Gingerbread House

For a good couple of years now, my family has intended to make a gingerbread house. We have seen the kits and finished products, the pretty snow-icing and sweetie decorations. Every year, “we should really make one of those”. Every year, we somehow don’t get round to it. Not anymore!
This is my little gingerbread house! I was nervous about making it, hearing recipe stories about collapses and breakages but thankfully none were had with my gingerbread baby! My sister and I built and decorated it carefully, and the sturdy biscuit survived a trip from London to Suffolk and back again. These houses are so much fun to decorate as you can truly let your imagination run because every house is an individual creation.
This turned out to be a very fun Christmas bake. My own house was filled with gorgeous gingerbread scents and then in the corner sat this cheery and colourful gingerbread cottage. So cute!

Next year I will be definitely making a gingerbread house again, and would like to experiment with it more. I’d like to try melting boiled sweets for windows, cutting out doors, making a different shape (tall and thin or a long gingerbread bungalow), stringing fairy lights in the inside – so much! Perhaps this will take a couple of Christmasses…
The Daring Bakers December challenge was a gingerbread house so no doubt you have seen many many creations these last few weeks! But if you still want to see more (they are all so beautiful!) click here. I used this gingerbread house recipe, which is apparently best for shaping and creating not eating – but it didn’t stop me and it tasted delicious! Also, with this recipe you get a LOT of leftover dough. I think you could freeze it for cookies another time, but I just created a whole forest of snowy trees and a family of groovy people to surround the house. Hope you all had a wonderful New Year – Venice photos coming soon. X