Christmas Eve Gingerbread Treat Box
If you feel like ringing the changes this year, here is a festive twist on the classic gingerbread house – a gingerbread box! Decorate and assemble with small festive helpers, fill with festive treats and display as a jolly centrepiece over the festive period.
Ingredients
1 quantity of gingerbread dough (link to gingerbread recipe):
300g icing sugar
1 free range egg white (medium size)
1 tbs water
Sweets of your choice to fill the box eg, chocolate santa, lollies, gold coins, etc
Equipment
2 large pieces baking parchment
Large Sharp knife
- Set the oven to 170 degrees Celsius fan (338 degrees Fahrenheit fan).
- Roll out the gingerbread dough between the large pieces of baking parchment to a thickness of about 5mm and cut out 4 squares measuring 5 x 5 inches (12.5cm x 12.5cm). You may have to gather the scraps and re-roll a few times.
- Cut out the castle ‘crenelations’ with a small sharp knife.
- Place the gingerbread squares on a baking tray and bake for 10-12 minutes until starting to darken around the edges. Remove from the oven and allow to cool on the baking tray.
- Make the royal icing by mixing the icing sugar with the egg white and water to make a thick paste.
- Place the icing inside a disposable piping bag (add a few drops of water to make it more runny if you need to) and pipe windows and doors onto the outside of the castle.
- Spread more icing all over the cake board, then assemble the walls of the castle on top of the icing. Using icing as glue to stick the walls together and pipe along the joins to reinforce them.
- Allow to dry overnight, then fill with treats, display and enjoy!