Gingerbread house for christmas

Ingredients

For the cookie :

• 5 oz soft butter
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 2 cups flour
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ginger

For the royal icing :

• 3 egg whites
• 1 & 1/4 cups powdered sugar

For the decoration :

• Sugar canes
• Chocolate M&m's
• 2 lemon candies
• Wafers
• Sugar beads
• Strawberry laces
• Icing sugar

Materials

• house pattern

Preparation

• Cookies:
  Beat sugar with soft butter until creamy. Add egg and beat again.
• Add the flour, salt, cinnamon and ginger and knead the dough until smooth. Form into a ball, wrap and chill for 1 hour.
  
• Roll out the dough with a rolling pin, and cut out the pieces to form the walls, roof and doors of the house (pattern available for download in the material section).
• Crush the lemon candy into powder and place in the round windows. As they cook, the candy will melt and form a stained-glass window.
  
• Bake for 10 minutes at 370°F/190°C, then leave to cool.
• Royal icing:
  Beat egg whites until stiff. When the whisk leaves marks, gradually add the powdered sugar. Beat until the icing is stiff.
  
• Using a piping bag, pipe basic lines for the house on the serving dish, and start assembling the 4 walls of the house. Don't hesitate to add royal icing to consolidate.
• When all the walls are assembled, leave to air dry for 3 hours, so that the structure can hold the roof.
  
• Then apply royal icing to the edges of the walls, and lay the roof. Use supports to hold the roof in place while the royal icing dries. Leave for a further 3 hours, to make sure the structure is solid.
• Decoration:
  Make a horizontal line of royal icing at the top of the roof, and place M&m's on top. Continue until the entire roof is covered. Use the same color scheme to create a harmonious effect.
  
• Glue 2 candy canes on each side of the door with the royal icing.
• Cut wafers in half and, using the royal icing, stick them to the edges of the windows to form shutters.
  
• Glue braided strawberry laces around the back window of the house.
• A lighted candle can be inserted into the house to make a magnificent candle jar. But be careful not to leave a burning candle unattended in the gingerbread house.
  
• Sprinkle with icing sugar for a snow effect, and there you are, your gingerbread house is ready (to be demolished, unfortunately!).