Monday 17 October 2011

Practical considerations: 5. Ginger breadmen

For this baking session I baked with my partners niece.We made ginger bread men, her choice. It reminded me of the article called "A work of Art" by Margaret Mayhe, 1988 where a character in the story, Mrs Baskin was baking for her son Brian with her three youngest children. This article related to that day that I was baking as I was also baking with a small child and I was able to relate to the story in that way. We began by gathering all the ingredients together on the bench and making sure that we had all of the ingredients (ergonomics). Madison is 5 years old so to be able to reach the bench I had to get a box for her to stand on (practical consideration).  Baking the ginger bread men is done in stages. First you mix all the main ingredients together. The the mixture is then taken out and cut into men shapes using cookie cutters. Once baked and cooled we ices them. This was Madison's favorite bit. I had to be real careful with the food colouring and electric mixer while I was baking with her as she is not quite at the age that she can handle responsibility independently, this was another practical consideration. We used pebble lollies as the buttons for the ginger bread men and gave then all eyes and mouths. After we iced them we waited for them to set before we ate them.The environment that we baked  was a good positive atmosphere. As shown in the photo below the gingerbread men are aesthetically pleasing, they look good and were all iced with only a few that had to be redone! I enjoyed doing the baking.  It was a bit time consuming which could be considered bad ethics, but overall the baking went well.
Gingerbread men
125g butter
1/4 cup golden syrup
2cups flour
1 T ginger
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1/4 cup self raising flour
1 teaspoon baking soda

Icing:
1 egg white
1 1/4 cup icing sugar
1/2 teaspoon lemon
Food colouring
Lollies

1. Pre heat oven to 180 degrees
2. Beat butter, sugar and syrup in a bowl until light and creamy
3. Add egg gradually
4. Sift dry ingredients and mix with a knife until combined
5. Knead for two minutes
6. Put in the fridge for 10 minutes
7. roll out using a rolling pin
8. Cut into shapes
9. Put onto a greased tray and bake in the oven for 10 minutes
10. Cool once out of the oven

Icing
1. place egg whites in bowl and beat until foamy
2. Add lemon juice and icing sugar gradually
3. Split mixture into different bowls and add the food colouring
4. Ice the cookies and add lollies for buttons (optional)

Mahy, M. (1976). A work of art. In The door in the air and other stories. Delacorte books for young readers.

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