Gingerbread House

Another of my favourite things to make at Christmas time: Gingerbread.
Specifically, gingerbread houses.

This year, as last year, I made 2. One at university, one at home. They are so very very tasty, and good fun to make too!

Both were made from the same recipe, but with variations on decoration. The recipe for the gingerbread is from BBC Goodfood (http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/4900/simple-gingerbread-house), but after that I just make it up with whatever I fancy at the time.

Ingredients

250g (9 oz) butter

200g (7 oz) dark muscovado (or brown) sugar

7 tbsp golden syrup

600g (1lb 5 oz) plain flour

2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

4 tsp ground ginger

Few extra spices – cinnamon/nutmeg/mixed spice

Icing

1 kg ready roll icing

Small amount royal icing

Smarties

Choc drops

12 boiled sweets

Strawberry laces

Food colouring (red, green, black)

Chocolates for the centre of the house (2 standard boxes of Celebrations or similar)

Anything else you wish to decorate with e.g. chocolate buttons, silver balls etc

1. Cut out templates (cardboard is best) for front (and back) panel, roof and sides of the gingerbread house.
2. Melt the butter and golden syrup and sugar together.
3. Mix the flour with the bicarbonate of soda and spices. Then mix the melted butter etc into the flour until it forms a stiff dough. Leave to sit for about half an hour.
4. Roll the dough out on a floured surface to roughly 0.5 cm thickness. Cut out 2 front panels, 2 roof panels, 2 side panels and 4 windows out of the side panels. From one front panel cut out a door from the centre. Leave the other front panel whole.
5. Crush the 12 boiled sweets in plastic bags. If you have different flavours its best to keep them separate and do 3 of each - 4 different coloured windows. Pour roughly 3 sweets worth into each window hole.
6. Place each cut out template on a lined baking tray. Any excess dough can be rolled out to make trees or a chimney or other shapes. Keep the templates for later.
   
7. Bake in a preheated oven at 180*C for 12 minutes or until golden brown at the edges/firm to the touch.
   
8. Recut each panel to shape as you take it out of the oven and leave to cool on the baking parchment.
9. While cooling roll out about 3/4 of the ready roll icing large enough to fit the house on. Place it on foil on a tray (one with handles is best).
10. Once cool, softly mark the icing sugar with the sides, front/back panel and door. Put the side panels on the external side of the front/back panels.
11. (if wanted) Surround each window with a square of ready roll icing and stick smarties or similar into it.
    
12. Pipe or drizzle a line of royal icing on the marked lines. Softly put each of the panels into place, and support. Pipe icing on the inside of each corner. Leave until set.
13. Pour the chocolates into the centre of the house. Pipe royal icing onto the edges of the front/back panel and top of the side panels and attach the roof.
14. The house is now (virtually) complete. Decorate how you like, I've included pictures of my latest creations for inspiration. Use royal icing to attach any more gingerbread. Once finished decorating, gently shake icing sugar over the whole tray.

I hope you all enjoy making them as much as I do - They don't take hugely long, and the effect is amazing. If you are feeling adventurous try making it bigger or more intricate. Here are the pictures of my past successes. I'll put up a template too once I've scanned mine in.
 

 Templates: (one has measurements to draw your own, other is a print and copy version)