On the fourth day of Christmas (Gingerbread House)

For a very long time I have dreamed of having a few traditions at Christmas time. I've always wanted to leave some cookies and a glass of beer out for Santa, and of course some carrot sticks for the reindeer. Then there is the present opening on Christmas morning with a yummy breakfast to go along with it. Lunch with the family that ends in everyone needing to undo the top bottom of their pants. But most importantly I want to make a Gingerbread House each and every year - starting this year.

Yes I finally baked and decorated my first gingerbread house and it was so much fun. Even better is the aroma that flows through the house. It is just to die for - the rich smell of honey, ginger, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg is lovely and it is definitely making the house smell like Christmas.

The only down part of this experience was the dough (are we seeing a theme yet with me and dough?). Again it was difficult to get it to come together - but it got there in the end. The other thing is that I didn't get to taste the gingerbread since the house is still sitting on our dining room table. I really see it as more of a Christmas decoration than something to eat.


Gingerbread House (from The Australian Women's Weekly - The Christmas Book)

90g unsalted butter
200g brown sugar
1 cup honey
2 tsp finely grated lemon rind (I left this out)
2 eggs, lightly beaten (I needed 4 eggs)
750g plain flour
150g self-raising flour
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
2 tsp ground ginger
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground cardamom
Assorted lollies for decoration

1. Combine butter, sugar and honey in medium pan; stir over low heat until sugar dissolves, cool 10 minutes. Transfer mixture to large bowl; stir in rind, eggs and sifted dry ingredients.
   
2. Turn dough onto floured surface, knead gently until mixture loses its stickiness; cover, refrigerate for 1 hour.
3. Cut paper patterns for gingerbread house; cut one rectangle (20cm x 15cm) for the roof; one rectangle (15cm x 10cm) for the sides and one rectangle (16cm x 19cm) for the front/back. Trim front/back rectangle so that sides are 10cm high, as shown below.
4. Roll out dough on floured surface until 1cm thick; cut shapes from dough.
5. Place shapes on baking trays lined with baking paper and bake in 200C oven for 10 minutes or until firm.
6. Stand shapes on trays for 5 minutes, brush with glaze (recipe to follow). Transfer glazed shapes to wire racks to cool.
7. Cut door from front of house.
   
8. Cover a small board or tray with foil, spread a thin layer of Royal icing (recipe to follow) over foil to represent snow.
9. Assemble gingerbread house, using the Royal icing to glue together the walls and then the roof, as shown below.
10. Use Royal icing to secure lollies on the roof and walls.
11. Dust with icing sugar.
    

Royal Icing

2 egg whites
4 cups icing sugar, approximately
1/2 tsp lemon juice

1. Beat egg whites in small bowl until just frothy.
2. Gradually beat in enough sifted sugar for mixture to form very stiff peaks.
3. Stir in juice.
   

Glaze

1 tbspn caster sugar
2 tbspn boiling water

1. Combine ingredients in a small saucepan and stir over how heat until the sugar dissolves.
   

Now for the templates, first the roof...


Then the front/back of the house...


And of course the sides of the house...


Use the templates as a guide to cut out the gingerbread shapes...


After baking the shapes are glazed and left to cool on a wire rack...


Then you stick them together with royal icing to build up the house...


The roof is the trickiest bit - but a bit of extra royal icing and spending some time holding the roof pieces in place and it will all work out...


Then decorate to your hearts content, I tiled my roof with Freckles...


Made a colourful Smartie wall...


And gave the house a street number of 24 (which just so happens to be our anniversary and Mat's birthday)...


Rating?
5 out of 5 reindeers!

On the third day of Christmas (Iced Lemon Cookies)

There is only 29 days left until Christmas! Can you believe it? So what are your plans this year?

I plan to put up the Christmas tree and decorations on the 1st of December. I am also making some Christmas stockings for everyone in the family - even the cats. We will be having Christmas lunch with my mother and sister at our place, with simple food and of course dessert. The gifts this year are going to be simple - homemade gifts baked with love, some new toys for the little one and some other small bits and bobs.

Enough about that. Lets talk about these Iced Lemon Cookies. I had trouble with these cookies - again the dough would not come together so I had to slightly alter the recipe. Then came the royal icing piping. Well you'll see how that turned out. And finally the cookies were just a bit bleh - not very lemony and not that sweet. So not my favourite, I probably won't make them again.


Iced Lemon Cookies (from Better Homes and Gardens - December 2007)
Makes 30 small cookies (or 16 large cookies)

2 cups plain flour
1/2 cup almond meal
1/2 cup caster sugar
pinch of salt
125g butter, chilled, chopped
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 tsp lemon essence
extra flour, for kneading

1. Put flour, almond meal, sugar and salt in a food processor and process for 30 seconds. Add butter and process until mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add egg and lemon essence and process until mixture forms into a ball (I needed to add another half an egg before my dough would come together).
2. Knead dough on a lightly floured surface until smooth. Pat dough into a disc, put into a plastic bag and refrigerate for 1 hour.
3. Preheat oven to 160C. Line 2 oven trays with baking paper. Roll out dough between 2 sheets of baking paper until 5mm thick. Use a Christmas cutter to cut out shapes. Put shapes on oven trays. Bake for 12 minutes or until cooked through. Leave on trays for 5 minutes and then transfer to a wire rack to cool.
4. Ice with royal icing (recipe below).
   

Royal Icing (if you don't trust raw egg whites you could use this recipe instead)

2 egg whites
4 cups icing sugar, sifted
1 tsp lemon juice

1. Beat egg whites until frothy.
2. Add icing sugar a little at a time until you have stiff peaks.
3. Beat in the lemon juice.
   

When I started to ice this cookies I quickly discovered that I have ZERO piping skills. And I mean zero. Look at my sorry excuse for piping...


It kind of made me angry....


And this little man was very sad about the way he was piped...


I tried to talk him out of it....


But it was too late...


Luckily the 10 second rule applies in this house and we got to eat him.


Oh well - practice makes perfect. I'll just have to make more cookies!

Rating?
2 out of 5 reindeers!