Christmas Gingerbread Village

I was so excited to be part of the #25daysofcollabs on Instagram with some amazing bakers to celebrate this festive season.  Each day starting from the 1st of December, different bakers have been involved in creating a bake from different themes.

I picked the theme of a Christmas Village to be part of.  After searching and trying to come up with ideas on what to bake, I settled on a cute gingerbread sleigh with a village on top.  This Christmas Village is made entirely out of gingerbread and decorated with royal icing and sprinkles.

This is the first gingerbread house & sleigh I've ever made.  I usually love to bake gingerbread men for Christmas.  But for this collaboration, I wanted a challenge.  So, I decided to design, make and decorate this Christmas Village.

Please check out my Instagram post and also see what amazing creations the other bakers have made for this theme too.

If you would like to make a Christmas Village too, I have included the recipe below.  I used the same recipe as my gingerbread men.  You may have to make a double batch of gingerbread dough and royal icing, depending on how big you make your design.

Happy Baking xo

Christmas Gingerbread Village 

Ingredients

· 125 grams butter
· ⅓ cup brown sugar
· ½ cup golden syrup
· 3 cups plain flour
· 2 teaspoons ground ginger
· 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
· 2 teaspoons baking soda
· 1 egg
· 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Royal Icing

· 2 cups icing sugar
· 1 egg white
· Water (approx 2-4 tablespoons)

Decorations

· Sprinkles

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 180°C.

2. Line three trays with baking paper.

3. Place butter, sugar and golden syrup in microwave-safe bowl and microwave on high for minute or until butter is melted. Set aside.

4. Sift the flour, spices and baking soda in a large bowl. Add the butter mixture, egg and vanilla extract, stir until combined.

5. Divide dough in half and roll dough to 5 mm thickness. Place the templates you made from paper on top of the dough and cut them out and place on baking trays.

6. Bake for 10 minutes or until golden brown.

7. Allow cookies to cool completely before decorating and assembling.

Royal Icing/ Decorating

8. Place icing sugar, egg white and 1 tablespoon of water into a bowl and using an electric beater beat on high for 3 minutes until mixture is smooth. Add more water if the mixture is too thick.

9. Place royal icing into a piping bag and pipe the designs onto the panels of the sleigh, houses and trees. Allow them to dry before assembling them.

I designed this Christmas Gingerbread Village by drawing it onto some paper and cutting it out and using it as templates.

Tips

· Remember to allow cookies to cool completely before icing.

· If the icing appears too thick add more water and if the icing appears too runny add more icing sugar.

Did you bake this recipe?

Remember to tag @youcanbakeittoo on Instagram & hashtag #youcanbakeittoo 

so I can see your wonderful bakes.