• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • twigg studios

    a british baking blog

    • Home
    • BLOG
    • WORKSHOPS
    • SHOP
    • PORTFOLIO
    • Contact
    • hire me
    • ABOUT ME
    • NEWSLETTER
    December 16, 2018

    Gingerbread town house cake and Polders old world market dreamware giveaway

    baking, cake, recipe

    Today I bring you two great things, A recipe for this spiced cake with a little London town house made out of gingerbread on top and a giveaway for some beautiful pieces of dreamware from old world market
    The giveaway Is open to the USA and UK (to enter scroll down to find the link). They are a family run business in virginia usa, each piece of dreamware is carved on their farm. They are traditionally handcrafted from the finest hardwoods, and dreamware is the heart and soul of Old World Kitchen.
    I really loved making this cake. It was so fun making the gingerbread house, it made me feel so Christmassy I want it to be a new tradition in our house.
    I don’t know about you but I feel like I need to extra Christmas spirit at the moment, normally I am like buddy the elf and really excited but this year, for some reason I am not as excited as normal and I feel so unprepared.
    I added some candied stem ginger and some chopped up stem ginger in syrup as well as ground ginger spice so its full of ginger, I love ginger it is so fiery and full of flavour.





    here are some of the beautiful dreamware pieces you could win. you can pick your own to the value of $350 to enter head over to my Instagram here

    I have been thinking about this cake for a while and adapted a gingerbread house template in a book I have to make it small enough to sit on the cake.

    recipe
    For the sponge
    330g unsalted butter at room temperature
    200g caster sugar
    130g soft light brown sugar
    6 eggs
    330g self raising flour
    1 and 1/2 tbsp. cinnamon
    2 tsp ginger
    1/2 tsp ground clove
    1/2 tsp ground star anise
    2 tbsp milk
    1/2 cup candied ginger chopped
    3 pieces of stem ginger in syrup, chopped (I used a jar of opies stem ginger)
    1/4 cup syrup from the jar of stem ginger

    for the frosting
    300ml double cream
    300g cream cheese (like mascarpone or Philadelphia)
    100g icing sugar
    150g dark muscovado sugar
    1 tsp cinnamon (plus more to your taste if desired)
    for the sponge
    Preheat the oven to 160c
    Grease and line 3 11cm tins and set aside.
    In a stand mixer with the balloon whisk attachment cream together the butter and sugar for 5 minutes then stop the mixer and scrape around the sides of the bowl with a spatula and mix again for two minutes, add one egg and mix at high speed for 2 minutes then add the next one and continue this process of leaving 2 to 3 minutes between adding each egg.
    Remove the bowl and sift in the flour and cinnamon, ginger, clove and star anise and fold in with a spatula add 2 tbsp of milk and the ginger syrup and fold in to loosen the mixture, then fold in the chopped ginger.
    Separate between the 3 tins and spread out with a spatula then place in the oven and bake for approx. 25 /30 minutes until golden and puffed up.
    Let the cakes cool.
    To make the frosting add the cream, cream cheese icing sugar, dark muscovado sugar and cinnamon in a mixing bowl and whip until smooth.
    To assemble the cake spread on some of the frosting then continue with each layer.
    Top with gingerbread house. (recipe below)

    Gingerbread cookies
    3 cups plain flour
    1/2 tsp salt
    1 and a half tsp ground ginger
    1 tbsp. cinnamon
    1/4 ground cloves
    1/4 tsp ground anise
    1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
    6 tbsp. unsalted butter
    3/4 cup dark brown sugar
    1/3 cup golden syrup
    1/3 cup molasses
    2 tsp vanilla extract
    grate zest from one orange
    2 tbsp. milk

    preheat the oven to 160c fan
    cream the butter and sugar together in a stand mixer, then add the egg and beat again. Scrape around the bowl with a spatula. Add molasses, vanilla and golden syrup. grate the zest from one orange.
    mix the flour, salt and spices together and mix in. Add the milk to bind the dough (if you find its to dry).
    knead together and cover and let rest.
    lightly flour surface and tip out dough and roll in flour so its not to sticky to work with place a quarter of the dough between two sheets of baking paper and roll out thinly, cut into shape and bake pieces for around 8/10 minutes (smaller pieces will take less time)
    I adapted the template from a gingerbread book I have and I was going to share it but my scanner is not working to upload it, don’t worry as I have checked on google and there are loads of templates to choose from available.



    Notes
    I made the windows out of sheets of gelatine.
    I placed a battery powdered candle inside.
    I used rosemary for the trees

    Good luck with the giveaway

    You might also like

    • blood orange earl grey and cardamom bun

    • Beetroot thoran and keralan paratha

    • gingerbread rose cottage

      Gingerbread cottage template

    cake, christmas, cinnamon, ginger, gingerbread, gingerbread house, giveaway, holidays

    SIGN UP TO GET MY NEWSLETTER

    Reader Interactions

    OLDER
    NEWER

    8 Comments

    1. Ruth Miranda says

      December 17, 2018 at 9:31 am

      I can’t even!! The house is to die for, so so so cute!!

      • Aimee says

        December 18, 2018 at 12:47 am

        Thank you so much Ruth I’m so happy you like it xxx

    2. Veronika says

      January 4, 2019 at 7:39 am

      Hi, Aimee
      Thanks for sharing your post here. I love to read your post looking for some interesting recipes online. Keep sharing & Keep it up.

      • gd_support says

        January 9, 2019 at 11:07 pm

        thank you

    3. Jameswek says

      March 4, 2019 at 11:39 am

      3 Ways to Last Longer in Bed: http://to.ht/investcrypto74557

    4. Moo says

      July 22, 2019 at 2:32 am

      Beautiful Page.I so love looking at your photos and the milk bread is my favorite recipe. Thank you for sharing!

      • twiggstiudios says

        July 26, 2019 at 7:57 pm

        thank you x

    5. Rebekah says

      October 14, 2019 at 3:02 am

      I love this cake so much! That was a fun giveaway.. 🙂

      xx, Rebekah

    Primary Sidebar

    Hi there, I'm Aimee

    A food and photography lover. Welcome to Twigg studios. If you would like to find out more about me then head to my bio.

    LOOKING FOR SOMETHING?

    Sign up for my free visual storytelling guide

    Categories

    • baking (69)
    • cake (25)
    • dinner (12)
    • pasta (10)
    • photography (1)
    • recipe (172)
    • sweet (44)
    • tips (6)
    • Travel (6)
    • Uncategorized (827)

    On the cover of Where woman cook

    Visit Twiggstudios's profile on Pinterest.

    Recent Posts

    • A weekend at The lost music hall with Unique homestays
    • Beetroot rose tart
    • Chimney cakes Kürtöskalács
    • Gingerbread choux bun wreath
    • Brown butter gingerbread and edible cookie box

    Instagram Slider

    • Sharing an old photo from a few years ago in Provence, because I like it. Such fond memories of that week. That floor was crying out to be photographed. I love anything lemon flavoured, it’s such a delicious fruit. It’s one of my favourite things to bake with. Citrus season is so colourful, I’m sad it’s almost coming to an end. What is your favourite citrus fruit? I have a few beautiful Sicilian lemons at the moment, I’m going to use them to remake the cheesecake to check my recipe. The last one got demolished so quickly. I hope you
    • Back in March we had a little weekend escape with @uniquehomestays We stayed at “the lost music hall” hidden in the south hams valley in Devon. Forgotten for years it had been reclaimed by nature, before being lovingly restored. The music room, complete with its very own Piano takes up the whole of the bottom floor. The house was enormous, I felt quite tiny wondering around it. The place was absolutely beautiful. Oak parquet floors and panelled walls gleam from the sun coming through the large windrows. You know I love a kitchen, what do you think of this one?
    • An old shot from this time a few years ago. I’m so excited that the warm spring sunshine is back, as in the evening the light is so beautiful. It makes the most mundane of things like this amaretto biscotti dough look magical. I find that I am exhausted by the time it’s shining perfectly on the table recently though. Hopefully I will have the opportunity to create with it soon as I love harsh light. Pablo has got into the habit of waking me up at a silly time in the morning. By the evening I feel like I
    • Have you been busy in the kitchen making any Easter themed bakes? I wish I had chance to make some more delicious breads like this Ukrainian paska bread and some more flowery hot cross buns (swipe to see them), but I have been dog sitting this weekend. I did get to enjoy a shop bought hot cross bun for good Friday yesterday though. It’s been so lovely to see all your flowery hot cross buns. I had wanted to attempt baking some other European Easter breads on the lead up to Easter, there are so many. l wanted to try
    • I hope you are having a relaxing weekend. This photo from a few weeks ago sums up my Sunday mood. Lounging around eating yummy things. I spent yesterday making a new recipe video, I will share it tomorrow. It involves roasted strawberries and creme fraiche. I’m quite excited about it, it feels a bit different to my other videos. I must admit that I am enjoying learning something new. I steered clear of video for so long. I still have so much to learn but it’s nice to try new things, even if posting it here is like posting into
    • An old photo from a trip to puglia a few years ago. I’m sharing it again today as I had a dream about it last night. In it I was there eating Taralli. Those little crackers are so addictive, have you tried them? Most of my dreams involve food I have eaten or want to eat. My jaw hit the floor when walked into this place. I especially loved this corner. that beautiful sink and the curved ceilings!. I have a bit of a soft spot for kitchens and I thought you might enjoy seeing it as well. This kitchen
    • I have not baked a cake since Christmas, it seems very unlike me. I used to make lots of cakes. I thought you might miss seeing them so here’s one of my favourites I made with @her_dark_materials a while ago. I loved how pretty it was with the wild strawberries from her garden. Ros shared her photo of it again the other day and I thought I would do the same. I really fancy baking one, especially now British strawberries are coming into season. It will probably be something smaller though as it’s just the two of us. I have
    • I haven’t made Ukrainian paska bread before, but I have seen it shared at Easter time each year and thought how delicious it looked. Often it is made in tall deep tins, but I don’t have any tins like that. I saw some smaller braided ones online, so I decided to give that a go. My attempt reminds me of a basket. The dough is similar to a broiche and is made with milk, eggs, butter and sugar. This loaf is flavoured with orange and sultanas that I soaked in the orange juice. It smelt so wonderful baking in the
    • Elderflowers infusing in milk from my last recipe. I had originally planned to make a panna cotta with it, but then changed my mind and did the clafoutis. A few of you asked questions about what you can do with elderflowers so here are some suggestions. You can make a cordial or syrup, this is the most popular thing to make. It’s really easy, you will find lots of recipes for it online. The cordial can be used in so many things. It would be hard to list them all but here are a few. To flavour cakes, frostings, bakes.
    • An old favourite from last year at @her_dark_materials house. I can’t wait to go and visit again. Ros has the most beautiful garden full of borage. It’s always a joy to cook with it. I love it’s pretty shape and colour. I haven’t baked or photographed much recently so I have nothing new to share. I had planned to make a carrot cake but the time seemed to disappear. I feel a bit lost at the moment and don’t know what to share on here. I have enjoyed experimenting with video, but I feel confused what part of a recipe
    • I have been eating as much wild garlic as I can while the season lasts. It’s such a yummy addition to most of the meals I have been making. I just chop a handful up and add it in. I need to go back and visit this spot with my camera and get another photo as it’s in flower now and looks really beautiful. I usually love to make a pie with it, so that’s my next plan. The flavour gets less intense once it has flowered so you might find you need to add more. I collected a big
    • Pablo waiting for his cheese dog biscuits. My brothers dog Ralph came to stay over Easter, so on Sunday we made dog biscuits together. I couldn’t get a photo of them both together as they were moving around too much I thought it might end up in disaster but it was really fun. The recipe I used was from @theartoftreat beautiful treat book. it is full of really fun recipes for dogs. I have been wanting to bake from it since Natalia kindly sent me a copy. I highly recommend it, These biscuits were a big hit with them and
    • The last slice. Lemon meringue cheesecake recipe. Base 200g digestive biscuits (or any you like) 75g butter, plus a little for the tin Cheesecake layer 250g mascarpone 200g cream cheese 90g double cream 2 eggs 2 yolks (save egg whites for meringue in a clean bowl) 80g caster sugar Zest of 1 lemon 1 tsp Vanilla bean paste Curd Topping Juice of 2 lemons Zest of one 1 whole egg 1 yolk 65g caster sugar 45g butter Pinch of salt Meringue (approx) 60 egg white 120 g caster sugar Line a 20cm springform cake tin Preheat the oven to 180c
    • Making some pasta and had to take a moment to appreciate these beautiful eggs. I love all the different colour shells. The sun is out today and it’s wonderful, it really feels like spring. I hope you are having a wonderful week. #eggs #seasonalsimplicity #flatlaystyle #still_life_gallery #hautecuisines #foodfluffer #foodphotography #onvtable #f52grams #bonappetit
    • Elderflower season. I love their heady musky scent. I always look forward to this time of year. I went out and picked a basket of them yesterday and I have been baking with them today. I was inspired to take some quick photos of them in the basket. There are so many things that you can do make them. I will share the recipe of what I made soon. I did a video for it, but it takes me forever to edit as my computer is so slow I hope that you will have a lovely weekend. #elderflowers #basketbythedoor #edibleflowers
    • British Strawberries, Toile de Jouy and a funky plate I found for £2.50 in a charity shop. The beginnings of a vin santo and strawberry parfait/tiramisu number. I hope your week is going well. #strawberries #seasonalsimplicity #flatlatfood #toiledejouy #hauecuisines #foodfluffer
    • I baked this lemon meringue topped mascarpone cheesecake at the weekend, and I have to say it was so delicious, I ate quite a few slices. It was so light and airy and the tartness of the lemon curd on the top went so well with the creamy mascarpone cheesecake layer. I can’t wait to share the recipe, but I will make it again just to check that I have the quantities and timings right. It’s a baked cheesecake, but a really easy one, baked at a low temperature. I thought I would try a different shot than usual, it
    • I scrolled back and realised I hadn’t shared my frankendessert from the other week. A science experiment really, A cheesecake baked inside a pavlova. I wanted to see if it was possible Turns out it is, but I need to work out a few creases. Apparently it’s world baking day, I had no idea until a moment ago. There are so many different days for things it’s hard to keep up . Though to be honest, I wasn’t actually sure what day of the week it was until a moment ago either. I thought it was Wednesday . I didn’t
    • Leek and potato Galette experiment for dinner the other day. I wasn’t really sure how this would pan out, but it was a yummy one. It was prettier in my imagination than in real life though. It was a nutty walnut pastry (I need to work on that as my recipe is better baked in a tin as it’s really short and crumbly) with a layer of cheesy béchamel sauce. then I cooked the leeks in some sage butter, and sautéed the thinly sliced potato with some leek and garlic and arranged them on top like a flowers. then baked
    • Hope you had an ‘egg’cellent weekend. sorry I couldn’t help myself. It’s a bank holiday here in the U.K. so I spent the afternoon at the beach with my brothers and our dogs. I’m exhausted now, it must be the sea air. I hope your week has started well. I thought I would dig this old photo out from a few years ago when I was in Australia with @georgie_dolling and @joefilshie #easter #still_life_nature #still_life_gallery #seasonalsimplicity #chasinglight #eggs #lifeandthyme #verilymoment #springtime #naturephotography
    • E-mail
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter

    LOOKING FOR SOMETHING?

    Visit Twiggstudios's profile on Pinterest.

    Recent Posts

    • A weekend at The lost music hall with Unique homestays
    • Beetroot rose tart
    • Chimney cakes Kürtöskalács
    • Gingerbread choux bun wreath
    • Brown butter gingerbread and edible cookie box

    HELP

    • HOME
    • ABOUT ME
    • CONTACT ME
    Get in the know.
    Sign up with your email address to receive news and updates.
    As a welcome you will receive my presentation on visual storytelling
    Thank you for subscribing!

    INFO

    • E-mail Me

    twigg studios © 2023 - DESIGNED BY HERPARK STUDIO