At the end of last year I made a large gingerbread bird house to sit on my Winter Wonderland dessert table and a bunch of small ones to give as gifts. I now am in love with mini gingerbread bird houses as they look so cute and those that received them as gifts seemed very pleased! I might have to start making mini gingerbread bird houses for all the holidays: I think they would be a cute Easter gift filled with mini chocolate eggs!
Gluten free chocolate gingerbread mini bird houses x 4
Ingredients
250g unsalted butter
200g dark muscovado sugar
600g gluten free plain flour
3 tsp xanthan Gum
7 tbsp golden syrup
2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tbsp cocoa powder
Cooking instructions
- Heat oven to 180 deg C
- Place the butter, sugar and golden syrup in a medium saucepan and, on a low heat, stir with a wooden spoon until the sugar has dissolved, then remove from heat
- Place the flour, xanthan gum, ground ginger, ground cinnamon, cocoa powder and bicarbonate of soda in a food mixer
- Slowly add the melted butter mix to the flour mix and beat until well combined
- Roll dough out to about 8mm thick on to baking paper
- Cut out four fronts, then cut small circle out of fronts
- Cut out four backs
- Cut out eight roofs
- Cut out eight sides
- Cut out four birds
- Slide cut pieces still on the baking paper on to baking trays
- Bake in the oven for 8 minutes or until firm to the touch, turning the tray half way through cooking
- Leave to cool for a few minutes, then re-cut around edges to neaten
- Leave to completely cool
Decorating the Bird House
Ingredients
Roll on icing
Icing sugar (powdered sugar)
Royal icing
Pink candy melts
Blue candy melts
Pink pareills
Blue sugar crystals
Teal food colouring
Teal edible glitter
White edible glitter
White candy sticks cut to 2cm long
Equipment
Rolling pin
Sieve
Icing bag fitted with small star nozzle
Paint brush
Bird cutter
To decorate
- Dust icing sugar onto a hard clean surface and roll out coloured icing to 2mm thick
- Cut out bird in icing using bird cutter
- Dampen back of cut out bird and stick to top of bird cookie
- Brush front of iced bird with water and sprinkle with glitter, leave to dry
- Dust icing sugar onto a hard clean surface and roll out icing to 3mm thick
- Cut out base of house components in icing
- Brush water onto back of cut-out icing component and place on top of corresponding gingerbread piece. Repeat until all gingerbread house side pieces are iced
- Lightly dampen the front of the iced houses and sprinkle in white glitter, leave to dry
- Melt pink candy melts as instructions
- Paint candy melt onto front of roof
- Liberally sprinkle with pink pareills, leave to dry
- Using a sharp knife, angle the inside edge of the roof so it is 45 degrees
- Paint melted candy on to inside of front
- Push side of house into candy, hold in place for a minute until candy sets
- Brush candy melts around inside of hole in front of house, and along outside edge
- Push blue candy melt over hole
- Brush melted candy on to the inside of the back piece
- Push sides of house into candy, hold in place for a minute until candy sets
- Brush melted candy on to the top edges
- Push roof of house into candy, hold in place for a minute until candy sets
- Brush melted blue candy on to the entire gingerbread house base piece
- Set house on base
- Immediately sprinkle with aqua sugar crystals before candy sets
- Using a piping bag fitted with a star nozzle, pipe small stars along the top of the roof
- Pipe a small star on one end of a candy stick and attach to front of house, just below hole
- Pipe a star on to back of iced bird cookie and attach to front of house
- Pipe iced stars along sides of bird house and along front and back edge of the roof
- Sieve icing sugar onto roof, to give the house a snowy look
Have a sweet day!