GINGERBREAD

Masterclass
COOKBOOK

Ro c k y Ro a

STEP-BY-STEP CUT-OUT TM

Instructions TEMPLATES
 e n t s
Co n t
BASIC GINGERBREAD
GINGERBREAD HOUSE
GINGERBREAD STAR TREES
GINGERBREAD ROCKY ROAD
STAR BAKING TIPS

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One of the joys of Christmas is having seasonal treats like gingerbread at

hand to give out as edible gifts or just to enjoy with the kids or grandkids.
Making gingerbread from scratch is so easy and fun to make with the kids at the start
of the school holidays. Armed with our Gingerbread Masterclass Cookbook you’ll enjoy
making this traditional treat and its new twists.
Start with the tried and tested Basic Gingerbread recipe. From there, break it up
to make the super-simple Gingerbread Rocky Road, which we guarantee you’ll be
sneaking bites of when the kids are in bed.
If you’re looking for a festive table centrepiece, guests will have stars in their eyes
when they see your Gingerbread Star Christmas Trees. Decorated in Hundreds and
Thousands to make them feel like they’ve been sprinkled with rainbow snow.
The real show-stopper, however, is the Gingerbread House. This is something the
whole family can enjoy decorating. Simply print out the templates to help you on your
way, then have fun putting your own stamp on the house with the decorations.
Enjoy!
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GRAB THE
S t ar Ingr e d i e nt
Salted butter is a versatile cooking staple. Made with
just two ingredients, Australian cream and salt, pure
and natural salted butter enhances the unique spicy
and sweet flavour of gingerbread.

Learn more about cooking with Western Star Butter

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 Star Tip
Kitchen
and do ware stores
stock a llar shops
festive range of
cutters
.
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BASIC
GINGERBREAD
Prep 15 mins (plus 1 hour chilling) | Cook 15 mins
Makes 600 g gingerbread | Difficulty Easy

INGREDIENTS METHOD
• 125 g Western Star Original 1. Melt butter, brown sugar and golden syrup together in
Salted Butter, chopped a saucepan, stirring until smooth. Cool slightly.
• ¹/³ cup (75 g) firmly packed 2. Whisk the egg and butter mixture in a large bowl. Sift the flour,
brown sugar spices and bicarbonate of soda over the butter mixture and
• ¹/³ cup (80 mL) golden syrup mix until combined into a smooth dough. Flatten into a disc
• 1 egg shape, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour or
until just firm.
• 2½ cups (375 g) plain flour
• 1 tablespoon ground ginger 3. Preheat oven to 180°C / 160°C fan-forced. Line two baking
trays with baking paper. Divide dough in half. Roll each half
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon between sheets of baking paper until 5mm thick. Place on
• ¼ teaspoon ground cloves baking trays and bake for 10-12 minutes.
• 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
NOTES
• If you want to make gingerbread men or other Christmas
shapes, simply use a cookie cutter to cut out shapes from
gingerbread dough prior to baking.

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GINGERBREAD
HOUSE
Prep 2 hours (plus 1 hour chilling and setting time) | Cook 15 mins  
Serves 10-12 | Difficulty Easy

INGREDIENTS
GINGERBREAD • 6 pretzels
• 1 x quantity of Basic Gingerbread • 1 red edible decorating star
(see recipe p 6), made to end of Step 2 • 2 candy canes
ROYAL ICING • 6 Strawberry-flavoured liquorice twists
• 4 egg whites • Desiccated coconut, to decorate board
• 8 cups pure icing • Icing sugar, to dust
sugar, sifted
DECORATIONS
• Red candy-covered
chocolates
• 2 red sour straps

Step-by-step
RECIPE VIDEO
CLICK HERE

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GINGERBREAD
HOUSE
Prep 2 hours (plus 1 hour chilling and setting time) | Cook 15 mins  
Serves 10-12 | Difficulty Easy

TEMPLATES
1. Download paper templates for gingerbread 6. Using royal icing, attach the door onto the
house and cut out each piece: two 13 cm x front wall beneath the pretzel window. Add the
18 cm rectangles for the roof, two 10 cm x edible red heart, securing with a dab of royal
15 cm rectangles for the side walls, and two icing. And pipe a little royal icing over the top of
10 cm x 18 cm rectangles for the front and back the door to resemble fallen snow.
walls. Trim corners of front and back walls to 7. Once the individual pieces have dried, it’s time
make two 10 cm gables. Cut the door shape. to put it all together. Assemble the house on
METHOD wooden board, securing roof and walls together
with the royal icing. Use royal icing to attach the
2. Preheat oven to 180°C / 160°C fan-forced.
candy cane and the liquorice twists on either
Roll out chilled gingerbread dough, in several
side of the front of the house.
batches, between sheets of baking paper until
5mm thick. Use templates to cut shapes from 8. Finish decorating the eaves with royal icing to
dough. Carefully transfer shapes to baking look like fallen snow. Dust the board around the
paper lined baking trays. Bake for 10-12 house with desiccated coconut and the entire
minutes. Stand on trays for 5 minutes before house with icing sugar.
transferring to wire racks to cool. NOTES
3. Meanwhile, make royal icing. Beat egg whites • You need the icing quite thick when attaching
until foamy, then gradually beat in icing sugar and assembling the house, but if it’s too thick
until piping consistency. when adding final decorations, you can thin it
4. Spoon some icing into a piping bag fitted with with a little water.
a small star-shaped nozzle. Pipe a lattice pattern • The house can be assembled up to 5 days ahead,
onto the roof pieces. Decorate with the red keep covered in a cool dry place.
candy-covered chocolates. Allow to set.
5. To make the pretzel stain-glass windows, cut out
pieces of the red sour straps to fit the pretzel
shape. Assemble and attach one each of these
using royal icing onto the front and back walls
and two each onto the side walls. Allow to set.

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GINGERBREAD
STAR TREES
Prep 1 hour (plus 1 hour chilling time) | Cook 15 mins  
  Makes 4 | Difficulty Easy

INGREDIENTS
GINGERBREAD DECORATIONS
• 1 x quantity of Basic Gingerbread • Hundreds and Thousands
(see recipe p 6), made to end of Step 2 • Red ready-to-roll fondant
TOOLS
• Star cutter set to include: 4 cm, 6 cm, 7 cm,
8 cm and 9 cm cutters
ROYAL ICING
• 4 egg whites
• 8 cups pure icing sugar, sifted

Step-by-step
RECIPE VIDEO
CLICK HERE
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GINGERBREAD
STAR TREES
Prep 1 hour (plus 1 hour chilling time) | Cook 15 mins  
  Makes 4 | Difficulty Easy

METHOD
1. Divide chilled gingerbread dough in half. Roll 7. Assemble trees by joining each star offsetting
each half between sheets of baking paper until slightly with another same-sized star. Continue
5 mm thick. stacking with the stars grading from the largest
2. Preheat oven to 180°C / 160°C fan forced. Line at the bottom reducing in star size as you stack
baking trays with baking paper. until you have 4 trees.
3. Using the cookie cutters, cut eight stars for each 8. Top each tree with the red fondant stars standing
cutter size (4 cm, 6 cm, 7 cm, 8 cm, 9 cm stars) upright. If you have any royal icing remaining,
from dough. You will have 40 stars in total. Cut add a little bit of the icing to the tips of some of
out an extra four x 4 cm stars to use to top the the stars to look like snow dripping off the tree.
tree. Transfer stars to prepared trays. You will NOTES
need to re-roll the dough several times to get
• This is based on a standard star cutter set available
the correct number of stars. Bake stars for
10-12 minutes. Cool on trays. from most good kitchenware stores.
4. Meanwhile, make royal icing. Beat egg white TIP
until foamy then gradually beat in icing sugar • If you feel like your stars aren’t going to hold or
until smooth and spreadable. are leaning dramatically, dab a little royal icing to
5. Reserve 4 of the 4 cm stars and set aside. For the base of each star to help it stick.
the remaining stars, working with one star at
a time, spread with royal icing and dip into
a bowl containing hundreds and thousands.
Set aside to set.
6. While the iced stars are setting, roll out the
fondant to 1 cm thick. Using the 4 cm star
cutter, cut out 4 fondant stars. Attach them
to the reserved 4 cm gingerbread stars with
a little royal icing. Set aside.

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 STAR TREE
TEMPLATES

6CM
4CM

7CM 8CM

9CM
 Star Tip
The roc
keep in ky road will
containan airtight
er
to 5 da for up
ys.

Step-by-step
RECIPE VIDEO
CLICK HERE
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er c l ass
Ma st

GINGERBREAD
ROCKY ROAD
Prep 40 mins (2 hours chilling) | Cook 20 mins
Makes 20 | Difficulty Easy

INGREDIENTS METHOD
GINGERBREAD 1. Grease a 3 cm-deep, 20 cm x 30 cm (base) slice pan and
• 1 x quantity of baked Basic line base and sides with baking paper, extending 3 cm
Gingerbread (see recipe p 6) over long sides.
2. Break 350 g (approx. 2 cups) of the cooked gingerbread into
ROCK ROAD
bite-sized pieces. Combine broken up gingerbread, coconut,
• ²/³ cup shredded coconut, toasted marshmallows and lollies in a large bowl.
• 280 g packet pink and white 3. Cut small triangles, about 6 cm high, from the remaining
marshmallows, halved gingerbread and set aside.
• 190 g packet raspberry lollies,
4. Place chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan
halved
of simmering water (make sure the base of the bowl doesn’t
• 700 g good-quality dark touch the water). Stir until chocolate has melted. Remove bowl
chocolate, chopped from the pan.
• 40 g Western Star Original Salted 5. Pour melted chocolate over the gingerbread mixture. Using
Butter, chopped a spatula, mix until combined. Spread gingerbread mixture
into prepared pan. Carefully press the gingerbread triangles
upright into the mixture, adding a little extra of the melted
dark chocolate mixture to cement the triangles into place if
needed. Refrigerate for 1 hour or until set. Cut rocky road
into pieces. Serve.

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BAKING TIPS
MAKE-AHEAD MAGIC TAKE TIME TO CHILL
Get ahead before the silly It’s important to keep the dough
season hits. You can make the chilled so that it’s firm enough to
Basic Gingerbread dough up to roll out and cut. If you’re working
the end of Step 2, but instead of with one portion of gingerbread
refrigerating, keep dough in the dough, make sure the remaining
freezer for up to 3 months. dough is wrapped and kept
refrigerated.

JUST ADD WATER KEEP-SAKE

When putting your gingerbread house Baked, un-iced gingerbread
together, the icing should be smooth will keep in an airtight
but thick. If you want it slightly thinner container for up to a week.
for adding the final decorating touches If any moisture is present the
to the house, just thin with a little water. gingerbread will soften.

Learn more about cooking with Western Star Butter

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