Gingerbread Train

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

Makes 1

Recipe adapted from Donna Hay’s Gingerbread Garland

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.

How to make a gingerbread house

I've always been a bit of an overachiever but this past week, I seriously outdid myself. I made two gingerbread houses in one week. Even saying that sentence exhausts me but oh what fun I had! This is not one of those posts where I promise (and cross my heart) that this is a simple recipe that you can throw together in 20 minutes flat blah blah blah. Be warned; baking a gingerbread house is not for the faint-hearted. These cute little edible cottages exist (and are made) for the sole purpose of satisfying your inner child. Who hasn't dreamed of being Hansel or Gretel and discovering a huge edible house made of sweets? No one, that's who. It's one of the fairytales we can actually come close to creating in our kitchens. And it's even more fun if you prepare the pieces and then get your kids involved (if you don't have your own, borrow some) and let your imaginations run wild. If I made one of these again, I'm definitely going to make a seaside gingerbread cottage - more South African you cannot get! Oh and did I mention that it makes a show-stopper of a table centrepiece for Christmas dinner? Put a candle or fairy lights inside for some twinkle and you're good to go. So, I do urge you to make one (just one!) if not for any other reason but so you can say you did. 

 Cedric the Snowman showing off his posh palace

Styling and photography by Katelyn Williams

Gingerbread house

Serves 10-12

150g butter

½ cup demarera sugar

2/3 cup golden syrup

1 egg

3 cups cake flour, sifted

1 tbsp corn flour

1 tsp baking powder

½ tsp bicarbonate of soda

1 tbsp ground ginger

Icing

4 cups icing sugar

3 egg whites

½ tsp cream of tartar

variety of sweets to decorate

Preheat oven to 180C. Place the butter, sugar and golden syrup in an electric mixer and beat for 5 minutes or until pale and creamy. Add the egg and beat until well combined. Add the flour, cornflour, baking power, bicarbonate of soda and ginger and mix until a smooth dough forms. Add a little more flour if necessary. Roll the dough out to ½ cm thick and using the templates, cut the parts of the gingerbread house out with a knife. Place on a lined baking sheet and bake for 10-15 minutes or until dark golden.

To make the icing, place the sugar, whites and cream of tartar in the bowl of a mixer and beat for 4-5 minutes or until light and fluffy. Place the icing in a piping ready to assemble the house. To assemble the house, cut each gingerbread sheet in half. Set aside four halves (two for the walls and two for the roof). From the remaining two halves, cut two even triangles from the top to create the side walls. Secure one of the rectangles and one of the side walls to a cake board with the icing and allow to dry. Support the walls against a tall jar or vase. Secure the other walls using the icing and allow to dry completely before the next step. Using icing, secure each of the roof pieces to the sides of the house and allow to dry completely.

Use the icing to decorate the rest of the house using sweets.