Roll it once and the pattern's there.

These are carved wooden rolling pins, so the design is cut into the roller itself. Roll it firmly over chilled dough and it presses a clean, repeating pattern across the whole sheet- no stamps, no cutters, no icing needed. Cut your shapes out afterwards and the pattern comes through the bake.

They work best with doughs that hold their shape: gingerbread, shortbread, biscuit dough, pastry, fondant and sugarpaste. Salt dough too, if you're making decorations with the kids rather than something to eat.

Choosing a pattern
Snowflake, Merry Christmas, Elk and Jumping Elk are the obvious festive ones. Lattice, Petal, Vine, Flower and Roll Leaves are subtler and work all year round — good on a pie lid or a batch of shortbread in March as much as December. The flat 35cm pin is a plain roller if you just want a decent wooden pin.

Details

• Solid wood with a carved relief surface
• 5cm diameter roller
• 15 patterns to choose from
• Hand wash only, wipe with a damp cloth and dry immediately
• Not dishwasher safe; don't soak

Getting a clean impression
Chill your dough for 30 minutes first, roll it out flat to an even thickness, then dust the pin lightly with flour before the embossing pass. Press firmly and go over it once — rolling back and forth blurs the pattern.