Our Gingerbread House Tradition
To me, Christmas is a time of tradition. A time to build memories with family and friends. Each year, a few days before Christmas, my nieces and nephews come bounding into our home ready for their sugar high…I mean their gingerbread house-creating afternoon!
I always thought this would be something they only enjoyed doing while they were young but as they’ve gotten older, they are keener than ever. Their houses are becoming more structured and considered and a bit of cousin-ly competition is starting to set in!
In the days leading up, I spend a full day making three batches of gingerbread dough. I’m a keen baker so I make everything from scratch. Not only because I love doing it but I also LOVE filling my house with the smells of Christmas as it is baking. Is there a sweeter smell than gingerbread baking in the oven? Not really!
Some years, I need enough dough for up to eight houses so it’s quite a lengthy process. The dough spends a day in the fridge before I cut and bake all the doors, roofs and sides of the houses.
On the day, I cover the dining room table with baking paper (I learnt the hard way one year having to spend hours removing royal icing from my wooden table!) and then set a place for each of the kids; which includes a cake board, all the pieces of their house and a piping bag filled with homemade royal icing. Bowls are then filled with lollies and sprinkles and placed down the middle of the table.
The kids arrive and the chaos begins! Literal chaos! Christmas carols play in the background, I pour champagne for the grandmothers and it’s all hands on deck to stop roofs from slipping and walls caving in.
Piping bags are sucked on in between the building; copious amounts of lollies are consumed and our feet are indented with 100’s and 1000’s—for weeks!
GINGERBREAD
5 cups plain flour
3 teaspoons ground ginger
3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
3 teaspoons ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon ground cloves
2 teaspoons bicarb soda
250g unsalted butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup golden syrup
2 eggs yolks
You will also need a gingerbread house kit. This mixture will make from 1-5 gingerbread houses depending on the size of the kit you have.
ROYAL ICING
2 eggs whites
3 cups sifted pure icing sugar
Gingerbread Method
1. Sift the flour, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and bicarb soda into a large bowl. Using an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar for about 5 minutes or until light and creamy.
2. Add the golden syrup and egg yolks and beat until well combined. Add the flour mixture and beat gently until soft dough forms.
3. Turn onto a lightly floured surface and gently knead until smooth. Cut in half and shape each portion into a disc and wrap in plastic wrap and place in the fridge for at least 1 hour until super firm. This just makes cutting the house shapes out a lot easier and straighter.
4. Line baking trays with baking paper and heat the oven to 180 degrees. Working with the first disc of dough, roll it out between 2 sheets of baking paper to about 4mm thick.
5. Cut out each piece of the gingerbread house and gently place onto baking trays leaving room in between each piece for some expansion while baking. Repeat depending on how many houses you are making.
6. Bake for 10-15 minutes or until lightly golden. Remove from the oven and cool on trays. You are good to go once you have mixed the royal icing.
Royal Icing Method
Using an electric mixer, beat the egg whites until foamy. Gradually add the icing sugar, beating until a stiff paste forms. You may not need all 3 cups of icing sugar. Just gauge as you go.
Assembly
Fill a piping bag with royal icing and snip the end. Run icing along the bottom of the sides and ends of the house and put into position on the cake board.
Use tins from the pantry or glass tumblers to help hold each piece in place until set. Continue with the rest of the house, decorating with an assortment of sweets as you go. Have fun and be prepared for things to get messy!
