Festive Village Tree and Church Iron Cookie Cutters - Silver

These festive village iron cookie cutters let you bake a whole little Christmas street in a single batch. There are four cutters in all: a Christmas tree with tiered, jagged branches, a tall narrow house with a chimney on its roof, a smaller house with its own chimney, and a church topped with a cross. Each is a strip of bright silver metal folded into its outline, so it presses through rolled dough and leaves a crisp shape behind. Bake them side by side and you have the start of a gingerbread village, ready to ice with windows, doors and snowy roofs.

We think these cutters come into their own in the kitchen in the weeks before Christmas, when the baking starts in earnest. The shapes work for gingerbread, shortbread and sugar biscuits, and they cut fondant, marzipan or sugar paste as neatly for decorating a festive cake or topping mince pies. Lay the baked houses and the church in a row on a board with the tree beside them and the kitchen table has its own little winter scene. As a Christmas gift, they make a cheerful present to hand over early in December, so the cutters can be used through the season and brought out again year after year.

Each cutter is a strip of iron bent to shape and joined along one side, open at the top and bottom so you can press it straight down and lift the dough away. Dust the edge lightly with flour before each press and the dough will release more easily. To keep the metal at its best, wash the cutters by hand in warm soapy water and dry them thoroughly straight away, since iron is happiest kept dry, then store them together in a dry drawer between bakes. For a gift, tie the cutters together with a ribbon and tuck a favourite gingerbread recipe inside the bow.

What shapes do these cookie cutters come in?

There are four cutters: a Christmas tree, a tall house with a chimney, a smaller house with a chimney and a church topped with a cross.

What are the cookie cutters made of?

Each cutter is made of iron with a silver metal finish, formed from a strip bent into the outline of its shape.

How should I clean the cutters?

As good practice for iron, wash them by hand in warm soapy water and dry them thoroughly straight away before storing them somewhere dry.

Can I use the cutters for more than biscuits?

Yes, the shapes work for gingerbread, shortbread and sugar biscuits, and also cut fondant, marzipan or sugar paste for decorating cakes.

How do I get a clean shape from the dough?

Dust the cutting edge lightly with flour, press straight down through the rolled dough, then lift the cutter and ease the shape away.

Do these cookie cutters make a good Christmas gift?

We think so. The tree, houses and church make a little Christmas village to bake, and the cutters can come out again every year.