Haunted Gingerbread House
By OcadoLife
Published on 04 November 2022
This Haunted Gingerbread House adorned with sinister edible treats is a great way to mark the spookiest time of the year. Created by food stylist and food writer Angela Romeo, whose books include Fantasy Cakes, it looks difficult but is totally achievable – just take your time and you’ll end up with a gloriously monstrous masterpiece. For a quicker but equally creepy creation, try Angela’s Frankenstein’s Monster Head Cake.Time and servings
2 hrsTotal time
28Servings
1 hr 30 minsPrep time
30 minsCooking time
Ingredients
- 375 g of salted butter
- 300 g of dark muscovado sugar
- 75 g of black treacle
- 75 g of golden syrup
- 950 g of plain flour
- 1 tbsp of bicarbonate of soda
- 1 tsp of salt
- 2 tbsp of ground ginger
- 1 tbsp of ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp of ground nutmeg
- 1 medium egg white, lightly beaten
- 0.25 tsp of lemon juice
- 250 g of icing sugar, plus extra to thicken if needed
- 0.5 15g tube violet food colouring
- 100 g of white chocolate, melted
- 360 g of dark chocolate, melted, plus extra 100g melted, for sicking
- 2 handfuls of purple and orange (or green) candy sweets
- 1 handful of chocolate raisins
- 1 handful of pitted dates
- 1 handful of jelly spiders
Method
Step 1
Preheat the oven to 180°C/160°C fan/gas 4. For the gingerbread, melt the butter, sugar, treacle and syrup in a large pan.Step 2
Sift the flour and bicarbonate of soda into a mixing bowl, add the salt and spices, then stir in the butter mixture to make a stiff but malleable dough, adding a splash of water if needed. Knead briefly, then divide the dough into quarters.Step 3
Cut out house templates on baking paper, using a ruler to measure accurately: 2 square pieces for the side walls (11cm x 11cm); 2 square pieces for the roof (18cm x 18cm); and 2 near-diamond pieces for the front and back walls (12cm along the flat bottom; 18cm at the widest point; 11cm along the edge joining the flat bottom and widest points; 15cm along the edge joining the widest points and the peak). Roll out 2 pieces of dough to 5mm thick and cut out the roof pieces, using the template; slide onto a lined baking tray. Repeat with the remaining dough to make the front and back wall pieces, cutting out an angular door 7.5cm high, and an angular window 3.5cm x 3.5cm from the front wall piece, then re-roll the trimmings to create the 2 side wall pieces. Bake the roof and front and back walls for 17 mins and the side pieces for 12 mins; slide onto wire racks to cool completely.Step 4
For the icing ‘glue’, put the egg white in a large bowl with the lemon juice. Gradually add the icing sugar, mixing with an electric whisk, until smooth and thick enough to form stiff peaks (add a little more icing sugar if needed). Stir in the violet food colouring. Cover the bowl with a piece of damp kitchen towel until needed.Step 5
When you’re ready to assemble, put a few tablespoons of violet icing into a disposable piping bag and snip a small hole at the tip. Working on a solid, portable surface, such as a cake board, pipe the icing along the side edges of the wall pieces and stick to the front and back pieces. Pipe extra icing where the walls join on the inside of the house for extra support. Support the structure as it dries by propping pieces up with cups or glasses. To add the roof, pipe all along the top edges of the house, then add the roof panels, holding them in place for a few mins until the icing starts to set. Snip the tip of the piping bag for a slightly larger hole, and pipe the seam of the roof in a zig-zag pattern; leave to dry for 1 hr.Step 6
To make the spiderweb roof tiles, line 2 baking trays with baking paper. Fill a piping bag with the melted white chocolate. Working quickly, divide the 360g melted dark chocolate between the trays and spread out into a 20cm x 25cm rectangle. Snip the very tip of the piping bag then pipe white chocolate over the dark in spirals. Drag a cocktail stick (or knife tip) through from the centre to the edge to create a web effect. Chill until set, then carefully snap into shards.Step 7
Melt the remaining 100g dark chocolate; cool to thicken a little. Brush a patch onto the roof with a pastry brush and stick on a shard ‘tile’; repeat to cover the roof.Step 8
Decorate the rest of the house with your choice of decorations: think jelly spiders, date rats, fondant pebbles, black cats and glowing windows. Anything goes – the spookier the better!