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How to make a gingerbread house

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This recipe is from Delicious magazine.  Their templates are no longer available to download but I have created some for you here.

This is a super fun baking activity and there is no right or wrong, just festive and whimsical! May I suggest that you read the recipe, read my tips included in the post + my thoughts on what I learned and then combine them all as a really solid starting place for your own creativity. Ready, steady ... BAKE!

Ingredients

Scale

For the gingerbread -

  • 175g (6oz) butter
  • 175g (6 oz) soft dark brown sugar
  • 3 tbsp golden syrup
  • 700g (1lb 8oz) plain flour, plus extra for dusting
  • 1 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
  • 2 tsp ground ginger
  • 2 tsp mixed spice
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  • Zest and juice (about 50ml/2 floz) of 1 orange
  • 2 medium eggs

For the decoration -

  • Boiled sweets for the stained glass windows
  • 450g (1lb) box royal icing sugar, made up according to packet instructions
  • Strawberry and vanilla sticks for the window sills
  • Liquorice comfits and liquorice bridge mix for the shutters and door knob
  • 3 x 110g (4oz) white chocolate buttons for the roof tiles
  • Hundreds and thousands for the chimney
  • Jelly beans, silver foil and silver balls for the pond + extra silver balls for the window ledges
  • Sprinkles for the gravel path
  • Your choice of sweets for the presents and rock piles

You will also need a chopping board or tray on which to construct the house.

The templates for the gingerbread are available here

Instructions

  1. For the gingerbread, put the butter, brown sugar and golden syrup into a pan over a very low heat, stirring until the butter and sugar have melted. Set aside to cool.
  2. Mix the flour, bicarbonate of soda, spices, and orange zest in a big bowl. Crack the eggs into another bowl.
  3. Add the butter mixture to the flour along with the eggs and the orange juice. Mix well, then use your hands to bring it together into a ball. Sprinkle a little flour over a clean work surface and knead the dough for a few minutes until smooth.
  4. Preheat the oven to 200°C/180°C Fan/400°F (gas mark 6). Divide the dough into 3 pieces (about 400g/14oz each) and roll out on 3 sheets of baking paper until it's about the same thickness as a £1 coin.
  5. Using the downloaded templates, cut out the different pieces (you may need to re-roll your trimmings), then transfer the gingerbread shapes, still on their baking paper, to 3 baking sheets - the baking paper won't burn in the oven and it will stop the gingerbread sticking to the baking sheets.
  6. Put boiled sweets in each window hole (they will melt in the oven and create a stained-glass effect), then bake for 9 minutes. Check to see if it is cooked and the sweets have melted. You may need to bake for 1 more minute. Take the tray out of the oven and carefully slide the gingerbread (still on the baking paper) onto a cooling rack. If the gingerbread has spread, you may need to trim the pieces while still warm to give straight edges. Cool.
  7. Once cold, put the gingerbread in an airtight tin and leave overnight until really crisp – if you decorate the house with icing and sweets too soon, the dough may go soft and the house will not be very stable.
  8. To decorate the house as shown, use royal icing to stick the strawberry-and-vanilla sticks and silver balls under the windows, and use the liquorice comfits for the shutters. Leave to set.
  9. Assemble the pieces on a chopping board. Use royal icing to stick the sides, front and back pieces together, and stick the pieces to the board to stabilise the house.
  10. Decorate one roof piece: use a knife to spread icing all over the roof, then cover with chocolate buttons. Start from the bottom, then add the buttons in rows that just overlap to look like tiles. Decorate the chimney pieces with icing and hundreds-and-thousands. Wait until the icing is completely dry.
  11. Brush or pipe the icing onto the sloping edges of the front and back of the house to create ‘icicles’. Attach both roof panels, using royal icing, making sure you spread some icing in the middle to glue them together. Stick the chimney pieces together, then attach to the roof with royal icing. Carefully cover the untiled side of the roof with white chocolate buttons in the same way as before. Attach the door to the house and choose a sweet for the door knob.
  12. Spread any leftover icing over the chopping board to make a snow scene. Have fun piling sweets to look like presents, or rocks. Make a little pond with jelly beans and silver balls, and a path using coloured sprinkles. You don’t have to stick to the sweets we have used – use your imagination!

Notes

NOTE - To help make sure you have cut out the right pieces, here's what you'll need -

  • 2 x sides
  • 2 x roof pieces
  • 1 x front
  • 1 x door (if you're careful you can use the door piece that you cut out of the house front)
  • 1 x back
  • 1 of each of the chimney pieces (there are 4 in total)

Keywords: festive, gingerbread, family, decoration

Find it online: https://marmaladeandme.com/gingerbread-house/