Annabel's Gingerbread House

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Ingredients

For the Gingerbread

270g butter
195g soft dark brown sugar
90g beaten egg
195g black treacle
600g plain flour
1 ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
3 tsp cinnamon
3 tsp ginger
¾ tsp all spice
¾ tsp salt

To Decorate

8 yellow boiled sweets
Selection of writing icing pens in different colours
1 packet giant milk chocolate buttons
1 pack giant white chocolate buttons
Red & yellow diamond sweets
Mini edible stars
Ready-made shop bought buttercream

Caramel

150g caster sugar
75ml water

Method

First make the template – you can find lots of Gingerbread House templates online.
Draw a house measuring:

Roof 15cm triangle
Sides of house 10cm
Base of house 20 cm

Sides:

15 x 10 cm rectangle

Roof Tops:

18cm x 12 cm rectangle

Cut out the paper templates.
Make the gingerbread. Measure the butter and sugar in an electric mixer. Whisk until light and fluffy. Add the egg and treacle and whisk until combined. Add the remaining ingredients and whisk again to make a soft dough.
Gently knead together, then cover in clingfilm and chill for 30 minutes.
Roll out to 1 – 1 ½ cm thickness on baking paper. Cut out two houses, two sides and two roof tops.
Place on baking paper on baking sheets and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 180C Fan. Cut out two windows and a door from one house and one window at the top of the other house. Cut out one window from both sides.
Put the boiled sweets into a polythene bag. Bash using a rolling pin until finely crushed. Divide between the windows. Bake in the oven for 15 to 18 minutes until firm and lightly golden (you will have to do this in batches). Cool on a wire rack until completely cool. Put the template on top and trim each one to scale.
To make the caramel. Put the sugar into a stainless steel pan with the water. Gently melt until the sugar has dissolved then boil until a light caramel colour. Use this to stick the house together. Insert halves of cocktail sticks into the sides of the house.
Dip the ends of the sides into caramel and push together with the front and back of the house to assemble. Insert cocktail sticks into the top of the house. Dip roof tops into caramel and push together. Use the caramel to make the house stable. Leave to set for 10 minutes.
Spoon the buttercream into a piping bag and pipe alongside the edges of the house and roof. Decorate the roof with chocolate buttons (using a little buttercream to help these stick) and pipe around the house and windows with different coloured writing icing pens. Finish by decorating with mini diamond jelly sweets and mini edible stars using a little buttercream.