BAKED BRENNERS

DIFFICULTY

FEEDS

Once you Papa you can’t stop!

INGREDIENTS

FOR THE COOKIES

4 cups all-purpose flour

1¾ cups (3½ sticks) firm butter

1½ cups confectioners’ sugar

Yolks of 4 medium eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract or essence

TO DECORATE

1½ cups confectioners’ sugar

Whites of 2 medium eggs

Black food coloring

1½ cups superfine sugar

1 medium egg white

¼ teaspoon cream of tartar

Pinch of salt

2 teaspoons vanilla extract or essence

You will need:

Gingerbread man cookie cutter or sharp knife

A piping bag with nozzle but no parenting skills whatsoever

DIRECTIONS

TO MAKE THE COOKIES

Put the flour in a bowl. Cut the butter into small pieces and add to the flour. Then rub the butter into the flour with your fingertips until the mix looks like breadcrumbs. Add the sugar, egg yolks, and vanilla extract or essence, and mix to form a cookie dough. Put into a plastic bag and chill for at least 30 minutes.

Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface to about 5mm thickness. Cut out Brenner shapes with a cookie cutter or knife (feel free to readjust his arms as pictured) and place them on a baking tray lined with baking parchment. Put back into the fridge to chill again for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Bake the cookies for 12 to 15 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool on the tray before carefully lifting them off.

TO MAKE THE FROSTING

Sieve the confectioners’ sugar into a small bowl, and add the egg white, little by little, beating well until a piping consistency is reached. Divide into two quantities—one twice as big as the other—and use the black food coloring to color the larger set dark gray and the smaller set light gray. With a piping bag fitted with a small plain nozzle (or a small paper piping bag with the end cut off), pipe the outline of the jacket and shirt. Loosen the texture of the light gray icing with a little water if needed, then carefully fill the jacket shape using a small teaspoon and a toothpick. Allow to set.

Ask your daughter to kill a cat and watch as she fails. You’re not angry. You’re just disappointed.

TO MAKE THE MERINGUE HAIR

Whisk the sugar, egg whites, cream of tartar, salt, and ⅓ cup of water in a heatproof bowl. Put the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water and whisk with a handheld electric mixer on low speed, then gradually increase the speed to high and beat until soft peaks form. This will take 5 to 10 minutes.

Remove the bowl from the saucepan and continue beating until the meringue is cool and fluffy. Add the vanilla. With a piping bag fitted with a star nozzle, pipe on the meringue mix to create the hair.

Take pride in the fact that your “daughter” has the power to kill people with her mind.