The ultimate iced gingerbread house
(7 votes)
Cook: 12 Hours 32 Mins
Serves: 45
Price: 93p per serving
Nutritional Information
Each 107g serving contains
Energy
1573kj
376kcal
1573kj
376kcal
19%
Fat
11.8g
11.8g
Med
17%
17%
Saturates
5.4g
5.4g
Med
27%
27%
Sugars
50.3g
50.3g
High
56%
56%
Salt
0.32g
0.32g
Med
5%
5%
of your reference intake.
Typical energy values per 100g:
1470kj/351kcal
Typical energy values per 100g:
1470kj/351kcal
Ingredients
Finely grated zest and juice 2 oranges
3tbsp Cointreau
800g mixed raisins
200g dried chopped apricots or mango
75g crystallised pineapple or ginger
75g mixed peel
250g butter, softened
250g soft light brown sugar
6 eggs
325g plain flour
½tsp grated nutmeg
½tsp ground cinnamon
75g toasted chopped hazelnuts
4-5tbsp apricot jam
500g white marzipan
600g white ready to roll icing
125g butter
100g dark muscovado sugar
55g golden syrup
300g plain flour
1tsp bicarbonate of soda
2tsp ground ginger
1 egg white
225g royal icing sugar
4 battery tealights
1 packet Asda Giant White Chocolate Buttons
3 x Asda cake toppers (reindeer, santa, snowman)
2 packets Asda 12 Shimmer Snowflakes
1tbsp Asda Holly and Berry Sprinkles
Green food colouring
Icing sugar, to dust
Method
1
Put the zest and juice, Cointreau, dried fruits and peel in a bowl. Stir well, then leave to soak overnight
2
Preheat the oven to 170C/150C Fan/Gas 3. Beat the butter and sugar until fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time
3
Beat in the flour and spices. Stir in the hazelnuts and soaked fruit, then spoon into a 20cm, deep, double-lined tin. Cover tightly with foil. Bake for 2 and a 1/2 hrs.
4
Remove foil. Bake for 1hr more until a skewer stuck in the centre comes out clean. Cool in the tin. Turn out.
5
To create the middle tier, cut out a wedge on third of the size of the cake. Stand the rest on a 30cm round cake board, then put the wedge on top of it, with the point facing inwards. Scoop out holes with room for a tealight into the 2 cut sides of the lowest tier of the cake and 1 side of the wedge. Warm the jam and brush over the side of the cakes.
6
Knead the marzipan to soften, then roll out thinly on a surface dusted with icing sugar. Use to cover the cake and trim the edges to neaten. Lightly brush the marzipan with boiling water.
7
Knead the ready to roll icing to soften, then roll out thinly on a surface dusted with icing sugar. Smooth it over the marzipan, trimming around the base. Make mini snowballs with leftover icing.
8
To make the gingerbread, preheat the over to 200C/Fan 180C/Gas 6. In a pan, melt the butter, sugar and syrup. Mix the flour, bicarb and ginger then add to the butter mixture to form a stiff dough. Divide into 4 pieces.
9
Use the printable guides above to make card templates. On a sheet of baking paper, roll out a piece of the dough to 3mm thick, then cut the shapes out using the templates. Put the paper on a baking tray. Repeat until all of the shapes have been cut out.
10
Bake the shapes - 10 mins for the small templates C, D and 12 mins for large templates A, B - until firm and browning at the edges. Leave to cool on the trays.
11
Make royal icing - whisk the egg white until frothy, add icing sugar; beat for 2-3 mins until thick and glossy. Spoon half into a piping bag with a small star nozzle and the rest (except 1tbsp) into a bag with a fine, plain nozzle. Turn on the tealights. Put one, on a small circle baking paper, in each of the holes in the cakes.
12
Fix the large gingerbread walls (template shapes A and B) in place with royal icing - use our picture as a guide. They should touch the tealights and sit about 2mm from the cake. Assemble the tiny house sticking the roof and walls (templates C and D) together with icing. When dry, sit it on the top tier, over the fourth tealight.
13
Colour the 1tbsp icing green, spread on the tree shapes and leave to dry.
14
Use the star nozzle to pipe decorative lines over any joins between the cake and gingerbread. Add icicles with the fine nozzle, and chocolate button roof tiles. Stick shimmer snowflakes on the cake and holly and berry sprinkles on the gingerbread with icing. Add a cake topper and mini snowballs to each level.
15
When the green icing is dry, pipe snowy branches, then attach the trees with icing. Dust with icing sugar. The gingerbread will keep for 1 week in an airtight box, the cake for 3 months. Once assembled, eat within 2 days.