A treat to make and a festive centrepiece for festive celebrations.

Serves: 12 people | Prep time: 100 mins | Cooking time: 10 mins

British | Dessert | Vegetarian

Ingredients

• 50g Salted butter
• 35ml Golden syrup
• 70g Granulated sugar
• 1½ tsp Ground cinnamon
• 1½ tsp Ground ginger
• 40ml Double cream
• 160g Plain flour, sieved
• ⅔ tsp Baking powder  

Royal Icing:

• 30ml Egg whites
• 70g Icing sugar, sieved
• 1 tsp Icing sugar to dust, optional
• You will need a piping bag with a fine piping nozzle.  

Method

1. Take a large, heavy-based saucepan and heat the butter, syrup and sugar over a gentle heat. When the mixture has melted, add the spices. Remove from the heat and stir in the cream.
2. Combine the flour and baking powder in a bowl and pour in the wet mixture, stir until a soft dough forms. Rest the dough wrapped in cling film for 12 hours, or overnight.
3. Remove the dough from the fridge for 20 minutes before rolling it out. Preheat the oven to 200°C.
4. Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface to about 6mm thickness. Cut 12 house shapes by hand using a sharp knife - they can all be very different, as long as they are of similar size.
5. Bake on a lined baking tray for 7-10 minutes, until the edges just begin to take on a golden brown colour.
6. Allow the biscuits to cool on the tray, whilst they are cooling mix the ingredients for the icing in a medium sized bowl until smooth. This needs to be just thick enough to pipe.
7. Take the piping bag and cut the tip off to insert the piping nozzle. Add the icing and pipe each house with an individual design. Sprinkle with a little icing sugar once the royal icing has dried.