This story only available on Stories Space
Once upon time, in the land of Bakeryboo, there was a little town called Puddington. At the northern end of Puddington, was Apple Tart Lane. And at the end of Apple Tart Lane, was a little house called Plum Pudding Cottage. And in Plum Pudding Cottage, lived the Doughball family.
Mr. Doughball was a mince pie. He had lovely, soft pastry, a rich, fruity tummy, and a delightful dusting of icing sugar on top. He was very jolly, and sang Christmas carols all year round.
Mrs. Doughball was a raisin and oatmeal cookie, soft and squishy, with juicy raisins. She was kind and wise, and had a delicious giggle.
Éclair Doughball was a large chocolate éclair. Creamy and sweet, with a rich, dark streak of chocolate on top, she was lovely in all the ways that lovely treats are.
Doughball Boy was… a lump of dough. Heavy and sticky, he did his best to be cheerful. But it’s hard to be cheerful when you’re just a lump of raw dough without a shape people can recognise.
In the land of Bakeryboo, all children start out as some kind of dough. In Puddington, all the people became some kind of pudding, a sweet dessert. A doughchild must find their shape, the thing that made them, “Them.” People they knew or met could give them gifts and ingredients, which would help to shape them. Some of the doughchildren from Bakeryboo already had lots of people in their lives who could offer lots of these ingredients, and help them to take shape earlier than other doughchildren. But poor Doughball Boy! He only had a very small family, and very few friends, and he had no idea what sort of a pudding he would like to be. Doughball Boy had to go on a Bakeryboo Finding You Holiday.
But what is a Bakeryboo Finding You Summer Holiday, I hear you ask? Well, when a doughchild was old enough to go to Big School, and if they weren’t yet in the shape of the pudding they were going to be, they often took a holiday to “Find Themselves.” Often, a doughchild would already look like the pudding or food they wanted to become, so they didn’t need a Bakeryboo Finding You Summer Holiday. But if, by the autumn that Big School was about to open its doors, a doughchild wasn’t the pudding shape they wanted to become, they must go and find their shape, so that the Big School teachers would know how to help them become the Best Pudding they could be.
Poor Doughball Boy! He didn’t know what his shape should be. Soggy and misshapen, and rather damp with all the sugar rain Puddington had been having, Doughball Boy spoke to his family.
“Mother? Father? Éclair? Look at me. I haven’t found my shape yet. I just don’t know what I want to be.”
“Oh son,” said Mr. Doughball, “You must go on a Bakeryboo Finding You Summer Holiday!”
“Oh yes,” smiled Mrs. Doughball. “You will be fabulous, whatever you decide to be.”
Mr. Doughball thought for a minute.
“Would you like to be jolly and gruff like a tasty plum duff? Or silly and dizzy like a lime jelly fizzy?” he asked.
“Or you could be solid of heart like a big custard tart, oozing with peach slices and square mango dices,” said Mrs. Doughball.
“Or what about caramel twinkles with chocolatey sprinkles, or a fairy cake mountain with a big milkshake fountain?” asked Éclair.
“I don’t know,” sighed Doughball Boy. “All I know is, I’d like to be happy, and make other people smile when they look at me. But I don’t know what shape I should be for that.”
“Then a Bakeryboo Finding You Summer Holiday is what you need!” said Mr. Doughball. “Where would you like to go?”
“I don’t know,” said Doughball Boy.
“There’s the Yummy Lush Caves, or the Emerald Glades, and the Riproaring Valley of Buckwheats,” said Mrs. Doughball.
“Or the Paradise Hotchpotch and the River O’ Butterscotch, or the Islands of Marvellous Sweets,” said Éclair.
“None of those places sound like anywhere I’d like to go,” sighed Doughball Boy. “But I’d like to go somewhere hot, where there is always sun.”
“Then you must go to the Dessert Desert. It’s always hot and dry, and absolutely baking there!” said Mr. Doughball.
And so, it was decided that the next morning, Doughball Boy would go on his Bakeryboo Finding You Summer Holiday, to find Himself in the Dessert Desert. He was very excited as he went to bed that night!
When he awoke the next morning, his family came to the gate of Plum Pudding Cottage to wave him goodbye. It was raining hard, and nobody wanted to stay outside for long.
“Before you go,” said Mr. Doughball, “we each have a present for you, to help you Find Yourself.”
And he handed Doughball Boy some bicarbonate of soda.
“That will help you rise to every occasion,” he told him.
“Thank you,” said Doughball Boy.
“And here,” said Mrs. Doughball, handing him some sugar. “This will help keep you sweet.”
“Thank you,” said Doughball Boy.
“And here,” said Éclair, handing him some extra flour. “This will help you not to get too soggy.”
“Thank you,” said Doughball Boy.
He hugged his family goodbye, and set off down the soggy, rainy Apple Tart Lane. He sploshed all the way along the lane, and then turned south. He sploshed through Puddington without seeing anybody else. He wondered if he was the only one who had to go on a Bakeryboo Finding You Summer Holiday. By the time he got to the end of Puddington, he was so wet he was starting to melt a little bit!
“I just cannot go to Big School until I Find Me,” Doughball Boy said to himself. He continued to walk south, following the Great Cocoa River. He passed by the Yummy Lush Caves, and walked through the Emerald Glades. It was still raining.
He discovered the Fields of Fudge, and found the place where the Great Cocoa River and the River O’ Butterscotch met. He decided to follow the River O’ Butterscotch, because it would take him further south than that Great Cocoa River. It was still raining.
If it hadn’t been for Éclair’s flour, he would have melted into a soggy puddle, and not been able to get anywhere, so Doughball Boy was very grateful for it. By the time he reached the edge of the Riproaring Valley of Buckwheats, the rain was more gentle, and very soon, it stopped. But the wind began to blow. It blew so much that it started to dry out Doughball Boy’s dough! It was getting windier and windier, and he was getting drier and drier.
“If I don’t get out of this wind,” thought Doughball Boy, “I shall dry out so much that I shall be blown away! I must find some shelter.”
He kept walking and looking for a place to hide. The wind was very strong, and drying him out more and more. Suddenly, he heard a voice crying out! At first he thought it was just the wind, but no, it was definitely a voice.
“Help! Please help me!”
He ran as fast as he could towards the sound, worrying that he was getting drier by the second, and bits of him were beginning to blow away.
“Please! Help me!”
Doughball Boy was desperately trying to find who was in trouble, but the voice kept moving. One moment it was behind him, another, in front of him, then to his left, then to his right. Then all of a sudden…
THUD! Doughball Boy fell over something! Or… someone. It was a small Sweet Dumpling, rolling around in the wind.
“Help me, please! I keep rolling round in the wind and I can’t get out of the valley. As soon as I roll to one end of it, another gust of wind rolls me back again. I’ve been here for three weeks and I’m very tired.” Poor little Sweet Dumpling.
“I will help you, but I’m drying out so badly that bits of me are falling off,” said Doughball Boy. “And I can’t find anywhere to shelter.”
“I know a place,” said the Sweet Dumpling. “It’s not far. There’s a big crack in the ground with shining sweetie mushrooms in it. I couldn’t get close enough to roll into it, but it’s just in front of us, if we keep going.”
So Doughball Boy picked up the Sweet Dumpling, and took her to the crack in the ground. They both lay in the shelter, looking at the shining sweetie mushrooms, glad to be out of the wind.
“Thank you so much for helping me,” said the Sweet Dumpling.
“You’re welcome,” smiled Doughball Boy. “Would you like me to take you further? I’m going south, to the Dessert Desert, on my Bakeryboo Finding You Summer Holiday.”
“That would be perfect,” smiled the Sweet Dumpling. “But I see you’re drying out a lot. I have some golden syrup that will help hold you together so the wind can’t make you fall apart. Would you like some?”
“Yes please,” smiled Doughball Boy.
So the Sweet Dumpling gave Doughball Boy some golden syrup, and helped him to mix it into himself. Very soon, he wasn’t dry any more, and they left the crack in the ground, taking some of the shining sweetie mushrooms with them.
Doughball Boy battled through the wind as he carried the Sweet Dumpling to the end of the Riproaring Valley of Buckwheats, following the River O’Butterscotch so that they wouldn’t get lost. By the time they reached the foothills of the Sorbetian Mountains, the wind had died down. They sat down for a rest.
“I’m ever so glad we’re out of that awful wind,” said Doughball Boy.
“Me too,” replied the Sweet Dumpling. “And I’m nearly home! I live just east of here. Where did you say you were going?”
“I’m going to the Dessert Desert,” Doughball Boy told her. “I’m going on my Bakeryboo Finding You Summer Holiday to Find Myself.”
“Well, I’m very glad you found me,” giggled the Sweet Dumpling, “or I’d never have gotten out of the valley. Now, if you want to get to the Dessert Desert from here, you must climb up into the Sorbetian Mountains. Climb over the top and down, until the River O’ Butterscotch turns into the River O’ Caramel. Keep climbing, and there you will see the Paradise Hotchpotch.
From the Paradise Hotchpotch, you must go along the River O’ Caramel until you reach the Candied Ocean. There you will see the Islands of Marvellous Sweets. Turn left away from the Candied Ocean, and keep walking. Then you will find the Dessert Desert. I do hope you Find You!”
Doughball Boy thanked the Sweet Dumpling, they hugged goodbye, and he went on his way into the Sorbetian Mountains. They were huge, all pinky and orangey and lemony and limey mountains of sorbet.
“Oh dear,” thought Doughball Boy to himself as he climbed higher and higher, “if it gets any colder, I shall freeze solid, and I won’t be able to move!”
Higher and higher he climbed; slower and slower he got. Pieces of ice were forming on parts of him, and he was worried. If he froze solid, he would never make it to the Dessert Desert for his Bakeryboo Finding You Summer Holiday. So he kept walking.
Nearly at the very top, he suddenly heard somebody crying.
“Waaaa… What shall I do? Boo hoo hoo!”
He staggered towards the voice, which was at the very top of the Sorbetian Mountains, and there he found an Egg Custard, crying tears into a little pile of icy tear-drop-shaped gems.
“What’s the matter?” asked Doughball Boy. “Do you need some help?”
“Hello,” sniffed the Egg Custard. “I’m crying because I’m going to a party just down the mountain, and I haven’t got anything shiny to wear. I shall be the only one with nothing special. Boo hoo hoo…” And the Egg Custard began to cry again.
“Is that all?” asked Doughball Boy. “I have some shining sweetie mushrooms here that you can have. And just look at your tears! All pretty and sparkly like diamonds. Why don’t you wear those?”
The Egg Custard sniffed and thought about that. Doughball Boy, trying to keep moving so he didn’t freeze solid, showed him the shining sweetie mushrooms, and picked up the frozen tears.
“See? Won’t they make lovely shiny decorations?” he smiled stiffly, pulling strange faces as he realised he couldn’t feel his mouth any more.
“Yes, wonderful!” replied the Egg Custard. “But why do you smile so funny? Are you ill?”
“I’m freezing,” mumbled Doughball Boy. “I’m not made to live here. I think my legs have stopped working, and I can’t move.” Sure enough, no matter how hard he tried, Doughball Boy could not move his poor frozen legs.
“I’m not made to live here either,” smiled the Egg Custard. “But I have a secret ingredient! I have some ginger. It’s warm and spicy, and stops me from freezing. You’ve been very kind to me, so I shall give you some.”
The Egg Custard began to rub his ginger into Doughball Boy, and very soon, he could feel himself defrosting. Very soon, he could move freely again, and smile properly.
“Thank you so much,” he smiled at the Egg Custard. “I’d have been stuck up here forever without you. Now, let’s decorate you with these shining sweetie mushrooms, and your teardrops, and you shall be ready for your party!”
Doughball Boy helped the Egg Custard arrange the shining sweetie mushrooms and teardrops all over him, so that he shone and twinkled splendidly.
“You look wonderful,” smiled Doughball Boy as the Egg Custard twirled for him. “Let’s get you to this party!”
They laughed and chattered their warm, gingery way down the mountain, and when the time came for Doughball Boy to leave the Egg Custard at the party house, they hugged goodbye.
“I never asked you why you were in the Sorbetian Mountains,” said the Egg Custard, “although I’m ever so glad you were, or I’d have had to go home again and miss the party.”
“I’m going to the Dessert Desert,” Doughball Boy told him. “I’m going on my Bakeryboo Finding You Summer Holiday.”
“Oh, how exciting,” smiled the Egg Custard. “Here is some extra ginger, just in case you need it. Do you know where to go now? Carry on down the mountain until the River O’ Butterscotch turns into the River O’ Caramel. Keep climbing, and there you will see the Paradise Hotchpotch.
"From the Paradise Hotchpotch, you must go along the River O’ Caramel until you reach the Candied Ocean. There you will see the Islands of Marvellous Sweets. Turn left away from the Candied Ocean, and keep walking. Then you will find the Dessert Desert. I do hope you Find You. You have a long way to go to get down the rest of the mountain, though. Let me give you some butter, and you will be able to slide the rest of the way down, quick as quick can be!”
And so the Egg Custard helped Doughball Boy rub the butter into himself, and with a big smile and a lot of waving, Doughball Boy sat down in the icy sorbet, and launched himself down the mountain on his doughy bottom.
“Weeeeeeeeee!” he cried with glee as he slid down the mountain, until he saw the River O’ Butterscotch, turn into the River O’ Caramel. Down he slid, alongside the River, until he zoomed off the Sorbetian Mountains, and landed with a big “PLUMPH” into a huge bank of marshmallow!
Giggling, he stood up, a little wobbly, and looked around him. This was the Paradise Hotchpotch. Bordered by white and pink marshmallow banks, it was a mishmash of twinkling gummy trees and big fat chocolate logs, with swirling rainbow sugar raining from the glowing leaves. It had shrubs of jellied flowers, and forests of purple and blue candy sticks. There were puddles of chocolate milk, which glooped and glopped in thick, ploppy bubbles, and lakes of lemonade, which fizzed and sparkled in the warm sun, letting off geysers and showering the sugary rice grass with jewel-like splendour. A Paradise Hotchpotch indeed!
Doughball Boy longed to stay, but he could not, for he needed to have his Bakeryboo Finding You Summer Holiday. And so, he started walking, following the River O’ Caramel. After he walked a fair way, he could see the Candied Ocean in the distance, and on the shore, he saw a small pudding waving at him. He waved back, and kept walking towards it.
Very soon, he met a delightful Hot Chocolate Soufflé on the Sherbet Sand by the Candied Ocean, which was a rolling sea of blue and green sugar strands. And far on the horizon, he could see a line of large islands of many colours. He knew they must be the Islands of Marvellous Sweets. He looked at the little pudding.
“Hello,” smiled Doughball Boy. “What a marvellous place this is! Do you live here?”
“Oh no,” replied the Hot Chocolate Soufflé, “It’s too cold for me here. My melty chocolate tummy is going all hard, and I feel very uncomfortable. But I must go on, for my Aunt Chocolate Ice Cream, who lives in the Sorbetian Mountains, is very ill, and slopping all over the place. I must deliver her some eggs to help bind her together again. But I’m scared I will freeze, and never reach her before she becomes a puddle on the floor!”
“I think I can help with that,” smiled Doughball Boy. “If you rub this ginger into yourself, I am sure your melty chocolate tummy will stay hot and melty, and it won’t feel so uncomfortable.” And he gave some ginger to the Hot Chocolate Soufflé.
“Oh, you are so kind,” said the Hot Chocolate Soufflé. “Now my Aunt Chocolate Ice Cream will be able to bind herself together again!”
And so Doughball Boy helped the Hot Chocolate Soufflé rub the ginger into himself.
“Goodness,” giggled the Hot Chocolate Soufflé. “I’m so hot I’m sweating. I must remember not to get too close to my Aunt Chocolate Ice Cream, or she will be a puddle straight away. Thank you ever so much. Where are you going?”
“I’m going to the Dessert Desert,” Doughball Boy told him. “I’m going on my Bakeryboo Finding You Summer Holiday.”
“How wonderful,” sighed the Hot Chocolate Soufflé. “I remember when I Found Myself. I went to the Fields of Fudge. It was lovely. I live in the Dessert Desert, which is why it is too cold for me here, and why I need this ginger to stop me freezing. Do you know how to get to the Dessert Desert?
“I think I’m meant to turn left here,” replied Doughball Boy.
“Yes, that’s right,” smiled the Hot Chocolate Soufflé. “But I say, you’re going to need some of my eggs, because that sun is so hot it will burn and scorch you. If you smear this egg on you, it will protect you, and you will turn a beautiful shade of brown.”
And so, the Hot Chocolate Soufflé helped Doughball Boy rub the egg into himself.
“Now you’re ready,” smiled the Hot Chocolate Soufflé. “Just keep walking, until you reach the Dessert Desert. You’ll know it, because it’s just a lot of this Sherbet Sand, and large slabs of rock that all the puddings like me go and lie on to steam in the sun. It’s not very far, but it will get hot very quickly.”
“Thank you,” smiled Doughball Boy. “I do hope your Aunt Chocolate Ice Cream gets better quickly.” And they hugged goodbye, and set off on their journeys.
As Doughball Boy kept walking, he soon realised that he was getting very hot and tired. But he knew he needed to start his Bakeryboo Finding You Summer Holiday. He needed to Find Himself.
He knew he had reached the Dessert Desert when he saw little groups of puddings lying on great slabs of rocks, steaming in the sunlight. The smell was sweet and wonderful, and Doughball Boy smiled and waved at the puddings as he walked past, looking for his own slab of rock to lie on.
Finally, he found one, next to a large, round Pie Case with a big grin.
“Hello,” smiled Doughball Boy. “Do you mind if I sit on this slab of rock next to you?”
“Not at all,” grinned the Pie Case. “Help yourself.”
So Doughball Boy sat down and rested. It was so hot, and he was feeling very sleepy.
“What brings you to the Dessert Desert?” asked the Pie Case.
“I’m on my Bakeryboo Finding You Summer Holiday,” Doughball Boy explained.
“Ah, me too,” the Pie Case told him. “I’ve been on my Bakeryboo Finding You Summer Holiday for sixteen years, and I still haven’t Found Myself. I have become well-rounded, though, and one day, I shall Find Me. I’m really looking for a place with lots of yummy fillings and jellies and chocolate and lemonade all in one place, so I can try different things out and see what suits me. But I haven’t found anywhere like that yet.”
“I know where you might Find You,” Doughball Boy told her. “I think you would like the Paradise Hotchpotch. It’s a lovely place.”
And so, under the hot sun, Doughball Boy told the Pie Case about all the wonderful people he had met, and all the wonderful places he had been. The Pie Case decided that when Doughball Boy returned to Puddington, she would roll with him as far as the Paradise Hotchpotch.
“What sort of pudding might you like to be?” asked the Pie Case.
“Hmmm,” said Doughball Boy sleepily. “I’d like to be a sweet treat with a bit of spice for any occasion. And above all else, I would like to help people smile. If they cannot smile for themselves, I would like to smile for them.”
“You are very sweet and friendly already,” said the Pie Case.
“I hope so,” replied Doughball Boy. “This sun is ever so hot, and I am so very tired. I have come a very long way, and I need to start my Bakeryboo Finding You Summer Holiday when I wake up.”
And so, Doughball Boy stretched his tired body out, and went to sleep, whilst the Pie Case thought about the sort of pudding she would like to be.
A few hours later, Doughball Boy began to wake up. He could smell the most delicious, sweet spicy smell he had ever smelled in his life. He yawned, and sniffed the hot air.
“Hello, sleepyhead,” grinned the Pie Case. “Look at You!”
Doughball Boy lifted his sleepy head and looked at himself.
“Aaaaah!” He jumped up, looking at himself and patting himself all over. He had changed! He was no longer Doughball Boy, but a tall, smooth, smart, snappy, golden brown… Gingerbread Boy! The delicious smell was coming from him!
He gazed at himself, with his sugary sweet golden syrup, his warm brown looks, his spicy ginger, his big, happy smile, and he knew. He had Found Himself! He was a Gingerbread Boy!
“I wonder if this is the shortest Bakeryboo Finding You Summer Holiday ever,” he laughed to the Pie Case.
“And I wonder if my Bakeryboo Finding You Summer Holiday is the longest one ever,” grinned the Pie Case.”
They laughed together, and decided that, all things considered, the Dessert Desert was a very useful sort of place, although it was so hot it was positively baking. And so the time came, and they set out on their way, the Pie Case to the Paradise Hotchpotch, and Gingerbread Boy to Puddington.
Leaving the Dessert Desert, they walked along the Sherbet Sand until they saw the Islands of Marvellous Sweets in the Candied Ocean. Then they turned right, and followed the River O’ Caramel until they reached the Paradise Hotchpotch.
“Oh my,” said the Pie Case. “What a fabulous place! It’s exactly what I was looking for to take my Bakeryboo Finding You Summer Holiday in. Thank you so much for telling me about it. When I Find Myself, I shall come and visit you in Puddington, and show you what I become, if you like.”
“Yes please,” smiled Gingerbread Boy. “That would be lovely.” And they hugged goodbye, and Gingerbread Boy began to walk home. He followed the River O’Caramel until it turned into the River O’ Butterscotch in the foothills of the pinky and orangey and lemony and limey Sorbetian Mountains. On his way up, he met the Hot Chocolate Soufflé, who was very pleased to see that he had Found Himself. His Aunt Chocolate Ice Cream was perfectly well now, and because of the ginger Gingerbread Boy had given him, the Hot Chocolate Soufflé had felt perfectly well in the freezing air too. They hugged goodbye once more, and carried on their ways home.
Gingerbread Boy continued to climb up the Sorbetian Mountains, and found the house where the Egg Custard’s party had been. He peeked in the window, and saw all the partygoers asleep in the warmth. So outside the door, in the snow, he drew the shape of a smiling Gingerbread Boy, and put his last shining sweetie mushrooms in it as buttons, so that when the Egg Custard awoke and went home, he would see that Gingerbread Boy had Found Himself.
Over the top of the mountain he went, and down the other side. He followed the River O’ Butterscotch until he reached the Riproaring Valley of Buckwheats. He had no difficulty getting through this time, and stopped to pick some more shining sweetie mushrooms in the crack where he and the Sweet Dumpling had sheltered from the wind, and she had helped him with her golden syrup. He decided that when he was old enough, he was going to go east and find her. Gingerbread Boy rather liked the Sweet Dumpling, and he hoped that she rather liked him too.
On and on he went, to the other side of the Riproaring Valley of the Buckwheats, along the River O’ Butterscotch until he reached the place where it met the Great Cocoa River. Then he followed the Great Cocoa River through the Fields of Fudge.
And still on he went, homewards, through the Emerald Glades, passing by the Yummy Lush Caves, along the Great Cocoa River. It wasn’t raining now, but it was very warm and sunny, just as a summer should. Finally, tired from his long journey, Gingerbread Boy reached Puddington with a large smile on his face.
There were many puddings in the little town, all shopping, meeting friends, wandering happily in the warm summer sun, and generally enjoying themselves. They all smiled and waved at Gingerbread Boy as he made his way along the main road, and by the time he turned north to reach home, he was feeling very excited about seeing his family. All along sunny Apple Tart Lane, he had a grin on his face, and suddenly…
He was home! Through the gate of Plum Pudding Cottage he went, and there was his dear Doughball family, sitting in the sunny garden. They all jumped up and hugged and kissed him.
“Well done, son,” beamed Mr Doughball, and began singing an adapted Christmas Carol.
“You’re home, ye merry gingerbread,
You’ve walked a long, long way.
You Found Yourself upon your
Bak’ryboo Summer Holiday.
You once were dough and now you’re not,
You’re a Gingerbread Boy, I’d say,
O yum yummy yummy yummy yum,
Yummy yum-yum,
O yu-ummy oh yummy yummy yum!”
Mrs. Doughball giggled, and kept hugging her son.
“I just knew you’d turn out smiley,” she said.
Éclair Girl smiled at her brother.
“When you get to Big School, I bet you anything you’ll get to try lots of sweets to see which buttons will suit you best. If you need any help deciding, I will be very pleased to help you!”
And the Doughball family all had a wonderful time sharing news, and Gingerbread Boy, home from his Bakeryboo Finding You Summer Holiday, was very, very glad to be home, after having Found Himself.
****************************************
Make your own Bakeryboo Gingerbread Cookies!
You will need:
• 350g plain flour
• Up to 2 teaspoons ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
• 100g butter or margarine
• 175g soft light brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 4 tablespoons golden syrup
Makes about 20 biscuits.
Put the flour, ginger and soda into a bowl and rub in the butter.
Add sugar and stir in the syrup and egg to make a firm dough.
Roll out to about 5mm thick and cut out your gingerbread men.
If you don't have a gingerbread man cutter then use whatever you have - stars and hearts are just as tasty.
Bake at 190 C /Gas 5 for 10 to 15 minutes until golden brown. Leave to firm up for a couple of minutes before placing on a wire rack to cook.
Once cooled, decorate with icing and yummy sweeties! Nom nom nom!
This story only available on Stories Space
Once upon time, in the land of Bakeryboo, there was a little town called Puddington. At the northern end of Puddington, was Apple Tart Lane. And at the end of Apple Tart Lane, was a little house called Plum Pudding Cottage. And in Plum Pudding Cottage, lived the Doughball family.
Mr. Doughball was a mince pie. He had lovely, soft pastry, a rich, fruity tummy, and a delightful dusting of icing sugar on top. He was very jolly, and sang Christmas carols all year round.
Mrs. Doughball was a raisin and oatmeal cookie, soft and squishy, with juicy raisins. She was kind and wise, and had a delicious giggle.
Éclair Doughball was a large chocolate éclair. Creamy and sweet, with a rich, dark streak of chocolate on top, she was lovely in all the ways that lovely treats are.
Doughball Boy was… a lump of dough. Heavy and sticky, he did his best to be cheerful. But it’s hard to be cheerful when you’re just a lump of raw dough without a shape people can recognise.
In the land of Bakeryboo, all children start out as some kind of dough. In Puddington, all the people became some kind of pudding, a sweet dessert. A doughchild must find their shape, the thing that made them, “Them.” People they knew or met could give them gifts and ingredients, which would help to shape them. Some of the doughchildren from Bakeryboo already had lots of people in their lives who could offer lots of these ingredients, and help them to take shape earlier than other doughchildren. But poor Doughball Boy! He only had a very small family, and very few friends, and he had no idea what sort of a pudding he would like to be. Doughball Boy had to go on a Bakeryboo Finding You Holiday.
But what is a Bakeryboo Finding You Summer Holiday, I hear you ask? Well, when a doughchild was old enough to go to Big School, and if they weren’t yet in the shape of the pudding they were going to be, they often took a holiday to “Find Themselves.” Often, a doughchild would already look like the pudding or food they wanted to become, so they didn’t need a Bakeryboo Finding You Summer Holiday. But if, by the autumn that Big School was about to open its doors, a doughchild wasn’t the pudding shape they wanted to become, they must go and find their shape, so that the Big School teachers would know how to help them become the Best Pudding they could be.
Poor Doughball Boy! He didn’t know what his shape should be. Soggy and misshapen, and rather damp with all the sugar rain Puddington had been having, Doughball Boy spoke to his family.
“Mother? Father? Éclair? Look at me. I haven’t found my shape yet. I just don’t know what I want to be.”
“Oh son,” said Mr. Doughball, “You must go on a Bakeryboo Finding You Summer Holiday!”
“Oh yes,” smiled Mrs. Doughball. “You will be fabulous, whatever you decide to be.”
Mr. Doughball thought for a minute.
“Would you like to be jolly and gruff like a tasty plum duff? Or silly and dizzy like a lime jelly fizzy?” he asked.
“Or you could be solid of heart like a big custard tart, oozing with peach slices and square mango dices,” said Mrs. Doughball.
“Or what about caramel twinkles with chocolatey sprinkles, or a fairy cake mountain with a big milkshake fountain?” asked Éclair.
“I don’t know,” sighed Doughball Boy. “All I know is, I’d like to be happy, and make other people smile when they look at me. But I don’t know what shape I should be for that.”
“Then a Bakeryboo Finding You Summer Holiday is what you need!” said Mr. Doughball. “Where would you like to go?”
“I don’t know,” said Doughball Boy.
“There’s the Yummy Lush Caves, or the Emerald Glades, and the Riproaring Valley of Buckwheats,” said Mrs. Doughball.
“Or the Paradise Hotchpotch and the River O’ Butterscotch, or the Islands of Marvellous Sweets,” said Éclair.
“None of those places sound like anywhere I’d like to go,” sighed Doughball Boy. “But I’d like to go somewhere hot, where there is always sun.”
“Then you must go to the Dessert Desert. It’s always hot and dry, and absolutely baking there!” said Mr. Doughball.
And so, it was decided that the next morning, Doughball Boy would go on his Bakeryboo Finding You Summer Holiday, to find Himself in the Dessert Desert. He was very excited as he went to bed that night!
When he awoke the next morning, his family came to the gate of Plum Pudding Cottage to wave him goodbye. It was raining hard, and nobody wanted to stay outside for long.
“Before you go,” said Mr. Doughball, “we each have a present for you, to help you Find Yourself.”
And he handed Doughball Boy some bicarbonate of soda.
“That will help you rise to every occasion,” he told him.
“Thank you,” said Doughball Boy.
“And here,” said Mrs. Doughball, handing him some sugar. “This will help keep you sweet.”
“Thank you,” said Doughball Boy.
“And here,” said Éclair, handing him some extra flour. “This will help you not to get too soggy.”
“Thank you,” said Doughball Boy.
He hugged his family goodbye, and set off down the soggy, rainy Apple Tart Lane. He sploshed all the way along the lane, and then turned south. He sploshed through Puddington without seeing anybody else. He wondered if he was the only one who had to go on a Bakeryboo Finding You Summer Holiday. By the time he got to the end of Puddington, he was so wet he was starting to melt a little bit!
“I just cannot go to Big School until I Find Me,” Doughball Boy said to himself. He continued to walk south, following the Great Cocoa River. He passed by the Yummy Lush Caves, and walked through the Emerald Glades. It was still raining.
He discovered the Fields of Fudge, and found the place where the Great Cocoa River and the River O’ Butterscotch met. He decided to follow the River O’ Butterscotch, because it would take him further south than that Great Cocoa River. It was still raining.
If it hadn’t been for Éclair’s flour, he would have melted into a soggy puddle, and not been able to get anywhere, so Doughball Boy was very grateful for it. By the time he reached the edge of the Riproaring Valley of Buckwheats, the rain was more gentle, and very soon, it stopped. But the wind began to blow. It blew so much that it started to dry out Doughball Boy’s dough! It was getting windier and windier, and he was getting drier and drier.
“If I don’t get out of this wind,” thought Doughball Boy, “I shall dry out so much that I shall be blown away! I must find some shelter.”
He kept walking and looking for a place to hide. The wind was very strong, and drying him out more and more. Suddenly, he heard a voice crying out! At first he thought it was just the wind, but no, it was definitely a voice.
“Help! Please help me!”
He ran as fast as he could towards the sound, worrying that he was getting drier by the second, and bits of him were beginning to blow away.
“Please! Help me!”
Doughball Boy was desperately trying to find who was in trouble, but the voice kept moving. One moment it was behind him, another, in front of him, then to his left, then to his right. Then all of a sudden…
THUD! Doughball Boy fell over something! Or… someone. It was a small Sweet Dumpling, rolling around in the wind.
“Help me, please! I keep rolling round in the wind and I can’t get out of the valley. As soon as I roll to one end of it, another gust of wind rolls me back again. I’ve been here for three weeks and I’m very tired.” Poor little Sweet Dumpling.
“I will help you, but I’m drying out so badly that bits of me are falling off,” said Doughball Boy. “And I can’t find anywhere to shelter.”
“I know a place,” said the Sweet Dumpling. “It’s not far. There’s a big crack in the ground with shining sweetie mushrooms in it. I couldn’t get close enough to roll into it, but it’s just in front of us, if we keep going.”
So Doughball Boy picked up the Sweet Dumpling, and took her to the crack in the ground. They both lay in the shelter, looking at the shining sweetie mushrooms, glad to be out of the wind.
“Thank you so much for helping me,” said the Sweet Dumpling.
“You’re welcome,” smiled Doughball Boy. “Would you like me to take you further? I’m going south, to the Dessert Desert, on my Bakeryboo Finding You Summer Holiday.”
“That would be perfect,” smiled the Sweet Dumpling. “But I see you’re drying out a lot. I have some golden syrup that will help hold you together so the wind can’t make you fall apart. Would you like some?”
“Yes please,” smiled Doughball Boy.
So the Sweet Dumpling gave Doughball Boy some golden syrup, and helped him to mix it into himself. Very soon, he wasn’t dry any more, and they left the crack in the ground, taking some of the shining sweetie mushrooms with them.
Doughball Boy battled through the wind as he carried the Sweet Dumpling to the end of the Riproaring Valley of Buckwheats, following the River O’Butterscotch so that they wouldn’t get lost. By the time they reached the foothills of the Sorbetian Mountains, the wind had died down. They sat down for a rest.
“I’m ever so glad we’re out of that awful wind,” said Doughball Boy.
“Me too,” replied the Sweet Dumpling. “And I’m nearly home! I live just east of here. Where did you say you were going?”
“I’m going to the Dessert Desert,” Doughball Boy told her. “I’m going on my Bakeryboo Finding You Summer Holiday to Find Myself.”
“Well, I’m very glad you found me,” giggled the Sweet Dumpling, “or I’d never have gotten out of the valley. Now, if you want to get to the Dessert Desert from here, you must climb up into the Sorbetian Mountains. Climb over the top and down, until the River O’ Butterscotch turns into the River O’ Caramel. Keep climbing, and there you will see the Paradise Hotchpotch.
From the Paradise Hotchpotch, you must go along the River O’ Caramel until you reach the Candied Ocean. There you will see the Islands of Marvellous Sweets. Turn left away from the Candied Ocean, and keep walking. Then you will find the Dessert Desert. I do hope you Find You!”
Doughball Boy thanked the Sweet Dumpling, they hugged goodbye, and he went on his way into the Sorbetian Mountains. They were huge, all pinky and orangey and lemony and limey mountains of sorbet.
“Oh dear,” thought Doughball Boy to himself as he climbed higher and higher, “if it gets any colder, I shall freeze solid, and I won’t be able to move!”
Higher and higher he climbed; slower and slower he got. Pieces of ice were forming on parts of him, and he was worried. If he froze solid, he would never make it to the Dessert Desert for his Bakeryboo Finding You Summer Holiday. So he kept walking.
Nearly at the very top, he suddenly heard somebody crying.
“Waaaa… What shall I do? Boo hoo hoo!”
He staggered towards the voice, which was at the very top of the Sorbetian Mountains, and there he found an Egg Custard, crying tears into a little pile of icy tear-drop-shaped gems.
“What’s the matter?” asked Doughball Boy. “Do you need some help?”
“Hello,” sniffed the Egg Custard. “I’m crying because I’m going to a party just down the mountain, and I haven’t got anything shiny to wear. I shall be the only one with nothing special. Boo hoo hoo…” And the Egg Custard began to cry again.
“Is that all?” asked Doughball Boy. “I have some shining sweetie mushrooms here that you can have. And just look at your tears! All pretty and sparkly like diamonds. Why don’t you wear those?”
The Egg Custard sniffed and thought about that. Doughball Boy, trying to keep moving so he didn’t freeze solid, showed him the shining sweetie mushrooms, and picked up the frozen tears.
“See? Won’t they make lovely shiny decorations?” he smiled stiffly, pulling strange faces as he realised he couldn’t feel his mouth any more.
“Yes, wonderful!” replied the Egg Custard. “But why do you smile so funny? Are you ill?”
“I’m freezing,” mumbled Doughball Boy. “I’m not made to live here. I think my legs have stopped working, and I can’t move.” Sure enough, no matter how hard he tried, Doughball Boy could not move his poor frozen legs.
“I’m not made to live here either,” smiled the Egg Custard. “But I have a secret ingredient! I have some ginger. It’s warm and spicy, and stops me from freezing. You’ve been very kind to me, so I shall give you some.”
The Egg Custard began to rub his ginger into Doughball Boy, and very soon, he could feel himself defrosting. Very soon, he could move freely again, and smile properly.
“Thank you so much,” he smiled at the Egg Custard. “I’d have been stuck up here forever without you. Now, let’s decorate you with these shining sweetie mushrooms, and your teardrops, and you shall be ready for your party!”
Doughball Boy helped the Egg Custard arrange the shining sweetie mushrooms and teardrops all over him, so that he shone and twinkled splendidly.
“You look wonderful,” smiled Doughball Boy as the Egg Custard twirled for him. “Let’s get you to this party!”
They laughed and chattered their warm, gingery way down the mountain, and when the time came for Doughball Boy to leave the Egg Custard at the party house, they hugged goodbye.
“I never asked you why you were in the Sorbetian Mountains,” said the Egg Custard, “although I’m ever so glad you were, or I’d have had to go home again and miss the party.”
“I’m going to the Dessert Desert,” Doughball Boy told him. “I’m going on my Bakeryboo Finding You Summer Holiday.”
“Oh, how exciting,” smiled the Egg Custard. “Here is some extra ginger, just in case you need it. Do you know where to go now? Carry on down the mountain until the River O’ Butterscotch turns into the River O’ Caramel. Keep climbing, and there you will see the Paradise Hotchpotch.
"From the Paradise Hotchpotch, you must go along the River O’ Caramel until you reach the Candied Ocean. There you will see the Islands of Marvellous Sweets. Turn left away from the Candied Ocean, and keep walking. Then you will find the Dessert Desert. I do hope you Find You. You have a long way to go to get down the rest of the mountain, though. Let me give you some butter, and you will be able to slide the rest of the way down, quick as quick can be!”
And so the Egg Custard helped Doughball Boy rub the butter into himself, and with a big smile and a lot of waving, Doughball Boy sat down in the icy sorbet, and launched himself down the mountain on his doughy bottom.
“Weeeeeeeeee!” he cried with glee as he slid down the mountain, until he saw the River O’ Butterscotch, turn into the River O’ Caramel. Down he slid, alongside the River, until he zoomed off the Sorbetian Mountains, and landed with a big “PLUMPH” into a huge bank of marshmallow!
Giggling, he stood up, a little wobbly, and looked around him. This was the Paradise Hotchpotch. Bordered by white and pink marshmallow banks, it was a mishmash of twinkling gummy trees and big fat chocolate logs, with swirling rainbow sugar raining from the glowing leaves. It had shrubs of jellied flowers, and forests of purple and blue candy sticks. There were puddles of chocolate milk, which glooped and glopped in thick, ploppy bubbles, and lakes of lemonade, which fizzed and sparkled in the warm sun, letting off geysers and showering the sugary rice grass with jewel-like splendour. A Paradise Hotchpotch indeed!
Doughball Boy longed to stay, but he could not, for he needed to have his Bakeryboo Finding You Summer Holiday. And so, he started walking, following the River O’ Caramel. After he walked a fair way, he could see the Candied Ocean in the distance, and on the shore, he saw a small pudding waving at him. He waved back, and kept walking towards it.
Very soon, he met a delightful Hot Chocolate Soufflé on the Sherbet Sand by the Candied Ocean, which was a rolling sea of blue and green sugar strands. And far on the horizon, he could see a line of large islands of many colours. He knew they must be the Islands of Marvellous Sweets. He looked at the little pudding.
“Hello,” smiled Doughball Boy. “What a marvellous place this is! Do you live here?”
“Oh no,” replied the Hot Chocolate Soufflé, “It’s too cold for me here. My melty chocolate tummy is going all hard, and I feel very uncomfortable. But I must go on, for my Aunt Chocolate Ice Cream, who lives in the Sorbetian Mountains, is very ill, and slopping all over the place. I must deliver her some eggs to help bind her together again. But I’m scared I will freeze, and never reach her before she becomes a puddle on the floor!”
“I think I can help with that,” smiled Doughball Boy. “If you rub this ginger into yourself, I am sure your melty chocolate tummy will stay hot and melty, and it won’t feel so uncomfortable.” And he gave some ginger to the Hot Chocolate Soufflé.
“Oh, you are so kind,” said the Hot Chocolate Soufflé. “Now my Aunt Chocolate Ice Cream will be able to bind herself together again!”
And so Doughball Boy helped the Hot Chocolate Soufflé rub the ginger into himself.
“Goodness,” giggled the Hot Chocolate Soufflé. “I’m so hot I’m sweating. I must remember not to get too close to my Aunt Chocolate Ice Cream, or she will be a puddle straight away. Thank you ever so much. Where are you going?”
“I’m going to the Dessert Desert,” Doughball Boy told him. “I’m going on my Bakeryboo Finding You Summer Holiday.”
“How wonderful,” sighed the Hot Chocolate Soufflé. “I remember when I Found Myself. I went to the Fields of Fudge. It was lovely. I live in the Dessert Desert, which is why it is too cold for me here, and why I need this ginger to stop me freezing. Do you know how to get to the Dessert Desert?
“I think I’m meant to turn left here,” replied Doughball Boy.
“Yes, that’s right,” smiled the Hot Chocolate Soufflé. “But I say, you’re going to need some of my eggs, because that sun is so hot it will burn and scorch you. If you smear this egg on you, it will protect you, and you will turn a beautiful shade of brown.”
And so, the Hot Chocolate Soufflé helped Doughball Boy rub the egg into himself.
“Now you’re ready,” smiled the Hot Chocolate Soufflé. “Just keep walking, until you reach the Dessert Desert. You’ll know it, because it’s just a lot of this Sherbet Sand, and large slabs of rock that all the puddings like me go and lie on to steam in the sun. It’s not very far, but it will get hot very quickly.”
“Thank you,” smiled Doughball Boy. “I do hope your Aunt Chocolate Ice Cream gets better quickly.” And they hugged goodbye, and set off on their journeys.
As Doughball Boy kept walking, he soon realised that he was getting very hot and tired. But he knew he needed to start his Bakeryboo Finding You Summer Holiday. He needed to Find Himself.
He knew he had reached the Dessert Desert when he saw little groups of puddings lying on great slabs of rocks, steaming in the sunlight. The smell was sweet and wonderful, and Doughball Boy smiled and waved at the puddings as he walked past, looking for his own slab of rock to lie on.
Finally, he found one, next to a large, round Pie Case with a big grin.
“Hello,” smiled Doughball Boy. “Do you mind if I sit on this slab of rock next to you?”
“Not at all,” grinned the Pie Case. “Help yourself.”
So Doughball Boy sat down and rested. It was so hot, and he was feeling very sleepy.
“What brings you to the Dessert Desert?” asked the Pie Case.
“I’m on my Bakeryboo Finding You Summer Holiday,” Doughball Boy explained.
“Ah, me too,” the Pie Case told him. “I’ve been on my Bakeryboo Finding You Summer Holiday for sixteen years, and I still haven’t Found Myself. I have become well-rounded, though, and one day, I shall Find Me. I’m really looking for a place with lots of yummy fillings and jellies and chocolate and lemonade all in one place, so I can try different things out and see what suits me. But I haven’t found anywhere like that yet.”
“I know where you might Find You,” Doughball Boy told her. “I think you would like the Paradise Hotchpotch. It’s a lovely place.”
And so, under the hot sun, Doughball Boy told the Pie Case about all the wonderful people he had met, and all the wonderful places he had been. The Pie Case decided that when Doughball Boy returned to Puddington, she would roll with him as far as the Paradise Hotchpotch.
“What sort of pudding might you like to be?” asked the Pie Case.
“Hmmm,” said Doughball Boy sleepily. “I’d like to be a sweet treat with a bit of spice for any occasion. And above all else, I would like to help people smile. If they cannot smile for themselves, I would like to smile for them.”
“You are very sweet and friendly already,” said the Pie Case.
“I hope so,” replied Doughball Boy. “This sun is ever so hot, and I am so very tired. I have come a very long way, and I need to start my Bakeryboo Finding You Summer Holiday when I wake up.”
And so, Doughball Boy stretched his tired body out, and went to sleep, whilst the Pie Case thought about the sort of pudding she would like to be.
A few hours later, Doughball Boy began to wake up. He could smell the most delicious, sweet spicy smell he had ever smelled in his life. He yawned, and sniffed the hot air.
“Hello, sleepyhead,” grinned the Pie Case. “Look at You!”
Doughball Boy lifted his sleepy head and looked at himself.
“Aaaaah!” He jumped up, looking at himself and patting himself all over. He had changed! He was no longer Doughball Boy, but a tall, smooth, smart, snappy, golden brown… Gingerbread Boy! The delicious smell was coming from him!
He gazed at himself, with his sugary sweet golden syrup, his warm brown looks, his spicy ginger, his big, happy smile, and he knew. He had Found Himself! He was a Gingerbread Boy!
“I wonder if this is the shortest Bakeryboo Finding You Summer Holiday ever,” he laughed to the Pie Case.
“And I wonder if my Bakeryboo Finding You Summer Holiday is the longest one ever,” grinned the Pie Case.”
They laughed together, and decided that, all things considered, the Dessert Desert was a very useful sort of place, although it was so hot it was positively baking. And so the time came, and they set out on their way, the Pie Case to the Paradise Hotchpotch, and Gingerbread Boy to Puddington.
Leaving the Dessert Desert, they walked along the Sherbet Sand until they saw the Islands of Marvellous Sweets in the Candied Ocean. Then they turned right, and followed the River O’ Caramel until they reached the Paradise Hotchpotch.
“Oh my,” said the Pie Case. “What a fabulous place! It’s exactly what I was looking for to take my Bakeryboo Finding You Summer Holiday in. Thank you so much for telling me about it. When I Find Myself, I shall come and visit you in Puddington, and show you what I become, if you like.”
“Yes please,” smiled Gingerbread Boy. “That would be lovely.” And they hugged goodbye, and Gingerbread Boy began to walk home. He followed the River O’Caramel until it turned into the River O’ Butterscotch in the foothills of the pinky and orangey and lemony and limey Sorbetian Mountains. On his way up, he met the Hot Chocolate Soufflé, who was very pleased to see that he had Found Himself. His Aunt Chocolate Ice Cream was perfectly well now, and because of the ginger Gingerbread Boy had given him, the Hot Chocolate Soufflé had felt perfectly well in the freezing air too. They hugged goodbye once more, and carried on their ways home.
Gingerbread Boy continued to climb up the Sorbetian Mountains, and found the house where the Egg Custard’s party had been. He peeked in the window, and saw all the partygoers asleep in the warmth. So outside the door, in the snow, he drew the shape of a smiling Gingerbread Boy, and put his last shining sweetie mushrooms in it as buttons, so that when the Egg Custard awoke and went home, he would see that Gingerbread Boy had Found Himself.
Over the top of the mountain he went, and down the other side. He followed the River O’ Butterscotch until he reached the Riproaring Valley of Buckwheats. He had no difficulty getting through this time, and stopped to pick some more shining sweetie mushrooms in the crack where he and the Sweet Dumpling had sheltered from the wind, and she had helped him with her golden syrup. He decided that when he was old enough, he was going to go east and find her. Gingerbread Boy rather liked the Sweet Dumpling, and he hoped that she rather liked him too.
On and on he went, to the other side of the Riproaring Valley of the Buckwheats, along the River O’ Butterscotch until he reached the place where it met the Great Cocoa River. Then he followed the Great Cocoa River through the Fields of Fudge.
And still on he went, homewards, through the Emerald Glades, passing by the Yummy Lush Caves, along the Great Cocoa River. It wasn’t raining now, but it was very warm and sunny, just as a summer should. Finally, tired from his long journey, Gingerbread Boy reached Puddington with a large smile on his face.
There were many puddings in the little town, all shopping, meeting friends, wandering happily in the warm summer sun, and generally enjoying themselves. They all smiled and waved at Gingerbread Boy as he made his way along the main road, and by the time he turned north to reach home, he was feeling very excited about seeing his family. All along sunny Apple Tart Lane, he had a grin on his face, and suddenly…
He was home! Through the gate of Plum Pudding Cottage he went, and there was his dear Doughball family, sitting in the sunny garden. They all jumped up and hugged and kissed him.
“Well done, son,” beamed Mr Doughball, and began singing an adapted Christmas Carol.
“You’re home, ye merry gingerbread,
You’ve walked a long, long way.
You Found Yourself upon your
Bak’ryboo Summer Holiday.
You once were dough and now you’re not,
You’re a Gingerbread Boy, I’d say,
O yum yummy yummy yummy yum,
Yummy yum-yum,
O yu-ummy oh yummy yummy yum!”
Mrs. Doughball giggled, and kept hugging her son.
“I just knew you’d turn out smiley,” she said.
Éclair Girl smiled at her brother.
“When you get to Big School, I bet you anything you’ll get to try lots of sweets to see which buttons will suit you best. If you need any help deciding, I will be very pleased to help you!”
And the Doughball family all had a wonderful time sharing news, and Gingerbread Boy, home from his Bakeryboo Finding You Summer Holiday, was very, very glad to be home, after having Found Himself.
Make your own Bakeryboo Gingerbread Cookies!
You will need:
• 350g plain flour
• Up to 2 teaspoons ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
• 100g butter or margarine
• 175g soft light brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 4 tablespoons golden syrup
Makes about 20 biscuits.
Put the flour, ginger and soda into a bowl and rub in the butter.
Add sugar and stir in the syrup and egg to make a firm dough.
Roll out to about 5mm thick and cut out your gingerbread men.
If you don't have a gingerbread man cutter then use whatever you have - stars and hearts are just as tasty.
Bake at 190 C /Gas 5 for 10 to 15 minutes until golden brown. Leave to firm up for a couple of minutes before placing on a wire rack to cook.
Once cooled, decorate with icing and yummy sweeties! Nom nom nom!
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