DO IT YOURSELF Follow this simple recipe to make gingerbread houses for family and friends!

RECIPE Ma ke your own gingerbread house! It’s hard to think of a winter treat more cheering than a cup of hot chocolate and some freshly baked gingerbread. So why not follow this simple recipe and treat your family and friends? We’ve even drawn a template so that your gingerbread houses are the perfect size to sit along the rim of your cup. And because you’ll need a grown-up to help you with the baking, it’s also a great way to get all the family together in the kitchen. Happy house-building!

TOP TIP!

You could spread the activity over the weekend. Bake on Saturday, then build and decorate your houses on Sunday – and enjoy!

Preparation time 2O minutes Cooking time 12-15 minutes Makes 8 gingerbread houses

Ingredients

B 3OO g plain flour, plus extra for dusting B 5O g cornflour B 1 teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda B 2 teaspoons of ground ginger B 1OO g butter, diced and chilled B 175 g dark brown soft sugar B 1 egg B 4 tablespoons of golden syrup B Two baking sheets

To decorate

B A tub of ready-made white icing (this is the ‘glue’ to stick the pieces together). Or follow the recipe below to make your own.

INGREDIENTS AND INSTRUCTIONS

Instructions

1 Ask a grown-up to help you, first by preheating the oven to 19OºC/17OºC fan/gas mark 5, and lining your baking sheets with baking parchment.

2 Sift the flour and cornflour into a large bowl with the bicarbonate of soda and ground ginger.

3 Rub in the butter until the mixture looks like fine crumbs. Now stir in the brown sugar. 4 In a separate bowl, beat the egg and the golden syrup.

5 Combine the contents of the two bowls and keep mixing until it starts looking like a dough.

6 Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until the dough forms a smooth ball. If the dough is still sticky, add a bit of extra flour until it feels smoother and easier to handle.

7 Place the dough between two sheets of baking parchment and roll it out until it is a thickness of 1.5 cm. Cut the shapes using the gingerbread house template on the opposite page.

8 Transfer the shapes to the prepared baking sheets. Leave plenty of space between each shape. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, or until the gingerbread looks golden brown.

9 Leave to cool. At this stage you can gently reshape the gingerbread shapes with a palette knife. Then, move them to a wire rack. Don’t move the pieces too soon, as they will lose their shape.

Here is a simple recipe to make your own icing:

A gingerbread village! WHITE ICING Ingredients

B 7O g icing sugar B 2 teaspoons of lemon juice B 2 teaspoons of honey or glucose syrup

Instructions

1 Start by sifting the icing sugar into a bowl.

2 Add the lemon juice and honey or glucose syrup.

1

Use some of the gingerbread dough to create other shapes, such as stars and gingerbread people, then decorate them with icing.

3cm 3cm roof x2

2.8cm

2cm chimney x1

2cm 1cm

front/back x2 1cm

2cm side x2 1cm

3cm

2 4cm 3cm

USE THIS TEMPLATE!

It’s a good idea to make sure that all the pieces of your gingerbread houses will be the correct size and shape. Using this template can help. First, carefully trace the four shapes above onto a sheet of baking parchment. Now transfer the four shapes onto pieces of card or stencil sheets and cut them out.

3 4 5

6 7

1 Spread some white icing along two edges of one of the side panels, adding it to the side of the panel that was facing down onto the baking sheet. (While assembling the whole house, make sure that the sides facing inwards are the sides that were facing down onto the baking sheet.)

2 Carefully press one side panel against the edge of the front of the house, so the two walls form a right angle. panel and add the back of the house so the structure forms a square. Allow to harden slightly while you repeat the process with the next house. Carefully press one roof panel in place.

5 Add icing to the underside edge of the second roof panel, making sure it overlaps with the first panel as you place it. Allow to harden slightly while you repeat the process with the next houses.

6 Place a small blob of icing on the roof where the chimney will sit, followed by the chimney piece itself.