For the Gingerbread:

• 300g plain flour
• 100g unsalted butter
• 1 tbsp ground ginger
• 20g treacle
• 80g golden syrup
• 1 large egg
• 50g dark brown sugar
• 50g light brown sugar
• Pinch of salt

For the icing:

• 125g Royal Icing
• 15ml water

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1. Line two trays with greaseproof paper and pre heat your oven to 170ºc.
2. In a large mixing bowl cube your butter and add the flour. Rub with your fingers until it resembles breadcrumbs.
3. Add the sugars, ginger and salt and give it a stir.
4. Next add the egg, golden syrup and treacle and mix into a dough. Roll out between two sheets of parchment to about 0.5cm thick. Chill in the freezer for 10-15 minutes and the cut out your gingerbread men. To get your gingerbread man to ’sit’ on your mug, you will need to cut and little piece out from the bottom (see images or watch the video on my Instagram reels) It doesn’t need to be very wide, just big enough for the edge of your mug.
5. Arrange on a baking tray and bake for 10-12 minutes.
6. Leave to cool completely so the icing doesn't spread when decorating.
7. Once cooled, add your Royal Icing Sugar to a bowl, pour in the water and whisk until you see soft peaks.
8. Transfer to a piping bag and decorate! Ideally leave the icing to set for 1-2 hours, or pop in the oven on the lowest temperature for 30 minutes.