Gingerbread house

Prep: 40 mins
Cook: 20 mins
Gingerbread house
This is a really impressive Christmas gift or decoration which is perfect to build with budding bakers.

250g butter, melted

200g dark muscovado sugar

7 tbsp golden syrup

600g plain flour

2 tsp bicarbonate soda

4 tsp ground ginger

To decorate:

200g flaked almonds

2 egg whites

500g icing sugar

125g mini chocolate fingers

Sweets of your choice

1 mini chocolate roll

Desiccated coconut

Preheat oven to 200°C/400°F/Gas 6.

Place the melted butter into a saucepan. Add the sugar and golden syrup heat until the sugar has dissolved.

Mix the flour, bicarbonate soda and ground ginger into a large bowl.

Pour the melted mix over the dry mix and bring together to form a dough.

Roll the dough out on a floured work surface to about ¼ inch thick.

To download the template for the house click here.

Cut out the sides, the front and back walls and the roof panels, re-rolling the trimmings as necessary.

Transfer the pieces to a lined baking tray.

Pick out the best flaked almonds to use as slates for the roof. Stick them in pointy side first to the roof panels.

Bake in the preheated oven for about 12 minutes.

Leave to cool completely, then trim the edges to give clean lines.

Place the egg whites into a large bowl, sift in the icing sugar, then whisk until a thick paste is formed.

Spoon the icing into a piping bag. Pipe generous amounts of the icing in between each join to build the house. Press and hold each piece in place for a few minutes while the icing dries.

Pipe some icing on the back of some chocolate fingers to form a door.

Slice a piece from the end off the mini chocolate roll to and stick it to the roof with the icing to form the chimney.

Decorate with sweets as you like, using the icing to allow to stick them on.

Scatter with dessicated coconut to resemble snow.

Serves
10

Preparation Time
40 minutes

Cooking Time
20 minutes

Main ingredients
Dairy, Flour, Eggs, Spice

Recipe Type
Dessert, Kids Food, Gifts

Special Info
Vegetarian

Level of Difficulty
Fiddly

The house will be edible for one week but will last as a Christmas decoration for much longer.

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