Tips for the Perfect Gingerbread House This Christmas

Gingerbread houses are an old German tradition and are great fun to make with the kids come Christmas. You can decorate the walls with lollies and treats. Detail can be added using icing, roof tiles can be made using chocolate freckles and icing sugar for snow.

Taste shared some tips on creating a gingerbread house, starting with the dough.

Gingerbread dough:

  • 100g of butter
  • 200g of brown sugar
  • 250ml of honey
  • 2 eggs
  • 600g of plain flour
  • 150g of SR flour
  • 1 tbs of ground ginger
  • 1 tbs of ground cinnamon
  • 1 1/2 tsp of ground cloves
  • 1 tsp of bicarbonate of soda
  1. Mix the butter, sugar and honey in a small saucepan over low heat until the butter softens and the sugar dissolves. Set aside for 10 minutes.

  2. Combine the butter mix and egg in a separate bowl. Add the remaining ingredients and mix well.

  3. Turn onto a lightly floured surface and knead well. Cover and place in the fridge.

Tips for constructing a gingerbread house:

If you are planning a gingerbread house, cook your pieces a few weeks before and freeze. That way you only need to account for construction time come Christmas Eve, reducing your stress at such a busy time.

Roll dough straight onto baking paper making it easy to transfer.

Make sure the baking trays you use are completely flat and not warped.

Use butter to stick the corners of the paper down. If they flap up during cooking, your pieces won't connect properly during construction.

Get the cooking time on your gingerbread right. If it is too soft, your house will crumble and if it is cooked too long, it will taste dry.

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Mireille Kilgour

Mireille Kilgour

Mireille Kilgour has been an entrepreneur for 35 years in the hospitality sector. French born, she has been an accomplished business owner and operator for a number of Sydney venues. Leading the industry with high profile institutions such as Lamrock Café Bondi, she has endless passion for the industry, and now has the pleasure of supporting restaurants to fill their tables with the new Good Food Gift Card program.