Put honey, water and spices in a saucepan and bring to a simmer. Allow the mixture to cool slightly. Add the butter in lumps together with the vanilla essence (or brandy if you've opted for that). Stir until everything is dissolved.

Add flour mixed with bicarbonate in batches. Mix the dough,, a by hand or by mixer and wrap it in cling film. Be careful that the dough isn't too dry, that makes it difficult to roll it out later. Let the dough rest in a cool space for a day or two. The dough will last in the fridge for a month, if needed, and can also be frozen for future use.

Roll out the dough thinly, to the thickness of 2-3 mm (that's like a pound coin, half dollar or euro coin for reference) and take out gingerbreads with the appropriate cutters. Place the gingerbreads on baking parchment and bake in the middle of the oven at 200 degrees C / 400 degrees F / gas mark 6 for 5-10 minutes until the biscuits are golden brown. If the gingerbread turns dark brown, you have baked for too long. I suggest making a trial batch of five gingerbreads to check the correct timing.