how I felt about my gingerbread box project
how it actually turned out
My mum and I had a fantastically hilarious two nights in the kitchen constructing these four little (dare I say) "masterpieces"!
It was our very first attempt with gingerbread-like cooking. It involved a lot of rolling and cutting and baking not to mention the huge amount of patience it took to actually put the things together. As well as baking all the tasty, delicious treats to put inside the boxes.
As a side note, I keep calling these 'gingerbread' ....here's the thing. Gingerbread burns my throat and mouth. It smells weird. It sometimes makes my eyes water. So instead of using ginger I used cinnamon. Best. Choice. Ever.
My Gingerbread Box Recipe
(3 batches of this made four boxes)
125g butter (softened)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup golden syrup
1 egg, separated
2 1/2 cups plain flour
1/2 teaspoon ginger (or more if you like)
2 teaspoons cinnamon (or more if you like)
1 teaspoon bicarb soda
Icing
3 egg whites
3 cups pure icing sugar
Preheat the oven to 180 Celsius (or 160 for fan forced) and prepare baking trays.
Beat the butter and brown sugar. When it is nice and creamy add in the syrup and the egg yolk and continue to beat lightly. Sift in the flour, ginger & cinnamon and bicarb soda and use a spatular to combine.
Tip the mixture out onto baking paper and knead gently then split the mixture in half. Put one half to the side. Roll the other one out. I find rolling very tricky. I put another piece of baking paper on top of the dough and roll over the top if it to stop the dough sticking to the rolling pin. I rolled my dough to about 3mm. I think this might have been a bit too thin but at the same time I don't think it really matters. It rises slightly as it bakes plus ....do what you feel is best, it always works out better that way!
After the dough has been rolled cut it to size. You can use some pre-cut cardboard as a guide or save yourself some hassle and get a Gingerbread House Cutter Set. After the pieces have been cut put them in the fridge for about 10 minutes. I don't know why but every recipe I have read recipe I have read suggests this. Also some suggest you put the dough in the fridge after you roll but before you cut it.
After the pieces have been chilled put them in the oven. Bake for about 10 minutes and the let the pieces cool. If you're not making the houses or boxes straight away put the cooked pieces in the fridge. I left mine in a container on the bench over night and found they became a bit soggy making the construction part much harder.
The Icing
(this was a real test of skill!)
Beat the egg whites until peaks start to form. This takes a while so be patient! Slowly add in the icing sugar constantly beating until it the mixture becomes thick.
Think of this as glue - everything it touches will become sticky, it also dries quite quickly so it is important to do things fast but carefully!
I put the icing into a piping bag and piped it onto all the pieces of my boxes. This was very tricky and I'm so thankful I had an extra set of hands (my mum!). I began by placing the base onto a piece of cardboard I had wrapped in aluminium foil. I then piped icing along the bottom edge of one long side piece and using a tin can held it onto the base. I did the same with the other long side. I then added the two ends and used tin cans to help hold it all together. I piped inside and outside the edges just because I had no idea what I was actually doing. Basically just fill in all the gaps and hope for the best!
Again, if you have space put the boxes in the fridge otherwise they become a bit soggy. We filled ours up with Hedgehog Baubles, Maple Nut Tarts, Rocky Road, Red Velvet Christmas Trees and White Chocolate Macadamia Cookies (recipes to come!).
Seriously, I had so much fun doing this and, on reflection, I am super impressed with them and loved giving them to friends and family as gifts. I feel next years efforts will be better but, as a first attempt I'm pretty darn happy!
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