Gingerbread Snowflake Cookies

Line 4 baking trays with baking parchment. Sift the flour, Bicarbonate of Soda and the spices into a bowl. Add the butter and gently rub it into the spiced flour using your fingertips, until well blended and the mixture resembles fresh breadcrumbs and then stir in the sugar.

Make a well in the centre, spoon in the syrup and add the egg. Mix the ingredients together until roughly blended then bring together using your hands to make a firm dough. Turn on to a lightly floured work surface and knead gently until smooth.

Divide the mixture in half, and roll out one half to a thickness of 1/2cm (1/4inch). Using assorted sized snowflake shaped cutters, 11.5cm (5 ½ inch), 10cm (4inch), 9cm (3 ½ inch) and 6cm (2 ¼ inch cutters), stamp out shapes and place them spaced apart on the prepared baking trays. Re-roll the trimmings to make more snowflakes, then repeat with the other half of the dough. Cut some of the snowflakes in the centre with smaller cutters to make cookie frames. You should be able to make approx. 24 cookies of assorted shape and size. Chill all the trays for at least 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 190°C (170°C fan assisted oven, 375°F, gas mark 5). Bake 2 trays of cookies at a time for about 10 minutes until firm to the touch, lightly golden round the edges, and slightly risen. Cool on the trays for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Cook the remaining 2 cookies as above.

To decorate, gently knead the Marzipan to soften it and make pliable. Lightly dust the work surface with icing sugar, roll out the marzipan thinly and cut out sufficient snowflakes using the same set of cutters, to cover about two thirds of the cookies you have made and have leftover trimmings.

Brush cookie tops with a little honey and stick the marzipan snowflakes on top. Roll out and cut out the Regal Ice in the same way – you should be able to make enough snowflakes to at least cover the remaining cookies and have leftover trimmings. Secure the Regal Ice snowflakes on to the cookies as above.

Roll out the trimmings separately, and thinly. Use a smaller, 4cm (1 ¾ inch) snowflake and a tiny heart shaped cutter, cut out small shapes to decorate your cookies further – you can also use these cutters to stamp through the marzipan and Regal Ice layers to make cut out designs if liked. Secure the extra shapes on top of your cookies using a little water.

Leave the cookies to dry for about an hour before serving to your friends and family.