Gingerbread Mummies, Skeletons and Clowns

Gingerbread mummies, skeletons and clowns make an easy treat for Halloween. Make gingerbread men and ice them in different ways to make a lovely treat at a Halloween party.

Halloween is coming.  Don’t forget to buy sweets for the kids out trick or treating. It is a good idea to buy the sweets early to avoid having to make a last minute dash to the supermarket. We always get quite a few children at the door. They really make the effort to dress up so it is nice to have something for them. When my son went trick or treating he always came home with loads of goodies.  Sadly he is too old for it now.

This weekend I experimented with some Halloween baking. I just got some gingerbread men cutters and thought I would experiment making Gingerbread mummies, skeletons and clowns. The different looks are created by icing the gingerbread mean in different ways. They are very simple to make but look very effective.

Gingerbread Mummies, Skeletons and Clowns

Mummies and skeletons have long been associated with Halloween. These ghoulish undead creatures have a habit of lurking in graveyards and tombs ready to jump out at unsuspecting people. Halloween or All Hallows Eve is a time for remembering the dead. The origins of Halloween  stem from early Celtic and pagan rituals like Samhain. This was a festival marking the end of the harvest season and the start of winter. In those times the long cold winters would have been difficult with the lack of light and cold. Many people would not have survived. Samhain was when the cattle were slaughtered for the winter and bonfires were lit for protection. The gates to the other world were more easily crossed at this time and the souls of the dead were likely to revisit the earth.

Halloween does not normally bring thoughts of clowns. This year there seems to be a mass hysteria surrounding killer clowns. People are reporting seeing clowns and being followed home by them. Clowns seem to have gripped the imagination of the teens and they have been going out looking for them. The idea of gingerbread clowns came from my son who wanted these adding to the spooky biscuit collection. My icing skills are not the greatest but I think I did a reasonable job.

Gingerbread mummies, skeletons and clowns recipe

Gingerbread mummies, skeletons and clowns

Alison

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Ingredients

  

• 100 g soft brown sugar
• 100 g golden syrup
• 225 g plain flour
• ¼ tsp salt
• 2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• ½ tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp ginger
• 50 g butter
• White piping icing
• Black piping icing
• Red piping icing
• different coloured icing for the clowns clothes
• chocolate jazzles for the clowns buttons

Instructions

 

• Mix the flour, salt, ginger, cinnamon, salt and bicarbonate of soda together
• Put the golden syrup, butter and sugar into a pan
• Heat gently until the sugar dissolves
• Leave to cool then mix into the dry mixture and form a dough.
• Leave the dough to chill for thirty minutes
• Preheat the oven to 190C, gas mark five
• Roll out the dough and cut into gingerbread man shapes
• Place on a baking tray covered with baking parchment
• Bake for 10-15 minutes until golden
• Leave to cool
• when cool use the white icing to form the skeletons bones and the bandages for the mummies
• Use the black icing to create the mummies eyes
• Stick the chocolate jazzles on with icing for the clowns buttons and use the red icing for his nose.
• Use the coloured icing to create clothes and the clowns face and hair.

Why not pin  the recipe to make later?

If you are looking for other ideas for Halloween why not try these simple Halloween party food ideas? If you are looking for things to do over half term why not trying getting out into the forest?

Have you anything planned for Halloween? Let me know below.

Read more:

• Ginger cupcakes with treacle icing
• Double decker sandwich cookies