Use our gingerbread house kit to make your own festive creation or package everything up in a hamper and give it as a gift this Christmas.
Ingredients
For the gingerbread
- 150g golden syrup
- 200g soft light brown sugar
- 200g unsalted butter
- Finely grated zest 1 lemon
- 1½ tbsp ground ginger
- 1 tbsp ground cinnamon
- ½ tsp ground cloves
- ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 500g plain flour, plus extra to dust
- ½ tsp salt
- Handful Fox’s Glacier Fruits sweets
You’ll also need…
- Templates for the house: download (print and cut out) here
- 2 baking sheets lined with non-stick baking paper
To assemble the gingerbread house
- 2 free-range egg whites
- 450g icing sugar
- Juice ½-1 lemon
- Piping bag fitted with small writing nozzle, plus a flat star-shaped nozzle (optional)
- 6 baked pieces of gingerbread house, plus door
- Strawberry laces, mini Smarties, Bronze Crunch (from Waitrose), Jelly Tots and white chocolate buttons to decorate
Method
- Put the syrup, sugar, butter, zest and ground spices in a large saucepan and heat gently until they all melt together.
- Turn off the heat and beat in the bicarbonate of soda. The mixture will bubble up a little. Leave for 10 minutes, then pour into a large mixing bowl.
- Sift the flour and salt into a separate bowl, then add to the spiced butter/sugar mixture. Stir with a wooden spoon until just combined. Don’t overwork the dough or it will spread too much when baked.
- Scrape the dough onto a lightly floured work surface, then gently knead until smooth. Wrap in cling film and chill for 1 hour (see Make Ahead).
- Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface to about 0.5cm thickness, then use a small sharp knife to cut around the templates to make the shapes for the house (two roof pieces, two long pieces for the front and back and two ends – see You’ll Also Need). Keep the door-shaped piece of dough that you cut out from one of the long pieces and bake with the other pieces. You’ll need to re-roll the dough in order to cut out all 6 big pieces. Transfer the gingerbread to the baking sheets and chill for 20 minutes in the freezer (or in the fridge until firm). Heat the oven to 200°C/180°C fan/gas 6.
- When the gingerbread has chilled, finely chop the Glacier Fruits, mix the colours together and sprinkle about half a sweet’s worth into each window – they melt to make the glass. You can also cut out a window in the door and add some sweets to that.
- Bake for 10-15 minutes. The big pieces will need longer in the oven than the small ones, so keep a watchful eye from 10 minutes (the door might take a minute less than the other smaller pieces). When cooked, cool on a wire rack. Wrap the biscuits.
- To package up the gingerbread house as a gift and/or assemble it yourself, see below.
How to assemble the gingerbread house
- First make the icing ‘glue’. Put the egg whites in a mixing bowl and slowly stir in the icing sugar until very stiff. Add the lemon juice and, using an electric hand mixer, beat the mix for about 6-8 minutes until thick, aerated and smooth. It needs to be a pipeable consistency, so you may need to add a little more lemon juice. Scrape the icing into the piping bag.
- Start by sticking the front and back of the house to the sides. Do this on
a cake board/clean chopping board. Pipe the icing generously along the edges of the pieces you’re sticking together, then hold them in position for 3-4 minutes until they stick. Start with one side piece and one front or back piece of gingerbread, then add the other side piece and finally the remaining front/back of the house. - Pipe icing inside the house along all the seams to make the structure extra sturdy (you won’t be able to see these lines, so don’t worry about being neat).
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Next stick the roof on. Be generous with the icing and be patient, as this is the hardest bit to set firm.
- When the roof has stuck firm (about 20 minutes) attach the door. Next, pipe icing onto the roof in a pattern to resemble tiles. Pipe icing along roof edges to look like icicles. You could change your writing nozzle to a flat star-shaped nozzle, if you have one, to pipe a simple loop along the seams.
- Use the remaining icing to stick on sweets and decorations to create a Hansel and Gretel-style cottage. When you’re happy with your design, leave to dry for at least 12 hours.
Nutrition
- 426kcals Calories
- 15.6g (9.6g saturated) Fat
- 4.9g Protein
- 65.3g (30.2g sugars Carbs
- 2.5 Fibre
- 0.5g Salt
Per 100g
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