Name: Gingerbread House
Prep time: 45 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 65 min
Yield: 1 gingerbread house, about 20 portions
Ingredients: 170 °C or 340 °F oven; brown sugar; golden syrup or treacle; butter; spices; flour; white compound chocolate; water; fondant (red, green, brown, white); silver decoration balls; mini M&M's; red fondant; green fondant; brown fondant; mint leaves; sugar pearls; Smarties (crushed)

Method

24 steps

Preheat oven to 170°C or 340°F.
Add all ingredients except flour into a bowl and mix with an electric mixer on folding for 2 minutes.
Add flour and mix on low speed until a dough forms.
Form dough into a bowl, cut into quarters, then into smaller pieces as described.
Press dough into silicone mold firmly, ensuring it fills all sections.
Tap the mold to flatten the top and ensure edges are straight.
Bake in the oven for 20 minutes, swapping trays halfway.
Cool for 5 minutes, then flip onto a wire rack to cool completely.
Melt white compound chocolate in microwave, stirring at intervals until smooth.
Spread melted chocolate into mold, then place gingerbread pieces over the top, pressing gently.
Peel off mold once set to reveal walls.
Prepare royal icing by mixing packet mix with 50 ml water on low, then high speed.
Fill piping bag fitted with round nozzle with royal icing.
Lay walls flat, pipe icing along the base and sides, then assemble walls and hold until joints firm.
Decorate roof with clamshell pattern of icing, then add hundreds and thousands, and attach mini M&M's with royal icing.
Support roof with internal icing if needed, then place roof pieces and secure with icing.
Cover joins with thin fondant strip, then pipe dots along roof edges.
Attach door with royal icing.
Create wreaths from green fondant, layering thin snakes of fondant into circles, adding red fondant bows and silver balls.
Create window seals from brown fondant with wooden pattern indentations.
Form bushes from mint leaves, trimming bases for realism.
Make Christmas tree by wrapping green fondant around an ice cream cone, overlapping layers, and adding green over the top to form a point.
Decorate tree with sugar pearls.
Cover gateboard with royal icing, then place house and bushes, and sprinkle with icing sugar to resemble snow.