Page 88 - Demo

88 Caard Lad Of HyltonsPreparation time:20 minutes plus coolingCooking time:15 minutesServes: 20IngredientsFor the biscuits:350g plain flour1 tsp bicarbonate of soda2 tsp ground ginger1 tsp ground cinnamon125g butter125g light soft brown sugar1 egg4 tbsp golden syrupFor the icing:100g icing sugarlemon juiceSmartiesHalloween has come to be dominated by American culture in recent years. Gone are the days of your mam bending seven spoons hollowing out a turnip. It%u2019s all pumpkins nowadays. Make it very local with this biscuit celebrating Sunderland%u2019s most famous spectre.Instructions1. Sift the flour, ginger, bicarbonate of soda and cinnamon into a bowl. Add the butter and rub with your fingers until the mixture looks like breadcrumbs. Then stir in the sugar to combine.2. Beat the egg and golden syrup together and add to the mixture, mixing until it forms a dough. Take the dough out of the bowl, give it a brief kneed until it is smooth, then wrap it in cling film and put it in the fridge for 15 minutes.3. Pre heat the oven to 180%u00b0C/160%u00b0C fan oven. Put baking paper on two baking trays.4. Lightly flour a kitchen worktop then roll the dough out using a rolling pin until it%u2019s around half a centimetre in thickness. 5. Now it is ready to cut. The type of cutter you have here is important - if the arms are too close to the body (and most are) then there won%u2019t be enough room for the poor Caard Lad to hold his own head. If you don%u2019t have an appropriate cutter then cut one out of a cereal packet. Press the cutter down or use a knife to trace round your template to cut out the shape. Then chop the head off and attach it to one of the hands so it looks like he%u2019s holding it by the hair. Repeat to use up your mixture, re-rolling it if there isn%u2019t enough flat mixture to cut the shape out of.6. Place on the Caard Lads on the baking trays. Bake in the oven for 12-15 minutes until they are golden brown. Let them cool for 10 minutes, then put them on a cooling rack and leave them until completely cooled. 7. To make the icing, mix the icing sugar with the lemon juice. Put it in a sandwich bag, cut off the corner to make a small hole and pipe the icing out to draw a smiling face on the head. Draw two circles on the body and stick a smartie on top of each for buttons, and ice the feet if that sates your artistic needs.