Serves 18-20
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For the gingerbread men:

For the sponge:

For the spiced buttercream:

  1. For the gingerbread men, in a large bowl sieve together the flour, ginger, cinnamon, xanthan gum and bicarbonate of soda.
  2. In a saucepan over a medium heat, combine the sugar, butter and golden syrup. Stir until the butter has melted and the sugar has dissolved.
  3. Pour the melted butter mixture into the dry ingredients and add the egg. Stir to form a sticky dough.
  4. Wrap the dough in cling film and chill for 30 minutes.
  5. Preheat the oven to 180 ̊C/160 ̊C fan/ gas mark 4.
  6. Roll the dough out, between two sheets of parchment. Cut out your gingerbread men shapes and place on a lined baking tray. Allow to chill for another 30 minutes.
  7. Bake for 12-15 minutes, then set aside and allow to cool completely.
  8. For the sponge, line four 20cm round tins with non stick parchment paper.
  9. In a large bowl, beat together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating after each addition.
  10. Fold in the flour, spices, stem ginger and milk, until just combined.
  11. Divide evenly amongst the tins and bake for 25-30 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean. Allow the sponges to cool completely.
  12. To make the icing, beat together the icing sugar, spices and softened butter. Add a little hot water to loosen.
  13. Place the first sponge layer on a cake stand or serving plate.
  14. Spread over some of the buttercream and add the next sponge on top. Continue to stack and fill the sponges.
  15. Use a palette knife or offset spatula to spread the buttercream over the top and sides of the cake, making sure to fill in any gaps. Refrigerate the cake for 30 minutes to set.
  16. Once set, spread over more buttercream to cover any crumbs and smooth the icing; reserve some of the buttercream to pipe swirls on the top.
  17. Using a piping bag with a star nozzle, pipe swirls around the top edge. Stick your gingerbread men around the top edge. Push some crumbled gingerbread men around the bottom edge.

Nutrition Facts

Per Serving: 654kcals, 35.3g fat (21.3g saturated), 81.2g carbs (55.1g sugars), 6.7g protein, 1.4g fibre, 0.282g sodium

Gluten-freeCakesChristmasSweet thingsSpecial OccasionsFree-from treatsBakingDinner partyMake it HealthyVegetarian

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