• There are three different components you need to prepare: the cookie “base” (this is what you’ll start with), then the lemon curd, and finally the Italian meringue. The cookies and the lemon curd can easily be made one or several days in advance. The meringue should only be prepared right before serving, so keep that in mind.

Gingerbread Cookies

• Cream the butter, sugar, and syrup until smooth. Add the eggs and mix well until fully incorporated. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, gingerbread spice, and salt. Add this to the butter mixture in batches. Because of the syrup, the dough will be fairly sticky.
• Divide the dough into 2 portions, flatten them into disks, and wrap in plastic wrap. You only need up to half of the dough for this dessert; the other half can be baked separately or frozen (it will keep for up to three months this way). Chill the dough in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours.
• Roll out the dough on a lightly floured work surface and cut out the cookies. For decorating the dessert, you will need very small cookies. Bake them all at the same time so the baking time is the same (11 minutes). Larger cookies will need a longer baking time: about 16 minutes. Bake the cookies at 160°C / 320°F (conventional oven) and let them cool completely before using.

Assembly

• Prepare the lemon curd according to this lemon curd recipe and let it cool completely. Right before serving, prepare the Italian meringue according to this recipe.
• Set out six dessert plates. Crumble 60 grams/2.1 oz of the gingerbread cookies and spread them in a wide line across the plates. Transfer the Italian meringue to a piping bag fitted with a large plain tip and pipe three dollops (about 3 cm/1 inch wide) onto the cookie crumbs on each plate. Use a kitchen torch to lightly brown the meringue until golden. Set the piping bag aside.
• Fill a new piping bag with the lemon curd and pipe four small dollops per plate over the cookie crumbs, next to the larger meringue dollops. Pipe three more small meringue dollops and insert the cookies into them. Finally, garnish with a few small mint leaves on the lemon curd dollops.
• Serve immediately!