Gingerbread House

Kristina was throwing her renowned fabulous Christmas party at her place, cocktail style with lots of food and drinks, I had been looking forward to it and thought I could make a Gingerbread House for her party ~✫ It wasnt difficult to make, so much cheaper than buying one from Selfridges and definitely is a good present idea :)

Gingerbread House

For the Gingerbread House

250g unsalted butter
200g dark muscovado sugar
7 tbsp golden syrup
580g plain flour
2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
4 tsp ground ginger
2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp nutmeg
2 tsp mixed spice

For the Decoration

1 large tube of 170g smarties (or selection sweets of your choice)
1 tube of 125g jelly diamonds (or selection sweets of your choice)
4 candle canes (or selection sweets of your choice)
2 egg whites
480g icing sugar
A Gingerbread House template (A4 size below)

Methods

1. Preheat oven to 180C.
2. Melt the butter, sugar and syrup in a pan.
3. Mix the flour, bicarbonate of soda, ground ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg and mixed spice into a large bowl.
4. Stir in the melted butter mixture to make a soft and smooth dough. If the dough is bit dry, add a tiny splash of water for the dough to come together,
5. Prepare and cut out the template of two side walls, a front and back wall and two roof panels.

6. Put a sheet of baking paper on your work surface and roll about one quarter of the dough to 0.8cm thick.
7. Cut out one of the sections according to the template, then slide the gingerbread onto a baking tray lined with baking sheet.
8. Repeat with remaining dough, re-rolling the trimmings, until you have two side walls, a front and back wall and two roof panels.

9. Any leftover dough can be cut into Christmas trees/gingerbread man/stars.

10. Bake all the sections for 10 mins, turn and bake the other side for 5 mins until firm and just a little darker at the edges.
11. Leave to cool for a few mins to firm up, then trim around the templates again to give clean, sharp edges. Leave to cool completely.
12. Put the egg whites in a large bowl, sift in the icing sugar, then stir to make a thick, smooth icing. Spoon into a piping bag with a medium nozzle.
13. Pipe the decorations on the house before it is assembled.
14. Pipe the windows, roof tiles, doors or any design of your choice over the outside of the house. Stick the sweets onto the walls and door of the house with some icing.

15. Leave them to dry completely.
16. To assemble, pipe a thick line of icing along the wall edges, one by one, to join the walls together.
14. Use a small mug/bowl/box to support the walls from the inside, then allow to dry completely.
15. Once dry, remove the supports and fix the roof panels on. The angle is steep so you may need to hold these on firmly for a few mins until the icing starts to dry. Dry completely, ideally overnight.
16. Dust the roof with icing sugar and edible glitter for a snowy effect.
17. Your gingerbread house will be edible for about a week but will last a lot longer.

Chocolate Soufflé

We were sharing a Blueberry Soufflé and a few other desserts after dinner when we went to The Chancery for Kiki's birthday, that little spoonful of warm fluffy llight soufflé was so melty, Emma asked if I have made it before, I have been thinking to make this since then.

It is not as complicated as I thought, it is definitely a delicious dessert that gives the wow factor ;-P

Chocolate Soufflé 

Recipe modified and adapted from bbcgoodfood

 Ingredients

For the dishes

25g unsalted butter, for greasing

finely grated chocolate

For the crème patisserie

2 tbsp plain flour

2 tsp caster sugar

½ tsp cornflour

1 medium egg yolk

1 medium whole egg

4 tbsp milk

1 tbsp double cream

25g good-quality dark chocolate preferably 70% cocoa solids, broken in pieces

1 tbsp cocoa powder

For the egg whites

6 medium egg whites

85g caster sugar

single cream or ice cream, to serve

For the ganache

4 tbsp double cream

50g good-quality dark chocolate preferably 70% cocoa solids, broken into pieces

1 tbsp cocoa

Utensils

6 soufflé ramekins 

Method

1. Grease six 200ml soufflé ramekins with softened butter. Chill the dishes for 5 mins, apply a second coat of butter so the soufflé doesn't stick to the dishas. Tip a little grated chocolate into each dish evenly all round.

2. For the crème patisserie: put egg yolk and whole egg into a bowl, stir, then beat in the flour, sugar and cornflour gradually to give a smooth paste.

3. Put the milk, cream, chocolate and cocoa powder into a microwave-safe mug, microwave for 1 min until the chocolate is melted and mix well until smooth with no lumps.

4. Send the the hot chocolate mix to the microwave for another 50 seconds so it is cooked to a smooth, thick paste. Remove from the microwave, leave until cold, beating occasionally with a whisk.

5. For the ganache: slowly warm the cream in a pan. Just before it boils, take off the heat and add chocolate. Beat constantly to a velvety texture, gradually sprinkling in the cocoa as it dissolves. Allow to cool.

6. Heat oven to 190C/fan 170C/gas 5. Whisk the egg whites and sugar with an electric whisk to stiff and firm peaks to give volume to the soufflés.

7. Mix crème patisserie and ganache in a large bowl. Stir in 2 tbsp of egg white. Carefully fold in a third of the rest, cutting through the mixture. Fold in another third (take care not to lose the volume); fold in the rest.

8. Spoon the mixture into the dishes to fill them by three-quarters, then gently press a spoon in to make sure it fills all the gaps. Fill the dishes to the top with the mixture, then bang each dish on to the surface so the mixture fills the sides.

9. Take a palette knife and pull it across the top of each dish so the mixture is completely flat. Take a little time to wipe any splashes off the outside of each dish, or they will burn on while cooking.

10. So mixture won't stick to the top of the mould, and to give a straight finish, go around the top edge of the mixture with your finger. Sprinkle a little grated chocolate in the centre, then bake the soufflés for 15-17 mins.

11. The soufflés should have risen by about two thirds of their original height and jiggle when moved, but be set on top. To serve, make a small dip with a spoon in the centre of each, then pour in single cream or add a spoonful of ice cream.