Gingerbread House

Giving presents during festival holidays is something that’s been engraved into me by my mum. One Christmas, instead of giving out traditional chocolates, I decided that I would try my hand at something different. Due to my love of cooking, the idea of giving away something homemade seems more comforting then forking out money for things all too common.
I give you, mini gingerbread houses.

Due to the spare time that I have at work, I designed little templates for the house based on a few different sizes. In the ended I went with a medium sized shape as it was easier to cut and easier to decorate.
After letting the biscuits all cool down, the task of decorating the houses were more painful than I thought. Good thing mum was around and willing to participate. Having prepared royal icing in four different colours, arranged the lollies and made extra space, we sat down and began to decorate.
As you can see from the pictures, we have no imagination OR patience. After decorating two or three houses each (I made a total of 15), we were more than happy to sacrifice the good looks of the houses to “let’s just finish it”.
2hours later, yes, 2hours it took us, we finished. Knowing that the icing still had to harden, we waited another two hours before wrapping it up in cellophane.

Even this simple task was still too much to handle, since I was dumb enough to cut the cellophanes too small, so it was a struggle to be able to bundle the cellophane together to make it some what decent looking. Another two hours later, finished.
6hours it took for us to decorated gingerbread houses….and another 3hours of baking. Though I will say, it was a good way for mother and daughter to reconnect again.

Gingerbread house

3 1/2 cups self-raising flour
1 cup plain flour
1 tablespoon ground ginger
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/4 cup pure icing sugar
185g butter, chopped
1/2 cup golden syrup
2 eggs, lightly beaten

Method

1. Combine flours, ginger, cinnamon, sugar and butter in a food processor. Process until mixture resembles breadcrumbs.


2. Whisk golden syrup and eggs together in a jug. With the motor running, add egg mixture and process until dough just comes together.


3. Turn onto a lightly floured surface. Knead gently until smooth. Cut dough in half and wrap in plastic wrap.


4. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours or until well chilled.


5. Roll dough, 1 portion at a time, between 2 sheets baking paper until 5mm thick. Using cardboard cut-outs as a guide, cut shapes from dough.


6. Place gingerbread in a single layer on trays. Freeze for 15 minutes or until firm.


7. Preheat oven to 180°C. Line 4 baking trays with baking paper. Place gingerbread on trays.


8. Bake, 2 trays at a time, for 15 minutes or until firm.


9. Cool on trays.

Royal Icing

2 eggwhites, lightly beaten
3 cups pure icing sugar

Method

1. Using an electric mixer, beat eggwhites until soft peaks form. Gradually add icing sugar, beating constantly until thick.