Gingerbread cookies

Combine butter, golden syrup and brown sugar in a small pan and heat, stirring, over low heat, until melted.

Remove to a bowl and cool (I usually put the bowl in an ice bath for a ltitle while because I’m impatient!).

Stir in the egg yolk and remaining dry ingredients to form a soft dough.

Divide the dough in half and shape each half into a flat disc, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour to firm up.

Preheat the oven to 160C (350F) fan-forced and line two baking trays with baking paper.

Take one portion of dough out of the fridge and on a lightly-floured surface, roll it out to 7-8mm.

Use floured, round cookie cutters to cut rounds of dough.

Place on a baking paper-lined tray and bake for 7-10 minutes or until firm (they do firm a little more when they're cooling though so not too firm).

Leave them to rest on the trays for 5 minutes then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.

To make the icing, whisks the egg white to almost firm peaks.

Slowly whisk in the icing sugar.

Colour as desired.

To decorate as I have, pipe a thick round of white around the outside of each biscuit then leave it to set.

Thin a portion of icing and colour it then fill each cookie with the colour.

Pipe spots of white on each one while the colour is still wet then leave them for several hours to dry.