Ingredients

Step by step

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C, fan 160°C, gas 4. Line 3 baking trays with baking paper.
2. Sift the flour, bicarbonate of soda and ginger into a mixing bowl and add the butter. Rub the butter into the flour until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs, then stir in the sugar, rubbing in any lumps until evenly distributed. Add the syrup and egg until the mixture forms a dough – you may need to mix with your hands to bring it all together. Pat into a thin disc, wrap in clingfilm and chill for at least 1 hour to allow it to firm up.
3. Dust the worktop with flour and roll out the dough to about the thickness of a pound coin, about 7mm. Cut into a range of house shapes about 26 x 16cm or 15 x 12cm with pointed roofs. Cut out a few Christmas trees about 8 or 10cm tall, re-rolling the mixture as needed. Place the shapes on the lined baking trays. To make windows and doors in the houses, mark out little square, star or round windows, leaving the dough in place. Bake the biscuits for 5 minutes. Remove from the oven and recut all the shapes, removing and discarding the part-cooked dough that was in the doors and windows. Using the end of a piping nozzle, mark the roof tiles and score a branch design on the trees. Roughly crush 1 boiled sweet per 2 windows (put in a bowl and bash with the flat end of a rolling pin or use a pestle and mortar) and put about half a crushed sweet in each window (different colours look good for different windows).
   Tip

   The recipe will leave enough dough to make extra biscuits to hang on the tree or to give as gifts. The dough could also be cut into bauble or simple star shapes, too. We used a 30cm-tall dome, but you may prefer a smaller dome, in which case you can cut out smaller houses. You’ll need a battery-operated tea light. Before making your gingerbread houses, decide on your display dome (find one at lisaangel.co.uk). Measure the inside height and width to make sure your biscuits will fit inside. You could also use an upturned glass bowl over a cake stand or a large glass jar.
4. Return the biscuits to the oven and cook for a further 6-8 minutes or until just turning a little darker golden brown around the edges. Leave to cool on the tray for 15 minutes before removing to a wire rack (this is especially important for the stained glass window biscuits). While still warm, mark the pattern on the biscuits again to give a deeper impression. When cold, rub icing sugar into the biscuits to leave a pattern.
5. Arrange the biscuits in a deep bed of caster sugar to hold them upright, with a battery tea light behind, if liked.
6. Watch this...

   Gingerbread village scene