Gingerbread house

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 200C/180C Fan/Gas 6.

2. Melt the butter, sugar and syrup together in a large pan. Sieve the flour, bicarbonate of soda and ground ginger together into a large bowl and make a well in the centre. Pour in the melted butter mixture, stir it in and, when cool enough to handle, knead to a stiff dough.

3. Divide the mixture into five equally-sized pieces, cut one of these pieces in half (so you have six pieces in total). Roll each piece out on a sheet of greaseproof paper to ¾cm/⅓in thick. Using the templates, cut out the sections for the roof, sides, front and back of the house. Slide onto three baking trays lined with baking paper.

4. Using the template as a guide, a ruler and the rim of a cup, cut out the arched windows on the front and sides of the house. Using a star cutter, cut out a star in the front and back of the house. Using a knife, cut out the door on the front of the house and place the door separately on a baking tray.

5. Re-roll the trimmings and use to cut out the chimney pieces, three Christmas trees and three triangles to use as supports to help the trees stand upright. Bake the gingerbread for 7–8 minutes, or until golden.

6. Meanwhile, put the boiled sweets in a pestle and mortar and crush to a rough sand texture.

7. Remove the gingerbread from the oven. Trim the windows if the mixture has spread and sprinkle the crushed sweets into the windows. Return all the gingerbread to the oven and continue to cook for 3–4 minutes, or until the sweets have melted and the gingerbread is firm. Remove from the oven and leave to cool for a few minutes, then (while the gingerbread is still warm) carefully trim around the templates again using a small sharp knife to give clean, sharp edges. Leave to cool completely on the baking trays (the gingerbread will continue to firm up as it cools).

8. For the icing, whisk the egg whites in a large bowl until frothy. Using an electric mixer on a slow speed, add the icing sugar a tablespoonful at a time, mixing well between each addition. Stir in the lemon juice and beat the icing until it is very stiff and white and stands up in peaks (it's crucial the icing is very stiff). Cover the surface with a damp cloth if not using immediately.

9. Spoon a little of the icing into a piping bag fitted with a medium plain nozzle. Pipe blobs of icing on the back of each chocolate button and stick, overlapping onto the two roof sections, to create a tile effect. Transfer some icing to another piping bag fitted with a small plain nozzle and pipe frames around the windows, doors and stars to decorate. Spoon six tablespoons of the icing over the cake board and, using a palette knife, spread the icing to cover the board in a thick snow effect which will create a base to stick the house on to.

10. Pipe a generous amount of icing along the wall edges and join the house together on the iced cake board (a second pair of hands really helps here). Stick the front door in place with more icing. Leave the icing to dry and harden for a minimum of 4 hours, but preferably overnight (make sure the room isn't damp or steamy as this will cause the gingerbread to soften).

11. Once dry, place two night-lights inside the house before attaching the roof.

12. To secure the roof pieces, cut off the pointed ends of the cocktail sticks into 1cm/½in pieces (you should have 12 small pointed pieces). Use the pointed end to make six little holes along the top edge of each of the wall sections – spaced evenly apart. Push the blunt end of the cocktail stick pieces into the holes. The sloping edges of the front and back of the house will now have the pointed ends sticking out to act as peg supports to attach the roof. (Remember to remove the sharp cocktail sticks from your gingerbread house before eating it, to avoid a choking hazard.) Pipe icing between the cocktail sticks and fix the two roof panels onto the house. Pipe icing around the base and edges of the chimney and attach to the roof.

13. To decorate, pipe icing along the ridge and edges of the roof to look like snow and icicles. Use the triangles as props to keep the trees upright. Decorate the Christmas trees with piped icing and fix them onto the cake board with icing and gingerbread props. Dust the roof with icing sugar and light the night lights using a candle lighter through the open back door. (Do not leave the candles lit unattended, and it is best not to burn the candles inside the house for longer than 15 minutes or they may singe the inside of the roof and start to melt the chocolate buttons.)