Gingerbread Soldiers in Sentry Boxes

This is my take on a traditional gingerbread house. I was inspired by A. A. Milne’s poem, Buckingham Palace, and the reference to a sentry box. The gingerbread is delightfully crisp and gingery. It is important not to roll the dough too thickly, as the pieces will be too heavy, and the sentry box will not hold together.

Makes 3 sentry boxes and 12 soldiers FOR THE GINGERBREAD

125g butter, at room temperature

90g loosely packed light brown sugar

200g golden syrup or thick honey

375g plain flour

1 teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda

2 teaspoons ground ginger

1 teaspoon mixed spice

FOR THE ICING

210g sifted icing sugar 1 free-range egg white ½ teaspoon fresh lemon juice Red, black and/or blue natural food colouring (optional) 1 Line 2 large baking trays with non-stick baking paper or silicone mats.

2 To make the gingerbread, combine butter and brown sugar in a food processor until pale and creamy. Add golden syrup, flour, bicarbonate of soda, ginger and mixed spice and process until a smooth dough forms.

3 Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and roll out 3mm thick. Using the template (right), cut out enough pieces for 3 sentry boxes. Carefully lift the pieces onto a prepared tray. Gather up the scraps, press together, reroll and cut out 12 soldiers using a cookie cutter.

Lift them onto a prepared tray. Place the trays in the fridge for 20 minutes to chill. Preheat the oven to 165°C (Gas mark 3).

4 Bake the gingerbread for 8-10 minutes until golden, keeping a careful watch, as the smaller pieces will cook more quickly than the larger ones and will need to be removed sooner.

5 Leave to cool on the trays on wire racks for 5 minutes, then transfer the pieces to the racks and leave to cool completely.

6 While the gingerbread is baking, make the icing. In a bowl, using an electric mixer, beat together the icing sugar, egg white and lemon juice for 4-5 minutes on high speed until fluffy.

7 To build the sentry boxes, spoon about one-third of the icing into a piping bag fitted with a plain writing nozzle no bigger than 3mm.

8 To assemble the sentry boxes, start by piping a stripe of icing down the left and right edge of each front panel of the sentry boxes. Secure a side panel onto either side of the front panel, using the icing to secure it. Repeat the process for the back panel, piping a stripe of icing down the left and right edge and manoeuvre it between the side panels, using the icing to secure it. Leave the icing to harden for 10-15 minutes before piping a stripe of icing on the underside of each roof panel along the shorter edges. Attach to the top of the sentry box and leave for 30 minutes to harden. Finish by decorating as desired with more of the icing.

9 If you wish to decorate the soldiers with icings in different colours, divide the remaining icing into as many small bowls as colours you want to use. Stir enough food colouring into each bowl to achieve the shade you like. For each colour, spoon the icing into a piping bag fitted with a 3-mm plain or star nozzle. Or spoon each icing into a small plastic bag, twist the top closed and cut off a bottom corner. Decorate the soldiers and sentry boxes as you like, perhaps adding facial features and a jacket, trousers and a hat to the soldiers and decorative details to the sentry boxes.