Gingerbread cutter shapes. Also a recipe.

Figures forming part of a simple gingerbread house template based on cardboard pieces my wife had used for years. They were getting old, so we had plastic ones made. The recipe makes a very manageable dough that doesn't change size and shape very much when baked. These files are not refined in any way and were a one off cut/print.   ----------   RECIPE For the gingerbread 250 g butter 500 g dark syrup 200 g sugar 2.5 tsp ground cloves 2.5 tsp cinnamon 2.5 tsp baking soda 850 g wheat flour   For the decoration Egg white Icing sugar   ----------   METHOD For the gingerbread Mix butter, syrup, sugar and the spices into a saucepan and bring to a boil. Mix the baking soda into the flour and combine it into the hot syrup mixture. Roll the dough immediately, while it is still hot. Once rolled, cut your required template pieces. The dough gets more difficult to roll as it cools, so work fast and try to keep it warm. Bake your pieces at 225 C for 4-6 minutes. Smaller and more pointy pieces may require a little less time. The pieces will feel a little soft when taking out of the oven but they'll harden as they cool. For the decoration Mix egg white and icing sugar to form a thick and sticky paste. One way to test the consistency is to dip a teaspoon into the icing and let it form a thin string off of the spoon. Then run this string across your finger to make a stripe of icing across your finger. If the icing is ready, this stripe should keep its shape and not start to spread out.