Edible star wreath

Method

1. Heat the oven to 160°C/140°C fan/gas 3. Line 3 large baking sheets with silicone baking sheets or baking paper.
2. Cut a large piece of baking paper and roll out the gingerbread on top of it until 5mm thick. Put a 25cm plate on the dough and cut round it. Use a smaller plate or bowl to cut out the centre to give a 4cm wide ring of dough.
3. Using different-size cutters, cut out stars from the remaining dough. You’ll need about 16-20 biscuits. Freeze the gingerbread shapes for 5 minutes until hard, then bake in batches for 10-15 minutes, depending on size, until golden brown at the edges. (Bake the ring for 15-20 minutes.) Leave to cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheets, then carefully transfer with a palette knife/fish slice to wire racks to cool completely.
4. Add a little water to the royal icing, drop by drop, until it reaches soft peak consistency. Divide between 2 bowls and colour one with the blue colouring paste. Spoon each into piping bags fitted with fine nozzles. Pipe your choice of decoration onto the plain stars.
5. Squeeze two thirds of the icing out of the piping bags into separate bowls and add water to make flood icing – thick but runny. Spoon onto the biscuits to colour them. Stud a few with silver balls. Leave to set for 2 hours, then use the remaining soft peak icing to pipe more detail onto the stars.
6. Arrange the stars on the ring, trying out several combinations until you find the best one. Once you are happy with the placing, brush the backs of the stars with caramel glue and stick to the circle. Leave to set firm, then hang with a ribbon.

This recipe is from Mima Sinclair’s book Gingerbread Wonderland (£8.99, Amazon)