Use the base layer of baking paper to lift the house shapes onto 2 large flat baking trays – ensure there is at least 3cm between the pieces. Chill for at least 30 minutes. But if your gingerbread is more of a blank slate, it can be a challenge to picture what to do with your icing. Once hardened, use melted pink chocolate to assemble walls of the house. To help support the sides while the chocolate is hardening, use a can or bottle to hold walls upright. Chimney- using white chocolate, glue rectangle candies together and allow to harden. Cut bottom at an angle to match the pitch of the roof. Make the gingerbread. Heat the sugar, golden syrup and orange juice in a large pan over a low heat, until all the sugar crystals have melted (about 5 minutes). Remove from the heat and stir in the butter until melted. Sift the flour, ginger and salt into the wet ingredients, then stir to combine. Bring the mixture together with your hands and knead it to a dough.

Spread the remaining portion of icing (in the bowl) over the cake board around the house, including covering the fairy-light lead, if using. Snap the whole cut-out windows into small pieces and press these into the iced board to create a crazy-paved path. Our verdict:We had a bit of a disaster building this gingerbread campervan, and were disappointed with the kit overall.

SPOON one third of the chocolate into a piping bag fitted with a fine plain nozzle and pipe windows onto the sides and end panels. Allow to set. Spread the remaining chocolate and whatever is left in the piping bag onto the roof panels then sprinkle liberally with grated chocolate. Allow to set. Cut two of each template out of cardboard. Remove the dough from the fridge and remove the top layer of baking paper from each piece. Lay the cardboard templates on top and cut out them all out using a pizza cutter or sharp knife.

The gingerbread houses we found easiest to build were those that came with a base piece included. These often have holes baked into them, which the wall pieces of your house should slot into neatly. There were a few issues with this kit. We found the icing runny and difficult to use when constructing this house. There are plastic clips included for holding the base in place, but the wall pieces still leant inwards and we'd put that down to the weak cement. Bushes- cover rainbow gum balls with dripping white chocolate and glue 3 balls together, with one on top.Plan to do the bulk of your decoration the day after you cut and bake the house—because at that point, you won’t care enough to use more than just icing. We found that a dramatic lighting filter really improved the gingerbread house’s look. Sara Chodosh As soon as the icing hits the gingerbread it'll start to dry and set, so you'll get into trouble if you change your mind about your decoration halfway through. 2) Look up designs if you need inspiration Spoon one quarter of the icing into the small piping bag fitted with the writing nozzle. Spoon another quarter into the disposable piping bag. Cover the remaining icing with a damp tea towel until needed. Heat the oven to 180°C/160°C fan/350°F/Gas 4.

If you run out halfway through, you'll need to make fresh icing that will likely be a slightly different shade to the icing that came with the kit. This can really ruin the appearance of your gingerbread house. Some of the simpler gingerbread house kits aimed at younger audiences tend to have handy templates and grooves pre-baked onto the gingerbread to help guide you as you decorate. We liked the flavour when we tasted it, but we found the texture dense and chewy. If experience and appearance is more important to you than eating the gingerbread, we think this is the best kit you can buy. Cut a door out of one end panel (as marked on the template); cut a window out of both end panels using the small star cutter.

Or, how about...?

The chocolate house kit is full of sweet and creamy milk chocolate. You’ll receive two Cadbury Dairy Milk Bars, two Cadbury Dairy Winter Wonderland Edition bars, white buttons and flakes. It’s not all chocolate, though. The Christmas Cottage Kit also includes the Dairy Milk Winter Gingerbread Edition bar! Plus, the kit comes with instructions for assembly.

Before you start mixing ingredients, make sure you’ll have enough dough. The Serious Eats recipe makes enough gingerbread for one 11-by-15-inch baking sheet, so get that out now, along with some paper. I decorated my chocolate gingerbread house sides before putting the house together. It’s so much easier to decorate on a flat surface. I know a lot of people have issues with raw eggs so I opted for store bought gel, buttercream, and chocolate ganache to hold things together. It looks ornate and doesn't appear simplistic at all, with lovely textures and patterns on the gingerbread pieces and colourful, varied decorations included. Carefully dip the sides of the chimney pieces in the caramel and piece them together (just like the bottom of the house). Preheat the oven to 190°C, fan 170°C, gas 5. Use a Christmas tree cutter to cut biscuits out of the excess dough – you only need 4 for the house but there'll be enough dough to make at least 30 trees altogether. Put the trees on a separate baking sheet to the house pieces; chill for 30 minutes. Bake the house pieces, in batches, for about 18-20 minutes. Bake the tree biscuits for 10 minutes.

Ingredients

In a decent-sized saucepan, melt the butter along with the sugars, golden syrup, treacle or molasses, cloves, cinnamon and ground ginger. In a cup dissolve the bicarbonate of soda in 2 tablespoons of warm water. Take the saucepan off the heat and beat in the eggs, milk and bicarb in its water. Stir in the flour and cocoa and beat with a wooden spoon to mix. Fold in the chocolate chips, pour into the lined tin and bake for about 45 minutes until risen and firm. It will be slightly damp underneath the set top and that's the way you want it. Gingerbread houses are a classic Christmas tradition. My Chocolate Gingerbread House starts with Chocolate Springerle Cookie dough. Roof- using white chocolate line roof peak with pink smarties, line edging of roof with rainbow Mike and Ike's.