Funfetti Gingerbread House

Funfetti Gingerbread House

by | Dec 6, 2017 | 2 comments

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It’s not Christmas without a gingerbread house, right?! Introducing the Funfetti Gingerbread House! Without really planning it, making a gingerbread house has become a bit of a tradition on this blog. I’ve done a Gingerbread Train, a Gingerbread house cake, and then we had the local ‘n lekker version of my Muizenberg Beach Huts last year! This year though, I was challenged to make a pretty pastel sprinkle-loaded Funfetti Gingerbread House of fun by the folks over at Stork. And yes, this was as fun to make as it looks!

Funfetti Gingerbread House

This is no dark and spicy gingerbread, though. It’s light and crisp with just a hint of ginger. Using Stork Bake for the base means that the biscuits will stay fresher for longer – so you can actually eat the house! It’s not just a decoration, guys!  Because the biscuit dough is loaded with funfetti, I kept the walls naked to show off the little bursts of colour. The trick to making a house that actually stands is to cut the gingerbread AFTER you’ve baked it, not before. If you cut the dough before, it will warp either during baking or when you move it onto the baking tray. Cutting it afterwards means you’ll have sharp, crisp lines that will make assembly so much easier!

Funfetti Gingerbread House

Then, it’s all in the decorating! I used white chocolate drops to form the roof tiles, marshmallow strips and milky jelly tots to trim the walls – and how cute are those jelly heart windows? *faints* I’d definitely want to live in a house like this… Although, knowing me, I’d be homeless pretty soon with such delectable walls!

Funfetti Gingerbread House

Feeling inspired to bake this Funfetti Gingerbread house? Or maybe you have your own festive recipe that’s a family favourite! Whip it up using Stork Bake and share a picture on the I Love Baking SA Facebook Page and you could WIN a Kenwood Mixer! Do it, go now!

Funfetti Gingerbread House

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Funfetti Gingerbread House

Ingredients

  • 125g Stork Bake, softened
  • 220g castor sugar
  • 375g cake flour, plus extra for dusting
  • 2 tsp ground ginger
  • 1 tsp vanilla essence
  • pinch of salt
  • 1/3 cup funfetti sprinkles
  • 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
  • 1/3 cup (80ml) milk
  • Royal icing
  • 1 egg white, beaten
  • 2 cups icing sugar, sifted
  • squeeze of lemon juice
  • To decorate
  • Variety of sweets, lollies, candy canes, mini meringues and sprinkles

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 180C (or 160 degrees celcius if using a fan-forced oven). Download and print a gingerbread house template from the internet (whichever shape takes your fancy) and cut out the pieces. Cream the Stork Bake and sugar until very pale and fluffy – about 6-8 minutes. Add the flour, ginger, vanilla, salt, sprinkles, bicarbonate of soda and enough milk to form a soft dough. Roll the dough out on a floured surface or between two sheets of baking paper until 5mm thick. Refrigerate for 30 minutes if too soft. Place the entire large piece of gingerbread dough on a baking sheet and bake in the preheated oven for 8-10 minutes or until golden and crisp. Remove from the oven and, while still hot, cut out the gingerbread house templates using a sharp knife.* Set aside to cool.
  2. To make the royal icing, whisk the egg white gently then add the icing sugar until a stiff paste forms. Add the lemon juice. The icing should be quite thick. Place the icing in a piping bag and snip off the tip.
  3. To assemble, use the front side of the gingerbread so you can see the funfetti. Start by piping the gingerbread pieces to the bottom of your cake stand or serving board and then add the roof. Use the icing to pipe on the various decorations – roof tiles, doorway and ‘grass’.
  4. *TIP If the gingerbread gets hard, simply pop it in the oven for a few minutes to soften up.
https://thekatetin.com/funfetti-gingerbread-house/

Spiced Gingerbread Cookies

Spiced Gingerbread Cookies

by | Nov 22, 2016 | 0 comments

It’s not Christmas without the smell of freshly baked, spicy, gingerbread biscuits, right? Whether you’re making them as a gift to give away, to decorate your fruit cake, or using them as decorations themselves, this recipe will come in handy – and after testing so many, I can promise that this is by far the most delicious! Too good even for Father Christmas!

The secret ingredient? Christmas fruit mince. It adds a fruity punch that takes these cookies up a notch. Also, don’t skimp on the Muscovado sugar – it’s worth every cent – as it infuses a dark dusky flavour that makes you want to each an entire batch. Best to make double anyway, having a batch of frozen dough in the freezer means you can whip it out and bake cookies with the kids if you need to keep them busy, or bake up a batch for a friend. But there are a few other ways you may not have thought about using your dough for:

Cut out house shapes and stick them around the edge of your fruit cake for an easy and impressive way to decorate a cake

Cut out star or snowflake shapes and hang them up with pretty ribbon as tree or window decorations (added bonus: they make the house smell like Christmas and spices)

Or use different sized star and Christmas tree cookie cutters, make and bake the biscuits then pile them to create a gingerbread forest on the top of a frosted cake. *drops the mic*

Spiced Gingerbread Cookies

Makes 24

 

100g cake flour

1 tsp cinnamon

½ tsp ground ginger

½ tsp freshly grated nutmeg

½ tsp baking powder

a pinch of salt

50g Natura Dark Muscovado Sugar

1 tbsp whole milk

75g butter

2 tbsp candied peel, finely chopped or Christmas fruit mince

 

Preheat the oven to 180C. Line a baking tray with greaseproof paper. Mix together the dry ingredients then add the wet ingredients and combine to form a dough (you can do this in a stand mixer using the dough or paddle attachment).  Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and roll out to 1/2 cm thick. Cut out shapes using a sharp knife or cookie cutter then place on a baking tray.  Bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. Allow to cool completely before icing.

 

Royal Icing

Enough for 24 cookies

 

1 egg white, beaten

2 cups Natura Demerara Icing Sugar, sifted

squeeze of lemon juice

 

To make the royal icing, whisk the egg white gently then add the icing sugar until a stiff paste forms. Add the lemon juice and stir before placing in a piping bag. Pipe the frosting onto the biscuits in patterns and allow to dry thoroughly. Then use spread the remaining royal icing around the outside of the cake and stick the houses in place. Dust with extra icing sugar to serve.

TIP

Christmas Gingerbread Biscuit Train

Christmas Gingerbread Biscuit Train

by | Dec 17, 2014 | 0 comments

Gingerbread houses are SO last year. They’re out, and gingerbread trains are IN!  Okay, so I made that up but that should totally be the case. Just look at all that spicy cuteness ready to go ‘choo choo’ straight into your mouth!

And honestly, having made two gingerbread houses before (you can see them over HERE), this train is a breeze to make. Far easier than trying to get four walls and a roof to stand up straight!

How fabulous would this look as a centrepiece on your Christmas table?! And the best part is that guests can tuck into the train with their coffee afterwards. I mean!

Gingerbread train

Recipe adapted from Donna Hay’s Gingerbread Garland

Makes 1

 

125g butter, softened

90g Muscovado or brown sugar

230g golden syrup

375g cake flour

2 tsp (10ml) ground ginger

1 tsp (5ml) mixed spice

1 tsp (5ml) bicarbonate of soda

 

Royal icing

1 large egg white, beaten

2 cups icing sugar, sifted

squeeze of lemon juice

Preheat the oven to 180C. Cream the butter and sugar well until very pale and fluffy. Add the syrup, flour, spices and bicarb and mix until a smooth dough forms. Roll the dough out on a floured surface or between two sheets of baking paper until 4mm thick. Refrigerate for 30 minutes if too soft. Using train cookie cutters, cut out the shapes and place on a lined baking sheet. Bake in the preheated oven for 8-10 minutes or until golden and crisp. Allow to cool completely. To make the royal icing, whisk the egg white gently then add the icing sugar until a stiff paste forms. Add the lemon juice and stir before placing in a piping bag. Sandwich the various components together with the royal icing and allow to dry. Then decorate the carriages using the rest of the icing and sweets, if desired. Allow to dry thoroughly before stringing the train carriages together with ribbon. Store in an airtight container.

 

 

TIPS I used the Tescoma train cookie cutter set (visit their Facebook page here) but you could also use this print out HERE, cut out the shapes then trace around them on the dough using a knife. You don’t even have to use all the train cutters provided – simply cut out 4 of the main silhouette shapes and stack those together. You’ll lose the 3D effect but it will look just as good! In order to get perfect shapes, refrigerate the dough once you’ve rolled it out so the shapes don’t shift when you lift them onto a baking tray.

 

Chai Cupcakes with Marshmallow Frosting

Chai Cupcakes with Marshmallow Frosting

by | Apr 28, 2013 | 0 comments

Sugar and spice and all things nice – that’s what the best cupcakes are made of!  While baking a test batch of vanilla cupcakes this week for a dear friend and bride-to-be I couldn’t resist whipping in a sprinkling of spice. Since my two whirlwind work trips of the ‘Spice Islands’; Seychelles and Zanzibar (which both happened in the space of 4 weeks – I know, I’m such a jet setter!), I’ve found my spice drawer overflowing with the most beautiful cinnamon quills, nutmegs, cloves, cardamom, juicy vanilla pods and white peppercorns.

The markets in Zanzibar and Seychelles are packed with spice stalls and the heady aroma hangs in the thick humid air – it’s intoxicating! The vendors all haggle for your attention and you’re encouraged to get the best bargain whether it be in Seychelles rupees, Zanzibar shillings or dollars. Compared to Seychelles, the spice sellers of Zanzibar are far more persistent and I found myself purchasing spices I didn’t even need just so we could continue our tv shoot in peace!

Chai cupcakes with marshmallow frosting

The cinnamon quills were my favourite treasure – long, golden and perfectly curled they’re unlike anything we get here in South Africa. Cinnamon is actually one of the spices first used in antiquity (along with frankincense and myrrh) which of course only adds to it’s charm. I love how it laces everything it’s added to with a deep warmth. Vanna Bonta said it perfectly; ‘Cinnamon bites and kisses simultaneously’. And I don’t know about you, but I quite like the idea of being kissed by a cupcake!

Chai Cupcakes with Marshmallow Frosting

Makes 12

 

125g butter

150g castor sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 eggs

1 cup self-raising flour

1/2 cup milk

1 tsp chai spice*

 

Marshmallow frosting

2 egg whites

1/2 cup caster sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

 

Cream the butter, sugar and vanilla together until light and fluffy. Gradually add the eggs and beat well. Sift over the flour and spices and beat again. Spoon into a muffin tin lined with cupcake wrappers and bake at 180C for 12-15 minutes or until golden and a skewer comes out clean.

Make the frosting by whisking the egg whites in a heatproof bowl until soft peak stage. Add castor sugar and whisk over simmering water until the meringue is hot to the touch. Remove from the heat and beat on high with a hand mixer until cool. Whip in the vanilla. Place in a piping bag and pipe onto cupcakes immediately.

 

TIP To make the chai spice mix, combine 1 tsp each of ground cinnamon and cardamom then add 1/2 tsp ground ginger, 1/4 tsp each of ground cloves, ground nutmeg and ground white pepper. Store in a sealed jar. I like to grind the whole spices myself in a spice grinder or pestle and mortar as the flavour is far more punchy than the store-bought ground stuff.