The tradition of baking gingerbread houses originated in Germany, but now these traditional wintry creations have become an international art form.
Making a pattern
Houses are made by baking flat gingerbread panels which are later assembled. Before starting to cook, make a cardboard pattern of the panels that will make up the house.
You can make a basic template ideal for beginners from the diagram on the foodnetwork.com website, or download more ornate templates (see box).
Older children can create their own unique designs. It's a good idea to test the feasibility of new ideas by first making up a cardboard version held together with glue. Remember that the size of each panel is limited by the size of your baking sheets. Gingerbread can be stored for up to a month in airtight containers or frozen, so you can make the panels of more complicated houses over several sessions.
Recipe
Ingredients:
200g butter, 100g soft brown sugar, 100g golden syrup, 400g plain flour, 2tsp baking powder, 3tsp ground ginger, 1tsp cinnamon, 2tbsp milk, boiled sweets (optional)
You will also need:
Mixing bowl and spoon, sieve, saucepan, baking trays, rolling pin, cooling rack, sharp knife, access to oven and fridge, greaseproof paper, clingfilm, freezer bag (optional)
What to do:
1 Melt the butter, milk, sugar and syrup in a saucepan over a low heat, stirring until the sugar has dissolved. Remove from heat and leave to cool.
2 Sieve dry ingredients into a bowl. Stir in the cooled saucepan mixture.
3 When the mixture holds together, turn out on to a floured work surface and knead briefly. Return the dough to the bowl, cover with clingfilm and chill in the fridge for 30-60 minutes.
4 Preheat the oven to 180xC.
5 Kneed the chilled dough lightly, then divide into six balls.
6 Place one ball on greaseproof paper. Roll out to 4-5mm thick. Cover dough with more paper. Place template on the paper. Using a sharp knife, score around template, marking the shape on the gingerbread. Remove template and top layer of paper. Go over the scored lines to cut the gingerbread into shape. (Don't cut through the paper.) 7 Repeat until all panels are cut out. Still on the paper bases, place the panels on baking sheets. Bake for 10-15 minutes until gingerbread feels firm.
8 For optional 'stained glass' windows, crush a few boiled sweets in a freezer bag. When baking the side panels, remove from the oven halfway through cooking. Fill the window space with the crushed sweets, then return to e oven for the remaining baking time.
9 Cool the gingerbread on a rack, then peel off the greaseproof paper.
Assembling the house
You will need:
Ready-to-mix royal icing, spoon, piping bag and nozzle, cake board What to do:
41 Assemble pieces directly on the cake board to save moving the house later.
2 Make up the royal icing according to the instructions and spoon into the piping bag. This is the 'glue' that holds the panels together.
3 Pipe a generous amount of 'glue' to one edge of the panels to be joined.
Press the un-iced edge into position, and hold a few moments until it sticks.
4 For a really strong structure, leave the icing to set for a few minutes once applied, before pressing on the un-iced joint. You can also 'glue' the base of the walls on to the cake board.
5 Once assembled, leave the icing to set for a few hours before decorating.
Decorating
You will need:
Decorative sweets, royal icing and piping equipment (as before)
What to do:
1 Add detail with icing, outlining windows or giving a roof a snowy finish.
2 Decorate with sweets. Apply a dab of icing to each before pressing it on.
Websites
* www.foodnetwork. com/food/ (search 'gingerbread') For pictures of decorated houses visit:
* www.gingerbread lane.com/showcase1.html
* http://home. comcast.net/frankysattic/pictures.html
For more ornate house templates visit:
* www.celebrating-christmas.com/recipes/gingerbread-house.html
