1
Warm the honey, butter and spices. Place the butter, honey (or golden syrup), cocoa and all the spices into a saucepan. Warm gently over a low heat until melted and fragrant - honey scorches easily, so keep it gentle. Stir well and set aside to cool completely before it meets the egg yolks.
2
Foam the baking soda into the soured cream. Combine the soured cream with the baking soda. It will froth up and look curdled, which is exactly right: the soda is alkaline, the cream is acidic, and that foam is what makes the biscuits light.
3
Combine the dry ingredients. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour and the sifted icing sugar. Add the egg yolks and the foaming soured cream mixture.
4
Add the cooled spiced honey. Pour in the cooled honey, butter and spice mixture. Mix until a thick, sticky dough forms. The stickiness is normal and it will firm up in the fridge, so do not work extra flour in.
5
Chill overnight. Wrap the dough and refrigerate for 10 to 12 hours, or overnight. This improves the texture, stops the biscuits spreading, and deepens the flavour.
6
Roll and cut. Dust your surface lightly with flour. Roll the dough to 6 to 7 mm for a classic gingerbread, or 10 mm for soft, melt-in-the-mouth biscuits. Cut out your shapes, then chill the cut shapes for 10 minutes before baking so they hold clean, sharp edges.
7
Bake. Preheat the oven to 175 C, or 160 C in a fan oven. Place the biscuits on a lined tray with space between them and bake for 10 to 12 minutes, depending on thickness. They should look lightly puffed with a matte surface. Honey browns faster than sugar, so do not wait for golden.
8
Brush for shine and softness. Immediately after they come out of the oven, brush each biscuit lightly with warm honey or warm golden syrup. This locks in moisture and gives the glossy, bakery-style finish that icing sits on beautifully. Cool completely on a rack.
9
Pipe the decoration. Transfer the icing to a piping bag fitted with a fine round tip and pipe snowflakes, dots, stars and lines onto the cooled biscuits. Allow the icing to dry for 1 to 2 hours until fully set before stacking or boxing them.