Haunted Gingerbread House
Ingredients
Note: allow 2-3 days to create the house
250g butter, at room temperature
1 cup firmly packed CSR Brown Sugar
1 cup CSR Treacle
2 egg yolks
5 cups plain flour
2 tbsps ground ginger
2 tsps mixed spice
2 tsps bicarbonate of soda
Plain flour, to dust
Royal Icing
2 egg whites
1 tsp lemon juice
2 cups CSR Pure Icing Sugar
Food colouring
Tubes coloured Writing Icing, from supermarket
Method
1. Gingerbread: Preheat oven to 180°C conventional (160°C fan forced). Line 4 oven trays with baking paper.
2. Use an electric beater to beat the butter and brown sugar in a bowl until pale and creamy. Add treacle and egg yolks and beat until combined. Sift the flour, ginger, mixed spice and bicarbonate of soda and mix to a dough. Turn onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth.
3. Roll dough between two sheets of baking paper to 5mm thickness on oven trays. Refrigerate for 30 mins. Cut shapes for house using patterns (click here to download patterns, Front and Back, Roof, Walls) and re-rolling dough if necessary. Cut door from front panel and place 5cm apart on one of the baking trays.
4. Bake gingerbread door for 8 mins and larger panels for 10 – 15 mins or until lightly browned. Allow to cool on oven trays
5. Royal Icing: Place egg whites in a clean, dry bowl. Use an electric beater to beat until soft peaks form. Add lemon juice and gradually add icing sugar. Beat until stiff peaks form. Add drops of food colouring to tint icing brown. Cover with plastic wrap
Building the Gingerbread House
1. Assemble gingerbread house using a generous spread of the royal icing to secure the pieces. Start with the walls, front and back panels of the house. Allow to set over night. (If necessary use items such as cans to hold up walls while setting). Next day use royal icing to attach roof panels.
2. Decorate roof with sliced liquorice allsorts and chocolate buttons. Attach with royal icing.
3. Make bats from black jellybeans and liquorice, ghosts from milk bottle, cats from chocolate buttons and liquorice, tombstones (see chocolate mousse tombstones). Use writing icing to write “keep out” on door and to decorate eyes on ghosts and cats.