Frohe Weihnachten! Part 5: Gingerbread Village Cake

Want a showstopping centre piece, but you're not a fan of traditional Christmas fruit cake? Here I present to you a Gingerbread Village Cake, in our fifth and final installment of my German-style biscuits series.

A delicious and mildly spicy golden syrup sponge, smothered in cream cheese icing, and decorated with gingerbread gables and a little gingerbread house, this is definitely a treat. However, it's not difficult to make: of course, there are a few steps, but none of them is a challenge.

This is a nice bit of fusion cuisine: a golden syrup sponge, of course, is not a very German style confection. Also, this particular style of gingerbread is very English: German gingerbread, known as lebkuchen, has a much much higher proportion of sugar to fat than its English cousin. Some recipes may only contain a few tablespoons of butter to half a pound of flour.

This cake stays beautifully moist for several days, just make sure it's well wrapped and airtight.

INGREDIMENTS

For one eight inch (20 centimetre) round cake

3 medium (US large) eggs

3 ounces (85 grammes) brown sugar

3 ounces (85 grammes) golden syrup

1½ ounces (40 grammes) sunflower oil
1½ ounces (40 grammes) melted butter

3 fluid ounces (85 millilitres) black tea, or warm water

6 ounces (170 grammes) plain white flour: spelt, wheat, or gluten-free

¾ teaspoon (4 millilitres) baking soda

2 teaspoons (10 millitres) ground cinnamon

2 (10 millilitres) ground ginger

Gingerbread Village dough

4 ounces (115 grammes) salted butter

4 ounces (115 grammes) soft brown sugar

2 ounces (55 grammes) golden syrup, warmed

1 medium (US large) egg

8 ounces (225 grammes) plain white flour: spelt, white, or gluten-free
 ½ teaspoon (3 millilitres) baking soda

2 teaspoons (10 millilitres) ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon (5 millilitres) ground ginger

¼ teaspoon (1 millilitre) ground cloves

To decorate

1¼ pounds (570 grammes) cream cheese icing
Sweets
Desiccated coconut
Icing sugar, for dusting

~ ^_^ ~

METHOD

First, make the biscuits

• In a saucepan, melt the golden syrup, sugar, and butter over medium-high while stirring. Once it starts to bubble, take it off the heat and allow to cool.
• Once cool, beat in the egg. Sieve in the dry ingredients with a wooden spoon and stir until there is no more dry flour visible.
• Pour the mixture onto a sheet of cling film, and wrap well. Chill in the fridge for at least 2 hours, preferably overnight.
• When you're ready to cook, preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F, Gas Mk.4) and line two baking trays with non-stick paper.
• On a floured surface, roll the dough out to just under a quarter-inch (4 millimetres) and cut into one small gingerbread house, and using the rest make some gingerbread house-fronts. I freehand all my gingerbread house pieces and house-fronts, but if you have templates, you can use that.
• Bake the biscuits for 8 to 10 minutes, depending on how soft or crunchy you like your gingerbread. Once cooked, cool completely on a wire rack.

Secondly, make the cake

• Preheat the oven to 170C, and grease the bottom of an eight inch (20 centimetre) round tin and line with non-stick baking paper. Leave the sides ungreased to help the cake rise.
• In a jug, melt the butter, golden syrup, and oil in the microwave on Defrost. You don't want it hot, just melted.
• Separate the eggs, putting the whites into a large roomy bowl with a pinch of salt, and mix the yolks into the jug of butter and syrup. 
• Whip the egg whites with an electric mixer on medium speed until the eggs have soft peaks. Gradually whip in the brown sugar, bit by bit, until you have firm peaks.
• Take a spoonful of the meringue and stir into the jug to lighten the mixture. Pour this back into the meringue and fold through gently with a balloon whisk or a metal spoon.
• Sieve in the flour, baking soda, spices, and a pinch of salt in two additions, alternating with the tea (or warm water). Fold the mixture thoroughly until you have a nice, flowing batter.
• Pour into the tin and make on the centre shelf for 45 minutes to an hour, or until nice and springy to the touch, and a skewer poked into the centre of the cake comes out clean.

Now, assemble the masterpiece

• Use some icing to assemble the gingerbread house: I decorated mine with mini Smarties and some desiccated coconut.
• Slice the cake in half, keeping the dome. Sandwich and coat the cake with icing, keeping the dome on top.
• Arrange the gingerbread house-fronts around the edge of the cake and secure with a bit of twine while it sets. Place the house on top of the cake.
• Allow the whole cake to set before serving, about an hour.