So how about a Giant Gingerbread Man? These seem to be everywhere this Christmas and with a price tag of £5-6.00 I thought for Day 4 of The Pink Whisk Christmas we’d make our own!
To make 2 Giant Gingerbread Men, you will need:
1 x Quantity of Gingerbread Dough recipe here
Royal icing
Piping bag and no. 3 piping nozzle
Mini silver or pearl dragees (sprinkles!)
Links to The Pink Whisk Shop/Amazon
Print off the giant gingerbread man template here and cut it out.
Split the gingerbread dough in half and roll out each between two sheets of baking paper, use the template to guide you to the right size, it should be around 5mm thick.
Chill the rolled out dough, still in the baking paper in the fridge for 30 minutes or until firm.
Peel off the top piece of baking paper and lay the template down on the top.
With a sharp knife cut around the template.
Remove the extra dough from around the man and transfer the whole lot, lifting the baking paper sheet to a baking tray.
Preheat the oven to 170c(fan)/190c/Gas Mark 5.
Bake Mr Gingerbread in the oven for 12 minutes until lightly golden around the edges. Keep an eye on him, we don’t want any sad burnt men!
Once baked let him cool fully on the tray.
Now to decorate him, keep him on a flat board or a baking tray so you can move him around easily. Mix up some royal icing according to the instructions on the packet.
Fill a piping bag fitted with a no.3 piping nozzle.
Pipe around the outside edge of Mr Ginger and add the details to his arms and legs.
Pipe two white bulbs for eyes, a smiley mouth and two bulbs for buttons on his tummy.
Colour some of the royal bright red using a gel paste colour. Pipe a red bulb for a button, two bulbs for rosy cheeks and carefully pipe the outline of his scarf.
For the scarf outline make sure the piped sections form a complete closed box, otherwise the flooding will run everywhere!
Squeeze the red royal icing out of the piping bag into a small bowl. Add a couple of drops of water, slowly does it, to turn the icing into a runny consistency.
Add this to a squeezy bottle and carefully fill in the scarf with the flooding icing.
Poke out any airbubbles in the icing with a cocktail stick and encourage the icing right into the corners.
Before it sets of completely sprinkle over some tiny pearl sprinkles. Don’t try and remove the excess pearls for now, leave it overnight to dry off completely. To begin with the royal icing softens the gingerbread slightly but don’t worry as the icing dries out the gingerbread does too. Just make sure you keep it on a flat board or baking tray so that you can move him around without disturbing any of your hard work.
Once dry gently brush off the rogue pearls, draw on two black pupils with the edible icing pen, wrap him in cellophane and tie it up with a bow!
Giant Gingerbread Man – Done!
Ruth Clemens, Baker Extraordinaire
Pingback: Day 4 – Gingerbread Sleighs & Giant Men! | Baking, Recipes and Tutorials - The Pink Whisk
Just off to spend the day with my grandchildren. This will be perfect for this afternoon. Thanks. X
Wow these look amazing, looks like i’m going to be busy with the kids today.x
These are great, I know what i’ll be doing with my kids this weekend, giant gingerbread mean and salted caramels. Damn you Ruth, I am supposed to be on a pre christmas diet!!
oops! x
Am definitely going to make this with my little boy, thanks!!!
What a great Christmas present ideas…
My daughter would love making this
These look fab, I hope I find the time to recreate these beauties….. My 3 month old is very good at eeking into ‘mummy’s baking time’
…… I will endeavour though x
Think that’s my teacher presents sorted!
These are fantastic, Ruth. Thank you so much for the template- there’s no end to your genius!
Something fab again Ruth! Am off to the supermarket to get the ingrediants shortly!!x
I want one! I think these may be added into my Christmas hampers for the children.
Such a cheeky faced Gingerbread Man too! Love it.
Such a cheeky faced Gingerbread ‘Man too!
Oops. Sorry for the duplication in comments Ruth. I thought it hadn’t posted.
Even comes with a template for the artistically challenged, now if I can just get the face right so that he doesn’t scare anyone!
Karen x
I’m making these to give as an extra present for my niece & nephews
Brilliant, yet again! Think my Weight Watchers leader will be wanting a word with you though… >.<
I am sure my “big” girls will still enjoy making these!
My little girl will love this as gingerbread are her favourite
Aww he’s kinda cute – definitely a good christmas bake option!
i adore these ruth !
my nephews will love them.
love your 12 days of christmas
thanks again for all your hard work and sharing it all with us pink whiskers xx
These look so special and perfect for christmas!
He is so cute! I know my icing will not turn out that way…
Darn it, I’m going to have to cook some more yummy things now!
Rhis one is definitely going to best testing the artistic skills!
How about a ‘Giant Gingerbread Teacher’ which will solve the issue of whether or not to get a seasonal present for the teacher, teaching assistant, learning support lady….’! Fab. Problem solved.
the family and me are going to make gingerbread men at the weekend yours looks great
So cute! I love that gingerbread recipe – yum!
They Look fab never made gingerbread men before cant wait to try
This looks like a great fun activity for the kids to do. Great ideas thank you.
Absolutely love these!
my children will be surprised to see these on the tree when i do them. thanks
Another great recipe that will make a fantastic gift – thank you!
Fantastic – I have a giant cutter so I’ll be making giant boys & girls x
You make it look easy, will give it a go though, grandchildren would love them
Cool what a lovely idea xx
I’m going to attempt a gingerbread house so these men will be a great with it.
My little boy can help decorate these x
Gingerbread – yum yum yum yum yum!
These look great, but I can’t see that I’ll make the sleigh!
these look wonderful. must give them a try
You are providing me with so much inspiration – these are lovely. Thank you.
that’s all the presents sorted now! Great idea
Oh goodness! Another gorgeous recipe. Do you want us all to look like barrels BEFORE xmas? Lol. : ) x
What a happy chap, must make some.
Wow, you’re so clever, that looks amazing ad totally beyond my capabilities icing-wise. Maybe it’s time to get some practice in
Fabulous!! Going to give these a go
Not the gum drop buttons!!! (sorry bit of a shrek fan over here
) x
hehe! x
I really love these, particuarly the sleighs!
These are so cute!!!
OOO I think I’ll have to make this with my girls – the eldest has a thing for anything over-sized … of course, she is 3!
Fab for teacher’s prezzies
What a cute gift idea – thanks x
Doubly excited. Blue and white stripes are my favourite pattern and I ADORE gingerbread. This giant man is mine!!
Great ideas here.
I can picture these in my Goddaughters’ stockings on Christmas morning. They adore homemade gingerbread people!!
a nice gift and easy to make
These look amazing. Can’t wait to give them a try.
We always make gingerbread men, but never giant ones! Such a good idea…
My hubby will love these! Thanks Ruth.
Love these!
My group of mummy friends are having a Christmas cookie exchange next week…..I think that I will give these a go!
What a lovely idea, thank you!
I have to make these, so cute!
Oh my diet, Ruth.
But oh go on it is Christmas!!!
Can’t wait for tomorrow’s goodies, thank you x
This look lots of fun
My twins love to make gingerbread men, and I can just imagine how much they’d love to make a giant one, like in the Shrek films!
These will look great on the tree or as a gift. Ruth you have done it again!
Ahh cute don’t normally like gingerbread but they look really tasty !
Loving these! I wish mine looked as good!
Daren’t show my 2year old grand-daughter or she will have the mixing bowl out in a jiff.
What a fantastic looking gift. My kids, and nephews would love these
Yum yum yum yum
My children would love these x
guess whats gonna be hanging from my tree this year x
I love it
Hi Ruth,
if i made these at the weekend would they be ok until christmas or should i hold fire on making them till nearer the time? thanks x
As long as you wrap them up in cellophane so the air can’t get to them then they’ll be fine x
I am definitely going to attempt this for Christmas. He looks lovely. xx
My nephew would live one of these I’m sure- you’re keeping us busy!
Aww, how cute!
These are great!
Happy xmas!
Ginger bread — why not use balsa wood?
Love the whole effect
gorgeous !!
Ruth – I’ve never used Royal Icing before – what is the difference/is it better than normal icing sugar? I bought a pack of Royal Icing but the instructions for making it up were to cover an 8 inch cake! I am going to try and make these gingerbread men this weekend.
Thanks
Abi
It sets firmer than normal icing Abi you just need to whisk it together with water to a fairly stiff consistency – you won’t need the full pack x
Love gingerbread x
MORE gingerbread?!
Now he looks too lovely to eat!
Beautifully decorated!!
Gingerbread means Christmas is here! x x
Im learning so much. Thanks for sharing
will be making these with my son, he is going to love it!
Granddaughters will love baking these….Granny’s gonna be busy! Love it!
i love these might try them with my son who would love decorating them
one of my christmas faves
Hamper is getting better and better
A happy little gift that will bring a smile!
Mmmmmm! Yummy!
I cooked this gingerbread today and it was lovely. I have to say that I was dubious whilst preparing it. The dough had been in the fridge overnight so was rock hard and some of the butter had separated out which didn’t look pretty but it softened up with a lot of kneading. Also the raw dough (naughty I know!) had a very strong taste of cloves but once cooked the flavour was much more mellow and warming. Final problem is how long to bake for, I like them crunchy, husband prefers a softer bite – just going to have to make 2 batches I guess!
Top notch recipe and method.