Nobody does Christmas quite like the royal family – just take a look at their immaculate gingerbread house! The Queen's official Twitter page released the royal recipe for the traditional Christmas food.
"In the run up to Christmas, the chefs in the royal kitchens have shared their recipe for making the perfect Gingerbread House," the post read. It was accompanied by a video that showed the intricate decoration and construction of the sweet treat.
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First, the royal chefs covered the base with royal icing before adding the two ends of the house, which featured candied sweet windows. They then rested the two roofs together to create a triangular-shaped design, covering the gap with piped icing that looked like snow.
WATCH: The sweet way Prince William says goodbye to the Queen revealed
And had the Queen and Co been able to celebrate Christmas together, we reckon the traditional festive bake would be a big hit with Her Majesty's great-grandchildren Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis!
Fans were very impressed with the finished result and took to the comments section to compare the pretty design to their own culinary skills.
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"Step 1, be the Picasso of Piping icing," one joked, and another added: "Once I start icing, it all goes to pot!" A third remarked, "Wow, just wow! Beautifully done, very fancy, wouldn’t want to eat it lol."
Why not try it for yourself? Piping bags at the ready!
The royal family's gingerbread house recipe:
Gingerbread dough
Ingredients
- 1000g - Plain Strong Flour
- 14g - Bicarbonate of Soda
- 28g - Ground Ginger
- 14g - Ground Cinnamon
- 355g - Butter, unsalted
- 500g - Light Brown Sugar
- 140g - Egg
- 175g - Golden Syrup
Method
1. Mix flour, bicarbonate and spices together
2. Add cold diced butter and continue mixing until the crumb stage is reached
3. Add sugar and briefly combine
4. Then add eggs and syrup and mix until dough is formed
5. Divide into two blocks, knead together by hand and flatten
6. Wrap and chill for a few hours before rolling to approx. 5mm thickness for the house parts and approx. 3mm for smaller decorative parts
7. Cut gingerbread house shapes using the template
8. Place on baking trays and chill again before baking
9. For windows, crush boiled sweets into the spaces you have cut
Baking
- Fan oven 165C
- 18+ min for house pieces
- 12+ min for smaller pieces
Royal Icing
Ingredients
- 1500g - Icing Sugar
- 200g - Egg White
- 50g - Lemon Juice
Method
1. Sieve the icing sugar and combine with egg white and lemon juice by hand first before placing into the mixer
2. Paddle together on a low speed for about two minutes, then scrape sides and paddle well
3. Continue mixing on a low speed for approximately another five minutes, until a creamy hard peak consistency is reached
4. For piping and decoration works, loosen the icing with some water
5. To assemble the gingerbread house use hard peak icing
You'll need a piping bag:
Silicone piping bags and nozzle, £5.18, Amazon
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