Make a Cunard gingerbread village at home this Christmas

 

If you’re dreaming of Christmas Market voyages and celebrations on board why not try Cunard’s gingerbread recipe? Used to make our Cunard gingerbread villages, it’s a feast for the eyes as well as the taste buds.

Cunard’s Gingerbread Recipe

Used on board to make Cunard’s Christmas Gingerbread Villages

To make 1x Gingerbread house (or gingerbread shapes):

Ingredients

For the dough:

• 250g butter
• 200g muscovado sugar
• 7 tbsp. golden syrup
• 600g plain flour (all-purpose flour)
• 2 tsp. bicarbonate of soda
• 4 tsp. ground ginger

For the Royal Icing:

• 2 egg whites
• 500g icing sugar (confectioners’ / powdered sugar)

To decorate:

• Dolly Mixtures
• Liquorice All sorts
• Flaked almonds

 Method

1. Place the butter, golden syrup and muscovado sugar into a pan and melt until incorporated.
2. Sift the flour into a large bowl, then add the ginger and bicarbonate of soda.
3. Add the melted butter, syrup and muscovado sugar into the flour mix and bring together to form a dough.
4. Rest the dough for 40 minutes, then roll out to your desired thickness and cut into shapes (there are various gingerbread house templates online, or you can use the dough to make gingerbread people, Christmas trees, stars, or even Cunard Queens!
5. Place on a baking tray lined with baking paper and bake at 180 ◦c for about 12- 14 minutes (baking time will depend on biscuit thickness).
6. Leave to cool before decorating.

Tips

• Ensure your Royal Icing is stiff – a runny icing will make assembly difficult.
• To assemble – pipe along the edges of the shapes before joining together – leave to dry, using supports, for a few hours before adding the roof, and then again before adding the decorations.