Festive Gingerbread Chocolate House

Makes 1 house

Hands-on time: 3 hours

Hands-off time: 1 hour

INGREDIENTS

4 slabs (150g each) Cadbury Dairy Milk Festive Gingerbread Chocolate

1 slab (150g) Cadbury Dairy Milk Milk Chocolate

6 slabs (150g each) Cadbury Dream Cinnamon Crunch Chocolate

1 packet (200g) Cadbury Whispers Snowballs

1 box (150g) Cadbury Astros

1 bar (32g) Cadbury Dipped Flake

3 tbsp fine desiccated coconut

*Microwave cooking times may vary due to wattage; use the timings below as a guide.

METHOD

1. Place 2 slabs of Cadbury Dairy Milk Festive Gingerbread Chocolates vertically on a cutting board. Slice off the top 3 rows from each slab. Trim the 2 shortened slabs by placing the tip of the knife at the centre of the top of the slab and cut down at a 45°angle to the edge of the last block of the second row from the top. Repeat the process on the other side to form a neat triangle shape at the top of the slab. Repeat with the second slab, ensuring that the cuts are very similar. These will be the front and back panels of the house. *Chef’s Tip: For easy cutting, dip the blade of a large knife in hot water and dry before using.

2. Unwrap 2 more slabs of the Cadbury Dairy Milk Festive Gingerbread and set aside with the front and back walls. These will be the side walls.

3. Break the slab of Cadbury Dairy Milk Chocolate into cubes. Place the chocolate in a heatproof bowl and microwave in 30 second intervals, stirring until smooth. *Chefs tips: For testing we used a 700W microwave. Transfer the melted chocolate to a piping bag with a fine tip. This chocolate will be used as the glue to hold the house together. *Chef’s Tip: Use a small resealable bag with its tip cut off to pipe the chocolate.

4. Neatly, line a large baking tray with baking paper.

5. Working on the baking tray, form the first section of walls by turning one of the side walls over on the baking tray. Pipe melted chocolate on the back of the slab along the short side. Pipe some chocolate on the side of the front panel. Place it with the blocks-side facing out, on the edge of the short side of the big slab to stick together and form an L-shape. Hold it in place until the melted chocolate has set. Repeat with the other side wall and back panel to create a second L-shape that will fit with the first L to form a rectangular shape.

6. Join the 2 L-shapes by neatly piping some chocolate on the edges of the short sides on both and lay them against each other to form a rectangle. Pipe some extra chocolate on the inside corners where the walls were joined to secure. Allow to stand and set for 20 minutes until hard.

7. To form the roof, pipe some chocolate along the edges of the top of the house and lay 2 slabs of Cadbury Dream Cinnamon Crunch Chocolate on top to form a triangular roof. Keep in place for about 5 minutes until it sits firmly.

8. Cut off 2 adjacent rows of the another slab of Cadbury Dream Cinnamon Crunch so that there are 2 rows of 4 squares next to each other. Cut off the top 2 squares to form the door.

9. Cut off 2 more adjacent rows of the slab to form 2 rows of 4 squares next to each other. Cut it in half to form 2 uniform squares. These will be the windows on the side of the house.

10. Pipe some chocolate on the back of the ‘door’ and stick it on the front of the house.

11. Pipe some chocolate on the back of the 2 square windows and place one on each of the sides of the house.

12. Pipe some chocolate across the length of the top of the roof and decorate with the Cadbury Whispers Snowballs by arranging them on top.

13. Pipe melted chocolate on the back of some Cadbury Astros and stick them, one-by-one, on the edge of the roof on the front and back panels as decorations.

14. Stick a Cadbury Astro on the door as a doorknob, using the melted chocolate as the glue. Decorate underneath the windows to form window sills, by sticking more Astros in a colourful arrangement.

15. Using a small serrated knife, carefully slice off ⅓ of the Cadbury Dipped Flake by cutting it diagonally to form the chimney. Pipe some chocolate on the base of the sliced Flake and stick it onto the roof to form the chimney. Hold in place for a few minutes to secure. Dip a Cadbury Whispers Snowball in some melted chocolate and secure on top of the chimney to form the chimney smoke.

16. Allow the chocolate house to firm up in a cool place for about 1 hour.

17. To make a Christmas tree, take one of the chunks of chocolate removed in step 1 and cut it into a triangle. To do this, place the chunk of chocolate, blocks-side facing up, horizontally on a chopping board so that you have 4 rows of chocolate from top to bottom. Starting from the second block on the top row, cut down from its centre to the outside corner of the first block in the bottom row. Repeat with the other side. Decorate the tree with Astros glued on with the melted chocolate.

18. To make 2 snowmen, cut a thin slice off the base of 2 large Cadbury Whispers Snowballs so that they can stand upright. Stick a smaller Snowball on each, using some melted chocolate as glue and set aside to firm up.

19. Place the 3 remaining Cadbury Dream Cinnamon Crunch slabs with the blocks-side facing up, on a serving platter. Carefully, place the chocolate house on top and allow some space in front of the house for adding the remaining decorations. Dust with a bit of desiccated coconut.

20. Assemble the Christmas tree in front of the house by piping some melted chocolate on the bottom of the tree and sticking it onto the chocolate base while standing upright. Hold it in place for a few minutes. Cut the remaining Flake into thirds and assemble it next to the house as firewood. Add the 2 snowmen and scatter some Snowballs around the house.

21. Serve the chocolate gingerbread house as a showstopper dessert and ENJOY! *Chef’s Tip: Store any leftover chocolate in an airtight container and use it chopped up in your favourite cookie batter or melt and drizzle over ice cream!

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