Gingerbread men on a stick

Ingredients for 20 servings:

• 250 g flour
• 1 egg(s)
• 100 g sugar
• 1 packet of vanilla sugar
• ½ pack of baking powder
• 100 g butter
• 1 dashes milk
• ½ jar currant jelly, red or black
• 400 g dark chocolate coating
• 25 g white chocolate coating

Instructions

Working time approx. 1 hour 30 minutes; Rest time approx. 2 hours; Cooking/baking time approx. 30 minutes; Total time approx. 4 hours

for children’s parties or birthdays

Mix the flour, baking powder, sugar, and vanilla sugar. Add the egg, butter, and milk and knead into a shortcrust pastry. Wrap the dough in cling film and let it rest in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. Knead the dough and roll it out to a thickness of 2-3 mm. Cut out 20 small gingerbread men or any other shape you like and place them on baking sheets, leaving room for the sticks. Place a wooden stick in the center of each man. Place a gingerbread man on top and press firmly. You can use egg yolk or egg white to join the two pieces together. Bake the gingerbread men in the oven at 150°C (convection oven) for about 10-15 minutes until golden brown. Let them rest on the baking sheet for 5 minutes and then cool on a wire rack. Heat the blackcurrant jelly in a bowl until it is liquid. Use a brush to completely cover the gingerbread men with a thin layer of jam and let them dry. This is easiest if you place them at an angle. To do this, simply place the stick on the edge of the baking tray so that only the tip is in contact with the bottom. Chop the chocolate into small pieces and melt it in a bain-marie. For a nice shine, temper the chocolate, i.e. heat it to 40°C. This will melt the chocolate. Then let it cool to 20°C and heat it back up to 30°C. If you don’t have a kitchen thermometer handy, melt 2/3 of the finely chopped chocolate, remove it from the bain-marie and stir in the remaining chocolate until it has melted. Cover the gingerbread men with a thin layer of chocolate and let it dry. Melt the white chocolate in a bain-marie and paint on the faces and buttons with a brush. Tip: Fill a loaf tin with sand, stretch aluminum foil over it and put the men in the tin.