Gingerbread Village

Every year Leia and I make a gingerbread house but this year we have decided to push the boat out and create a village.

...."a village with a square, and trees....oh and little paths"...Leia said

..."woooow slow down!" I said
...."maybe we could make it light up!" I said...what? What am I saying?....

The best recipe to make a gingerbread house... (or more):

Ingredients

…for the gingerbread
1kg plain flour
2tbsp cocoa powder
300g cold butter
2tbsp mixed spice
2tsp cinnamon
1tbsp bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
450g dark brown sugar
 3 eggs
220g honey or golden syrup
for the "Glue"
1 Egg White
300g Icing Sugar

First choose a template for your house. There are so many free templates online....Print and cut all the parts out.

To make the gingerbread rub the butter into the flour until it resembles fine crumbs. Then stir in the spices, baking soda and sugar. Whisk the eggs with the honey and stir into the flour mixture with a wooden spoon. Knead together into a smooth dough.

Heat oven to 200C and line several baking trays with parchment paper. Roll dough out to the thickness of 1 ½ to 2 cm. Place the paper house parts on top of the dough and with a sharp knife cut around the templates and any doors or windows you would like the house to have.

Place all parts onto the baking trays and bake the gingerbread one tray at a time on a high shelf in the oven for 10 minutes, until a lovely, rich brown and firm to the touch. Leave to cool on a wire rack.

Place each paper part on top of the correspondent gingerbread part and with a sharp knife cut to size. This is important as it helps to make the gingerbread house fit together and stand up much easier.

With an electric whisk beat egg whites until stiff. Incorporate the icing sugar.

Spoon some into a food bag, snip the tiniest bit off the corner and pipe any icing decorations you want onto the gingerbread house parts. Leave to dry.

Pick a solid base for your gingerbread house - either a flat cookie sheet, or a thick, sturdy piece of cardboard. Line the base with aluminium foil.

Pipe a thick line of icing along a short end of one of the side pieces. Press the iced side piece against the edge of either the front or back pieces. Hold in place for a few minutes until the icing is partially set. Repeat with the other side piece. Prop up with cans if necessary. Repeat with the other short edges of the side pieces and the remaining front/back piece. Pipe icing along the seams, inside and outside of the house, to fill in any gaps and to add extra stability. Pipe icing along the edges of the house where it meets the base. Let set for at least an hour before attempting to add the roof pieces.

Once the royal icing has dried enough so that the base structure is solid, you can go to work on the roof. Pipe icing all along the top edges of the structure, front and back and two sides. The roof pieces are a rectangular shaped. Place the roof pieces so that the long ends of the rectangle are running along the top of the house. Gently hold the roof pieces in place for a few minutes until they are set enough so they don't slide off when you remove your hands. Pipe the top seam of the house with extra icing. Let the house stand for at least an hour, and preferably over night before decorating.

To decorate choose any sweets you like and have fun!!!!

Oh and to make it light up we used battery operated fairy lights, fed them through the window and hid the cables under some icing.
 

We are aiming for Hogwarts next year!

What to do with left over Gingerbread dough?

This post is linked up with various link parties please take a look at my "I link up to" page and join in