Ingredients
Gingerbread:
- 225g butter, softened
- 1 cup sugar, light brown
- 1 cup molasses, sweet, warmed
- 1 tbsp cinnamon
- 1 tbsp ginger, ground
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp cloves, ground
- 1 1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 6 cups cake flour
- 2 eggs, XL
Stained glass:
- 2 boiled sweets, red
- 2 boiled sweets, blue
- 2 boiled sweets, green
- 2 boiled sweets, yellow
Royal icing:
- 2 egg whites, XL
- 3-4 cups icing sugar, sifted
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 liquid colour, green
- 1 gel food colour, yellow
- 1 gel food colour, red
- 1 gel food colour, purple
Assembly:
- 2 candy strips, red
- 3 cups coconut, desiccated
- 1 chocolate finger bar
- 3 jelly beans, assorted
Preparation method
Gingerbread:
- Preheat oven to 180 C
- Line 2 baking trays with tinfoil and one with baking paper
- Sift flour, salt, bicarbonate of soda and spices together
- Beat all wet ingredients together and add to dry ingredients
- Mix until very stiff dough forms
- Roll dough out to 0.5cm thick, cut with a knife around the templates
- 2 x 10cmx25cm roof rectangles
- 2 x 15cmx21cm wall rectangles, with 3 x crushed sweets stained glass windows in each
- 2 x gable ends 22cmx15cm, with a stained glass rose window
- 2 x doors
- 4 x bell tower squares
- 4 x small triangles
- 1 x cross
- Bake pieces with stained glass candy windows on foil
- Leave space for spreading between cookies and bake for 11-13 minutes
- Bake until edges start to turn brown
- Cool for 5 minutes and move carefully to a wire cooling rack
Stained glass:
- Crush boiled sweets according to colours
- Fill windows generously to above the level of the dough
- Bake on foil and only peel off when completely cool, to avoid breaking
Royal icing:
- Mix all ingredients together until icing is smooth and can be piped
- Do not leave the icing exposed, keep extra in an airtight container until needed
- Make a second batch of icing and divide into 4 batches
- Colour each batch with the gel food colours
- Leave some white icing for the edges of the windows
Assembly:
- Fill a piping bag with white royal icing and fit a medium round nozzle
- Use a cake board as a base and start to assemble
- Pipe along the bottom that will join the sides of the church to gable end walls
- Use boxes or tins to support until dry, about 30 minutes
- Assemble bell tower by joining with icing and leave to dry
- Decorate roof with candy strips, whilst flat. Allow drying before attaching to walls
- Pipe grass around church walls and decorate with royal icing flowers
- Pipe doors with red icing and attach in the open position
- Surround base of church with coconut coloured green, to look like grass
- Make a path from the front door with chocolate bars