Honey Gingerbread Hearts

These honey gingerbread hearts are a must in the run-up to Christmas. The dough is prepared a day in advance and then left to rest overnight so that all the flavours of the cloves and oranges can develop. A real treat!

Method:

  1. Melt the butter, honey and golden syrup in a pan over a low heat and then leave to cool to room temperature.
  2. Add the finely grated zest of the untreated oranges to the flour in a bowl with the crushed cloves and mix.
  3. Stir the honey-syrup-butter mixture into the flour.
  4. Dissolve the potash in a little water, add to the dough and knead well.
  5. Cover the honey gingerbread dough and leave to rest for 24 hours.
  6. Roll out the dough on a floured work surface to a thickness of 1/2 centimetre using a rolling pin and cut out hearts of 5-7 centimetres in size.
  7. Place the hearts on greased baking trays and bake in a preheated oven at 180° on the middle shelf for 12-15 minutes.
  8. Leave to cool on the cake rack.
  9. Brush with a glaze made from melted butter, honey and orange juice.
  10. Sprinkle with colourful sugar sprinkles.