In the Christmas bakery 🎶

Merry Gaudete Sunday, darlings! What a beautiful day. I woke up around 8 AM and almost burst with joy when I looked out of the window, where a winter wonderland greeted me! Yes, IT SNOWS! For the past three years, it always snowed on Gaudete Sunday. Unfortunately, the snow is always gone on Christmas Eve. Maybe a Christmas miracle will happen this year? Yesterday, I spend the whole Saturday in the kitchen. I baked 1kg of butter biscuits, 1kg of gingerbread men, soft gingerbread and two sheets of vegan orange-lemon cinnamon stars. Today I'll show you how I make my favourite gingerbread men and cinnamon stars.

Let's start with the vegan orange-lemon cinnamon stars. I'm not a big fan of normal cinnamon stars as for my taste, they are too sweet. I found this recipe a few years ago when I needed one for vegan cookies, and I can guarantee you, this recipe is the easiest I know. I also chose this one as I love citrus fruits.

For the dough, you'll need:

200 g powdered sugar
2 tbsp cinnamon
5 tbsp water
1 1/2 tbsp lemon juice
150 g ground almonds
200 g ground hazelnuts
1 tbsp orange zest
1 tbsp lemon zest

For the icing, you'll need:
powdered sugar
lemon juice
orange and lemon zest

Put all the ingredients for the dough in a bowl and knead them together. Then roll out the mixture on aluminium foil. Put some powdered sugar on the foil so the dough won't stick on it too much. Cut out the star-shaped biscuits and put them on a sheet with baking paper. Let them dry for 4 hours at room temperature. After the time has passed, preheat the oven to 210°C. Put the cinnamon in the oven for 3-4 minutes. Don't let them in the oven too long, they will become dry! Let them cool down. Once they've cooled down, you can prepare the icing. Put powdered sugar in a bowl and pour a few drops of lemon juice in it until a homogeneous mass is created. Now decorate the cinnamon stars with the icing and the zest. Let the icing dry and enjoy your delicious cookies.

Next, my favourite gingerbread men! Gingerbread is my absolute favourite Christmas treat. I love the chocolate ones you can get in the supermarket, the ones you can get at the Christmas market with adorable pet names on it and especially my self made ones.

For the dough, you'll need:

125 g butter
250 g honey
60 g sugar
500 g wheat flour
1 tsp baking powder
15 g gingerbread spice
2 tbsp cocoa powder
1 egg

For the icing, you'll need:
1 egg white
200 g powdered sugar
if necessary food colouring, smarties, Haribo, etc.

Put honey, sugar and honey in a pot and bring them to the boil. Let it cool down. Mix the wheat flour, baking powder, gingerbread spice and cocoa powder in a bowl together with the honey-mixture and use the kneading hook from your mixer to make a nice, smooth dough. Form the dough to a ball and wrap it in plastic wrap. Let it rest for 2 hours or more. After the time has passed, roll out the dough and cut out your gingerbread men. Put them on a sheet with baking paper. Now preheat the oven to 160°C (top and bottom heat, no air circulation) and bake your delicious gingerbread for 18 to 20 minutes. Take them from the sheet and let them cool down. Now, prepare the icing. Whip the egg white until it's stiff and put the powdered sugar little by little inside the bowl. If you want, you can use food colouring as well. Put the mixture in a piping bag. Now, you can decorate your gingerbread as you like.

Quote of the Day: “Oh, Christmas isn’t just a day, it’s a frame of mind.” — Miracle On 34th Street