Gingerbread Houses
Let the kids get super creative decorating these mini-gingerbread cake houses.
You’ll Need
- 8 Tbsp softened, unsalted butter, plus more for pan
- 2½ cups all-purpose flour, plus more for the pans
- 1 cup boiling water
- 2 tsp baking soda
- 2 tsp ground ginger
- 1½ tsp ground cinnamon
- ½ tsp ground nutmeg
- 1 tsp. vanilla powder (or 2 tsp vanilla extract)
- ½ tsp salt
- 2 tsp baking powder
- ⅔ cup packed dark-brown sugar
- 1 cup unsulfured molasses
- 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
- Icing sugar
- ½ cup vanilla or chocolate frosting
Prep and Cook
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter and flour a 9x13-inch cake pan; set aside.
- In a small bowl, combine boiling water and baking soda; set aside. In a large bowl, sift together flour, ground spices, salt, and baking powder; set aside.
- Using an electric mixer with the paddle attachment, cream butter until light and fluffy. Beat in brown sugar. Add the molasses, baking soda mixture and flour mixture. Mix to combine.
- Beat in eggs. Pour batter into prepared pan; bake until a toothpick inserted in centre comes out clean, about 30 to 35 minutes. Let cool on a wire rack and cut into squares (assorted sizes).
- To assemble the houses, cut one square into half, diagonally, and use the two triangular pieces as roofs for two other square pieces. Attach the ‘roofs’ to the ‘houses’ by using a small amount of icing to glue the pieces together. Continue building houses until all of your cake has been used.
- Set the houses up on a tray and sprinkle icing sugar over the tops of all of the houses.
