Christmas Gingerbread House DIY Kit!

This illuminated gingerbread cookie house is a show stopper for Christmas and is based on a delicate glasshouse design. And Dear Reader, I've got a present for you this Christmas - I'm giving you a PDF template that you can print out so that you can make your own beautiful Christmas glasshouse gingerbread house from scratch! This is one of the easier gingerbread cookie cake houses to make and still one of the most visually effective. This is a pushy recipe Dear Reader - Merry Christmas to you! :)

I saw a lot of these gingerbread glasshouse cakes last year but I was already snowed under (no pun intended) with other Christmas cakes so I decided to make this gingerbread glasshouse this year. The hardest part of all gingerbread houses is making a template design. I always make my templates in cardboard because then you can see a 3D representation of what it will look like. I looked at pictures of glasshouses and they were simple, rectangular structures so I based it on that. The glass panels are easy-they're made using gelatine sheets (which are edible although I wouldn't) and we use fairy lights to light the glasshouse from within!

Tips For Making Gingerbread Glasshouse

1 - This recipe for gingerbread makes more dough than you will need but that is because once you cut out the panels you will end up with more cookie dough to reroll up (this gingerbread recipe rerolls really well!). I love making extra gingerbread cookies to nibble on during the festive season!

2 - You can keep the well wrapped dough in the fridge for up to a week.

3 - I like to bake the gingerbread house and then decorate it another day - I decorated this one almost a week after I baked it! I keep the house pieces in the fridge.

4 - For added structure to gingerbread houses, bake them quite dark. This is especially handy for countries that have hot, humid weather during Christmas (like here!).

5 - Always trim your baked gingerbread pieces so that you get straight lines. When you cut out a template, the dough may warp a little or expand a touch so I always trim the baked gingerbread when it comes out of the oven with a sharp knife. You want the base to be as sturdy as possible.

6 - Royal Icing is your best friend when it comes to gingerbread houses. It's basically edible "glue" that sets quickly.

7 - I used a short bundle of fairy lights to light up the house. I bought a 3 metre/10 foot strand from Kmart but you can get them at the supermarket too.

8 - Make sure to use pure icing or powdered sugar and not icing sugar mixture for royal icing.

I have been so eager to get into the Christmas spirit this year now that we've got our house back! On the first of December I decided to get into the Christmas spirit because it really is one of my favourite times of the year. "I'm going to watch a Christmas movie every night!" I told Mr NQN. I figured that there was at least 24 fun Christmas movies that I hadn't already seen (I've seen a lot of the classics, my favourite is "Better Off Dead" which I swear is a Christmas movie).

With my newfound Christmas spirit I started off with Our Little Secret with Lindsay Lohan which was enjoyable but I found myself struggling to get into the romcoms. I'm just not a romcom gal although I know I'm in the minority. I really have to be in the mood for one and I think I prefer more comedy than romance.

After that I tried a few other Christmas movies. Most of them were based on the same premise - a city girl who works in marketing comes back home and falls in love with the local hottie but some were bad, like really bad. And by night 3 I had switched back to the type of show that truly warms my heart, true crime. Well I tried!

So tell me Dear Reader, what gets you into the Christmas spirit? Do you have any Christmas movie suggestions?

Christmas Gingerbread House

An Original Recipe by Lorraine Elliott

Preparation time: 90 minutes plus setting time

Cooking time: 14 minutes per tray

• 125g/4ozs butter, at room temperature
• 100g/3.5ozs brown sugar
• 125g/4ozs golden syrup or molasses
• 1 egg, room temperature
• 450g/1lb cake flour* (you may need a smidgen more)
• 1 tablespoon ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon mixed spice
• 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
• Plain flour, to dust

For Royal Icing

• 30g/1oz egg white
• 225g/7.9ozs pure icing or powdered sugar
• 1-2 teaspoons lemon juice

You will also need:

• 3 metre fairy lights (you can get these from the supermarket and Kmart)
• Decorative Christmas trees
• 7 sheets gelatine

Cake flour can be bought at the supermarket. You can also make it at home. To make 1 cup/150g/5.2ozs of cake flour replace 2 tablespoons of plain all purpose flour with cornflour/fine cornstarch and whisk well. I usually mix up a big batch of this and keep it in a container ready for baking.

Step 1 - Line 4 baking trays with baking paper. Print out and cut out your templates. Beat the butter and brown sugar in a bowl until pale and creamy (around 3 minutes). Add the golden syrup or molasses and egg and beat until combined. Stir in the flour, ginger, mixed spice and bicarbonate of soda. Turn onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth. Press dough into a ball and flatten into a disc. Cover with plastic wrap and place on the countertop for 30 minutes to rest.

Step 2 -Preheat oven to 180°C/350F. Place the dough between 2 sheets of baking paper and roll out until about 4mm/0.16inches thick. Use templates to to cut out shapes. Do not move them off the parchment yet. Place in the fridge for 20 minutes until the cookies are firm. Then move the cookies an inch apart on the parchment. Then using a sharp paring knife, cut out the panels in the pieces so that you get an edge of cookie but the centre is cut out. Don't make the cookie edges too thin, I basically trace the shape with the knife and if I am happy with it, then I cut it out. The centres should lift out easily as the dough is firm-I just stick the tip of the knife and lift it out. Bake each tray of house pieces for 12-14 minutes until dark. While the cookies are still warm from the oven, use a ruler and a knife to trim each edge so that it is straight using the template as a guide. At this stage you can chill the pieces and keep them in the fridge for a week or two.

Step 3 -I like to make royal icing in the Thermomix as I hate sieving icing sugar. Place the icing sugar in a Thermomix or food processor and process until the lumps disappear (TM speed #9, 10 seconds). Then add the egg white and pulse (TM speed #4, 10 seconds). Add a few drops of lemon juice (not too much!) so that it is not stiff but still pipeable. Make sure to keep the lid on the bowl to prevent the icing from drying out as it dries out very easily.

Step 4 -I make these little parchment royal icing pens using parchment paper taught to me by the lovely Jessica Pedemont. I actually go through a lot of these for each gingerbread house (around 8 or so) and they make piping the royal icing a lot easier. Spoon a teaspoon or so of filling into one small parchment piping bag and have it ready. Cut out the gelatine sheets so that they fit the cookies and adhere them with some royal icing. Press down gently and allow to dry completely gelatine side down.

Step 5 -Start drawing patterns on the top of the cookies while the gelatine sheets and icing are setting. Allow to set completely (it should take around 30 minutes to completely dry). Take your serving plate and place the four sides on it and using cans or bottle to prop them up, "glue" them together by piping royal icing. Also use royal icing on the inside of the house so that they have a lot more structural integrity. Bunch up the fairy lights and place inside the house and then thread it out one side glueing it in place with royal icing. Allow to set for 30 minutes or until completely hard.

Step 6 - You're almost finished and it's time to add the roof on top! Use royal icing to glue the front and back triangular pieces and then use balance it with the icing fringed square roof pieces. Patch up any gaps with royal icing. Allow to set for 1 hour or overnight. Decorate with mini Christmas trees on the side.