There really is no method to decorating your gingerbread house other than giving the children some bowls of treats and sweets - jelly beans, smarties and jelly tots work best. Make your own grand designs!

• 250g unsalted butter
• 200g dark muscovado sugar
• 7 tbsp golden syrup
• 600g plain flour
• 2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 4 tsp of ground ginger
• A couple drops of vanilla extract

Heat the oven to 200c 180 or gas mark 6. Melt the butter and sugar together in a pan along with the syrup bicarbonate of soda and ginger. Add the flour to the butter syrup mixture to make a dough. If the mixture won’t quite come together to form a stiff dough add a little water. Roll out onto a work surface to the thickness of a £2 coin and cut out the stencils. Bake in the oven for 12 mins and leave to cool.

For your icing snowy cement

• 2 egg whites
• 500g of icing sugar

Beat the egg whites together by hand or with an electric whisk until fluffy. Add the icing sugar until stiff peaks form. It’s then ready to use with either a pallet knife, piping bag or trowel!

DOWNLOAD the template here