Fancy gingerbread ornaments for Christmas

Fancy gingerbread ornaments for Christmas

Maria Endah Hulupi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Decorating the Christmas tree before the special event has always
been one of the most cherished holiday activities involving
family members -- and brings them closer together.

Creative ideas for ornamental objects to bring out the festive
atmosphere can emerge from various sources, even from unusual
ones like the kitchen -- no doubt one of the busiest spots in the
house during this time of year.

Executive chef Thomas Rappl and pastry chef Sapto Wibowo from
Inter-Continental MidPlaza Jakarta use a gingerbread recipe and
mold the dough to create fancy ornaments to decorate the
Christmas tree and gingerbread house.

For centuries, gingerbread could not be separated from
Christmas festivities. According to www.christmascabin.com, the
history of gingerbread can be traced back at least to the 11th
century; what is known as gingerbread in one place may vary in
taste, form and presentation from others. It may resemble cake,
cookies or bread while the flavor can range from mild or sweet to
spicy, but it has almost always been cut into a variety of shapes
and colorfully decorated.

Gingerbread, from its very beginnings, was said to be a
popular fairground delicacy and many fairs became known as
gingerbread fairs. If a fair were held to honor a town's saint,
then people might find the saint's image imprinted into the
gingerbread they bought.

In the past, gingerbread could only be prepared by gingerbread
bakers who held the rights to bake it, except at Christmas and
Easter.

Talking about tradition, compared with other European
countries, Germany has the strongest tradition of flat
gingerbread, with Nuremberg later becoming known as the
gingerbread capital, where fancy-shaped gingerbread, including
the house-shaped lebkuchenhaeusel -- inspired by the Hansel and
Gretel tale -- was widely sold at fairs, carnivals and markets.

In France, a baker of pain d'epices (spiced bread) had a
special place and was to be distinguished from other pastrycooks
and bakers. There was also an old tradition of holding a
gingerbread fair at an abbey in Paris where monks sold pig-shaped
gingerbread.

The treat's popularity soon spread and it was settlers from
Northern Europe who introduced the tradition of making
gingerbread to North America where locals used it to make
Victorian houses, richly adorned with colorful candies and
icicles.

Here, for the ingredients, chef Rappl uses honey, flour, palm
sugar, milk, eggs and spices and mixes them together into a firm
dough, letting it rest in the refrigerator before rolling it and
cutting it into various shapes like crescent moons, stars and
small trees before baking them.

It is their colorful frostings and fancy shapes that make
gingerbread cookies interesting Christmas tree ornaments. And
like decorating the tree using other ornaments, preparing the
dough and decorating these edible decorations can involve other
family members, including children.

"Children can help cut the dough using variously shaped cookie
cutters and decorate the cookies once they are cooked. They'll
love it because the icing, candies and other decorative elements
are colorful and it's quite easy to do it," he said. He added
that at the hotel, gingerbread houses are sold at the Deli, while
the gingerbread ornaments are available upon request.

In the making of a simple triangular prism gingerbread house,
he prepared two rectangles for the roof and two triangles for the
front and rear part of the house.

"Make sure the sides of the triangle are of the same length as
the width of the rectangles and assemble them using royal icing.
Make a little cut for the door at the center of the triangle."

The gingerbread dough can be prepared two days ahead; keep it
wrapped in the refrigerator until ready for rolling. Once baked,
these ornaments can be kept for a week.

When having guests over, these ornaments can also serve as
gifts for children and they can choose the shapes they like
straight from the Christmas tree.

"In making these decorations for gifts as well, make sure to
wrap each ornament in cling film to be hygienic," Sapto said.

I-BOX:

Making your own gingerbread

Ingredients:

1. Honey 1 kg
2. Plain flour 1 kg
3. Baking flour 1 kg
4. Palm Sugar 1 kg
5. Milk 600 ml
6. Eggs 2
7. Ammoniac 10 gm
8. Gingerbread spice 20 gm

Method:

* Pre-heat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius
* Mix all the ingredients to form a firm dough.
* Roll it and let it rest in the refrigerator for at least two
hours.
* Divide the dough into a workable size and roll out to a
thickness of about 3 mm.
* Cut it using cookie cutters, or for the gingerbread house, cut
it into two rectangles and two triangles (the dimensions depend
on the size of the house you want).
* Line baking tray with baking paper.
* Place dough on the paper, glaze with fresh milk and bake in
oven for 15 minutes.

Royal Icing:

1. Icing sugar 1 kg
2. Egg white 4
3. Vinegar 5 ml
4. Colorings

Method:

* Layer the seams of the house and the edges of the roof with
some of the royal icing and carefully assemble the pieces.
* Divide the remaining icing into separate bowls and tint them
with different colors. Use them to decorate the ornaments and the
house.
* You can also use your favorite sweets and cookies to decorate
Christmas tree ornaments and the gingerbread house.
* Stick the decorations to the house with tempered chocolate or
royal icing.