This amazing, super-detailed gingerbread house was created easily using a silicone gingerbread house mould!
Using a silicone mould is a wonderfully simple way of making a charming gingerbread house.
It looks and tastes spectacular and it’s so much fun.
The kids love it and seven years later, we’re still using it, so it’s totally worth the cash investment.
We have even used the same mould to make a chocolate house at Easter.
If you’d like to try it for yourself, I’ve taken shots of the whole process, including really clear step-by-step instructions of how to make, bake, construct and decorate your super-detailed gingerbread house.
Follow the recipe below to make your own gingerbread house.
Ingredients
For the gingerbread
- 180 g 6 oz butter
- 150 g 5 oz golden syrup
- 150 g 5 oz black treacle
- 125 g 4.5 oz brown sugar
- 500 g 18 oz plain flour
- 1 tbsp ground ginger
- 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
For the icing
- 170g icing sugar
- 1/2 tsp cream of tartar
- 1 egg whites
- 50 g chocolate beans, to decorate
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 170C/340F (150C/300F fan).
Put the butter, golden syrup, black treacle and brown sugar in a pan
Melt over a low heat until liquid, then leave to cool.
In a bowl, combine the flour, ground ginger, bicarbonate of soda and salt.
Mix well.
Pour the cooled syrup into the bowl.
Mix well until you have a loose dough.
Press the dough into the moulds, dividing evenly between them.
Bake the gingerbread for 25-35 minutes until just firm. Don’t worry if they don’t feel hard enough to build with when they first come out of the oven, they harden up as they cool.
Allow the gingerbread to cool before carefully peeling from the moulds.
Once the gingerbread is cooled and crisp make the royal icing by placing the icing sugar, cream of tartar and egg whites in a bowl and whisking until well combined. Transfer to a piping bag and snip 1/2 cm (1/4 inch) off the end of the bag.
To construct your house, you’ll need a board at least a few inches larger that your house.
Start by laying the front of the house (the piece with the door) in the centre on your board then piping two generous lines of royal icing.
Stand the piece on top of the icing and use a couple of cans of food to hold the piece in place.
Pipe a new icing line at 90 degrees from your first piece of gingerbread house. You can use on the side walls as a guide to tell you where to pipe.
Pipe along the wall where the two pieces will meet, then push the next piece into place.
Repeat until all four walls are in place, using extra tins to support your walls if necessary. At this stage, it’s a good idea to wait 5-10 minutes for the icing to firm up and hold your walls in place before you move on.
Pipe icing along the top edges of your house.
Remove any cans that are inside the house, then place the two roof pieces in position. Pipe a line of icing along the top and hold in place for a minute or so until the roof feels secure and doesn’t slide if released.
Pipe a little icing on the board to position your door slightly ajar.
You can now add your little extras – the people and Christmas tree. It’s easiest to decorate these before you stand them up on the board. Use tiny dabs of royal icing to hold the chocolate beans in place.
Now you can be as creative as you like, using your royal icing to apply your sweets/candy however you wish.
To make the icicles and snow-covered sills on my house, drop your piping bag into a second bag with only a tiny hole cut in the end. This allows you to add finer details.
Have fun!
I promise you’ll be so proud of the results, and this super-detailed gingerbread house will definitely wow friends and family!
Easy, super-detailed gingerbread house
Ingredients
For the gingerbread
- 180 g butter
- 150 g golden syrup
- 150 g black treacle
- 125 g brown sugar
- 500 g plain flour
- 1 tbsp ground ginger
- 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
For the decoration
- 170 g icing sugar
- 1/2 tsp cream of tartar
- 1 egg whites
- 50 g chocolate beans
Instructions
-
Preheat the oven to 170C/340F (150C/300F fan).
-
Put the butter, golden syrup, black treacle and brown sugar in a pan
-
Melt over a low heat until liquid, then leave to cool.
-
In a bowl, combine the flour, ground ginger, bicarbonate of soda and salt.
-
Mix well.
-
Pour the cooled syrup into the bowl.
-
Mix well until you have a loose dough.
-
Press the dough into the moulds, dividing evenly between them.
-
Bake the gingerbread for 25-35 minutes until just firm. Don’t worry if they don’t feel hard enough to build with when they first come out of the oven, they harden up as they cool.
-
Allow the gingerbread to cool before carefully peeling from the moulds.
-
Once the gingerbread is cooled and crisp make the royal icing by placing the icing sugar, cream of tartar and egg whites in a bowl and whisking until well combined. Transfer to a piping bag and snip 1/2 cm (1/4 inch) off the end of the bag.
-
To construct your house, you’ll need a board at least a few inches larger that your house.
-
Start by laying the front of the house (the piece with the door) in the centre on your board then piping two generous lines of royal icing.
-
Stand the piece on top of the icing and use a couple of cans of food to hold the piece in place.
-
Pipe a new icing line at 90 degrees from your first piece of gingerbread house. You can use on the side walls as a guide to tell you where to pipe.
-
Pipe along the wall where the two pieces will meet, then push the next piece into place.
-
Repeat until all four walls are in place, using extra tins to support your walls if necessary. At this stage, it’s a good idea to wait 5-10 minutes for the icing to firm up and hold your walls in place before you move on.
-
Pipe icing along the top edges of your house.
-
Remove any cans that are inside the house, then place the two roof pieces in position. Pipe a line of icing along the top and hold in place for a minute or so until the roof feels secure and doesn’t slide if released.
-
Pipe a little icing on the board to position your door slightly ajar.
-
You can now add your little extras – the people and Christmas tree. It’s easiest to decorate these before you stand them up on the board. Use tiny dabs of royal icing to hold the chocolate beans in place.
-
Now you can be as creative as you like, using your royal icing to apply your sweets/candy however you wish.
-
To make the icicles and snow-covered sills on my house, drop your piping bag into a second bag with only a tiny hole cut in the end. This allows you to add finer details.
Video
Nutrition
* Note: nutritional information is estimated, based on publicly available data. Nutrient values may vary from those published. Cuisines identify the primary region of inspiration for a dish.
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