images via Flickr
Ingredients
300g butter; 125g caster sugar; 125g soft dark brown sugar; 225g golden syrup or treacle; 725g plain flour; 2 tsp bicarbonate of soda; 3 tsp ground ginger; 1 tsp ground cinnamon
For the icing for the gingerbread boys and girls:
175g icing sugar; 1-2 tbsp boiling water
For decorating the gingerbread boys and girls:
Smarties; chocolate buttons (milk or white chocolate); gold and silver balls
For the “glue” and icing for the house:
2 egg whites; 500g icing sugar; plus extra for dusting
For decorating the house:
Hundreds and thousands; Chocolate buttons (milk and sugared chocolate); Jelly Tots; Dolly Mixtures; sugar strands; Flake bar for the chimney; Piping bag and nozzles
Method
Preheat the oven to 180C/gas mark 4. Line two baking trays with parchment paper. In a large saucepan, melt the butter with the sugars and golden syrup. Sift the flour, bicarbonate of soda and ground ginger and cinnamon into a large bowl. Add the melted butter and sugar and mix together. Knead the mixture for a few seconds until it comes together, adding a teaspoon or so of water if necessary. Flatten the dough into a round about 2cm thick, wrap with clingfilm and place in the fridge for 30 minutes.
To make the gingerbread boys and girls, remove the dough from the fridge, dust the work surface with flour and roll to about 5mm thick. Cut out using boy/girl cutters, transfer on to the trays and cook for 12 minutes until they are slightly firm. Place them on a wire rack to cool. To make the icing, sift the icing sugar into a bowl, add the water and beat until the icing comes together. Using a small palette knife, spread the icing all over the gingerbread boys and girls. While the icing is still slightly “unset” on the biscuits, arrange the decorations, then set aside for the icing to set.
To make the gingerbread house, first make templates in paper (click here to see dimensions)These are handy not just for now, but for when the dough is cooked and you need to trim the walls and roof to ensure that all the edges are straight. Now place a sheet of parchment paper on the work surface, dust with flour and roll out about a quarter of the dough to 5mm thick. Place one of the paper templates on the dough and cut around it with a sharp knife, then slide the dough, still on its parchment paper, on to a baking tray. Repeat with remaining dough until you have a front and back wall, two side walls and two roof panels. Re-roll any leftover dough to make into boys and girls — there should be enough for 6-8. Carefully trim excess paper from around each piece on the baking trays.
Bake all the sections in the oven for 12-15 minutes. Allow to sit for a few minutes on the baking trays to firm up. One by one, lift the pieces, still on the paper, and trim around the template to give clean, sharp edges. To make an open door for the house, cut one out of the front wall and cut out windows, if you wish. Place on a wire rack for a few minutes, then turn over and peel off the trimmed paper. Leave all the pieces to cool completely.
Meanwhile, prepare a board for the house to sit on. To make the icing “glue” for the house, place the egg whites in a large bowl, sift in the icing sugar, then stir to make a thick, smooth icing. Spoon into a piping bag. To assemble the house, pipe icing along the vertical wall edges to join the walls together. Using a bowl to support the wall from inside, hold the walls gently in place until the icing is dry. Leave the roofless house to dry for at least 30 minutes until the icing is firmly set. Once dry, remove the supports and pipe a thick line of icing along one side of a roof piece and along the top edge of all the walls. Stick the two roof sections together at an angle and set the two pieces on top of the house. Hold the roof in place for a few minutes until it dries, then leave it for a further 30 minutes.
While the roof is drying, attach the door to the doorway by running a line of icing glue down one side and along the base. Stick a piece of a Flake bar on to the roof as a chimney. Using the icing, pipe around the windows and stick sweets around the door and on the front of the house. To make snow on the roof and icicles, squeeze out a pea-sized blob of icing. Keeping the pressure on, pull the nozzle down and then pull away, leaving a pointy trail of icing. Using the icing, stick milk chocolate and sugared buttons on to the roof for tiles. Glue the gingerbread boys and girls around the house, then scatter the board with sugar strands.
BBC Goodfood recipe by Jane Hornby
Gingerbread ingredients
- 250g unsalted butter
- 200g dark muscovado sugar
- 7 tbsp golden syrup
- 600g plain flour
- 2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 4 tsp ground ginger
Decoration:- 200g bag flaked almonds
- 2 egg whites
- 500g icing sugar , plus extra to dust
- 125g pack mini chocolate fingers
- generous selcetion sweets of your choice, choose your own colour theme
- 1 mini chocolate roll or a dipped chocolate flake
- few edible silver balls
Method:- Heat oven to 200C/fan 180C/gas 6. Melt the butter, sugar and syrup in a pan. Mix the flour, bicarbonate of soda and ground ginger into a large bowl, then stir in the butter mixture to make a stiff dough. If it won't quite come together, add a tiny splash of water.
- Cut out the template (see below to download). Put a sheet of baking paper on your work surface and roll about one quarter of the dough to the thickness of two £1 coins. Cut out one of the sections, then slide the gingerbread, still on its baking paper, onto a baking sheet. Repeat with remaining dough, re-rolling the trimmings, until you have two side walls, a front and back wall and two roof panels. Any leftover dough can be cut into Christmas trees, if you like.
- Pick out the most intact flaked almonds and gently poke them into the roof sections, pointy-end first, to look like roof tiles. Bake all the sections for 12 mins or until firm and just a little darker at the edges. Leave to cool for a few mins to firm up, then trim around the templates again to give clean, sharp edges. Leave to cool completely.
- Put the egg whites in a large bowl, sift in the icing sugar, then stir to make a thick, smooth icing. Spoon into a piping bag with a medium nozzle. Pipe generous snakes of icing along the wall edges, one by one, to join the walls together. Use a small bowl to support the walls from the inside, then allow to dry, ideally for a few hours.
- Once dry, remove the supports and fix the roof panels on. The angle is steep so you may need to hold these on firmly for a few mins until the icing starts to dry. Dry completely, ideally overnight. To decorate, pipe a little icing along the length of 20 mini chocolate fingers and stick these lengthways onto the side walls of the house. Use three, upright, for the door. Using the icing, stick sweets around the door and on the front of the house. To make the icicles, start with the nozzle at a 90-degree angle to the roof and squeeze out a pea-sized blob of icing. Keeping the pressure on, pull the nozzle down and then off - the icing will pull away, leaving a pointy trail. Repeat all around the front of the house. Cut the chocolate mini roll or dipped Flake on an angle, then fix with icing to make a chimney. Pipe a little icing around the top. If you've made gingerbread trees, decorate these now, too, topping each with a silver ball, if using. Dust the roof with icing sugar for a snowy effect. Lay a winding path of sweets, and fix gingerbread trees around and about using blobs of icing. Your gingerbread house will be edible for about a week but will last a lot longer.
