Ingredients
85g/3oz light muscovado sugar
2 tbsp golden syrup
1 tbsp black treacle
grated zest of ½ lemon and ½ orange
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground cinnamon
pinch of ground allspice
pinch of ground nutmeg
95g/3½oz butter, cut into cubes
½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
225g/8oz plain flour
milk if necessary
assorted cutters / skewer
ready-made red and green icing tubes.
coloured string or cord

Method
1. Grease several baking sheets. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4. In a large pan, gently heat the sugar, syrup, treacle, lemon and orange zest, spices and a tablespoon of water. Stir well and bring to boiling point.
2. Remove the pan from the heat and add the butter and bicarbonate of soda. Stir in the flour until you have a manageable dough. Add a dash of milk if it seems too stiff, or a little more flour it too wet. Remove the dough from the pan, wrap in foil and leave to cool for about an hour.
3. Roll out the dough on a floured board to about 3mm/1/8 in thick. Cut out shapes with cutters; transfer to the baking sheets, leaving room for spreading. Use a skewer to make a hole near the top of each shape; wiggle the skewer to make a big enough hole (it will shrink during baking). Cook for ten minutes until firm. Leave for about a minute, then transfer to a rack to cool.
4. Decorate the gingerbread with icing, using spots, stripes or a thin line just inside the edge of the shape. Thread string or cord through the hole for hanging on the tree.