Meanwhile, to make icing, whisk eggwhite in a bowl until foamy. Add icing sugar, 1⁄2 cup at a time, stirring between each addition until a smooth paste forms. Spoon into piping bag fitted with a 3mm nozzle and pipe around edge of each star, placing a cachous on each star point. Set aside for 30 minutes for icing to set. Reserve remaining icing in piping bag.
-
To assemble, put largest stars on a clean work surface. Pipe a small amount of icing on centre of each. Top each with next largest star, at an offset angle, followed by the duplicate of that size star. Repeat process with icing and stars in order of size, setting at offset angles, finishing with the smallest star on top, standing on its side.
-
Set trees aside for a further 30 minutes or until icing has set firmly. Serve.
