How to Make a Gingerbread Greenhouse

Download the PDF template here

Put the sugar, syrup and butter in a saucepan. Bring to a simmer and bubble for 1-2 minutes, stirring until well combined. Cool for 10 minutes.

Tip the flour into a large bowl along with the spices and bicarbonate of soda

Add the cooled syrup mixture and the eggs and stir together.

Gently knead the mixture in the bowl until smooth.

Split the dough into 2 batches and wrap in cling film. Chill the dough in the fridge for at least 30-60 minutes whilst you cut out the paper templates.

Cut pieces of baking paper to fit twov baking trays.

Roll out half of one of your wrapped batches of chilled dough onto a piece of baking paper – aim for a thickness of 4mm.

Transfer the paper with dough onto a tray and cut out the first of the five template pieces with a pizza wheel/sharp knife; when carving each segment, try to make sure each piece has straight edges to make the construction of your greenhouse as easy as possible.

Once you have cut out your first two pieces, place the rest of your dough in the fridge so it can cool back down again. Bake the first 2 pieces for approximately 15 minutes, rotating the trays halfway through.

Top Tip: It is better if the gingerbread is over-baked rather than under-baked so that the pieces are strong enough to hold the structure together – but do keep and eagle eye on it in the oven so that it doesn’t burn!

When the gingerbread has turned an even, dark brown colour, remove the tray from the oven and carefully place on a cooling rack.

Top Tip: Straight edges on your baked gingerbread is super-important for this project – you can trim the baked pieces as soon as they come out of the oven if they have baked unevenly. Just trim away any wavy edges with a sharp knife whilst the gingerbread is still soft and warm. Alternatively, if the gingerbread is too hard to cut then you can file the edges with a fine microplane or grater.