Gingerbread Tealight Table Decoration

Stained glass window biscuits are always a favourite of mine to make at Christmas. I was introduced to these when I used to visit a school friend for sleepovers. She had American parents and one of the things we always used to do in the afternoon was make a batch of these biscuits. It was almost magic the way you could add crushed boiled sweets into a biscuit pattern and a beautiful stained glass window emerged from the oven.

I wondered if I could adapt this idea to create a edible centrepiece for a festive table. I decided to use gingerbread for the biscuit as this is a biscuit that tends to come into its own at Christmas. Everywhere I look at the moment there are gingerbread houses in the shops. I thought if I could make the biscuits a square shape they could be joined together and a tealight placed in the centre. This would shine thought the boiled sweets making a lovely centrepiece. The biscuits themselves could be held in place with icing sugar. If you are clever at icing you could also add some icing piping on the outside of the biscuit to make them look pretty.

This is how it turned out, I was very pleased with the result.

Gingerbread Tealight Table Decoration Recipe

Ingredients

• 125g (2oz) butter
• 75g (3oz) light brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 5 tablespoons black treacle
• 375g (12 oz) self-raising flour
• 1½ teaspoons ground ginger
• 175g (6oz) coloured boiled sweets

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180C, 350F, Gas Mark 4.
2. Crush the boiled sweets. I used a food processor
3. Cream the butter and sugar until soft and creamy
4. Mix in the egg and the black treacle then add the flour and ginger
5. Mix together into a soft smooth dough using your hands
6. Wrap in cling film and chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
7. Roll out on a lightly floured surface and cut into 9 cm squares
8. Using a star cutter  cut a star shape in the centre of each square.
9. Place on a baking tray covered with baking parchment
10. Bake in the oven for 5 minutes, then remove and sprinkle the crushed boiled sweets in the star shape
11. Bake for 8-10 minutes until the gingerbread looks a golden colour and the sweets have melted into the star shapes
12. Leave to cool
13. When cool make into box shapes using icing sugar to stick the sides together

A candle can be placed in the centre of each one making a lovely festive table decoration.