Recipe

1. 1

   Melt together the butter, sugar, vanilla and golden syrup then add the flour and bicarbonate of soda. Pour over the wet ingredients and mix to form a soft dough.

2. 2

   Bring the dough together in a ball and wrap in cling film. Chill for at least 30 minutes until firm.

3. 3

   Preheat the oven to 190°C/170° Fan/ Gas 5 and line 2 or 3 baking sheets with baking paper.

4. 4

   On a floured surface, roll out your dough to a thickness of 1/2 cm. Cut out the skulls and bake them for 10-12 minutes until golden. Leave to cool before decorating.

5. 5

   When you are ready to decorate, preheat the oven to its lowest setting.

6. 6

   Mix the icing sugar with 35ml of water until it has the thickness of toothpaste, then add more water drop by drop until it has a softer, but still firm consistency for piping.

7. 7

   Transfer the royal icing to the pastry bag with a writing tip in it and pipe on the outline of the skull and pipe on the bones.

8. 8

   Pour the icing back into a bowl and thin the icing down with a few drops more water.Transfer the icing back into the pastry bag and fill in the skull with the icing.

9. 9

   When all the biscuits have been decorated, bake again at the lowest oven setting for one hour until the icing is completely hard.

10. 10

    Once the icing is very hard you can paint the faces using the icing pens and decorate the crown with smarties. Allow to dry completely before storing.