Gingerbread town house cake and Polders old world market dreamware giveaway

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