Chocolate Gingerbread Houses - a Twist on a Christmas Tradition

Christmas traditions - we all have them. My earliest memory of our Christmas traditions was when I was only about 3 years old. My mom would make the most amazing gingerbread houses ever. We would sit and watch the beginning stages of the house being built, with the rest of the decorating being carried out while we were in bed sleeping.  We would wake up the next morning in amazement at the sugary creation decked out with royal icing snow and icicles, spearmint leaf trees and candy cane sleds.  We always knew that we weren't allowed to touch or eat the house until after Christmas.  But I guess my parents never told our babysitter that, because one night they came home from a party and she'd torn off the gingerbread shutters, and eaten a spearmint tree or two.  And guess who got the blame.......

It seems like over the past few years gingerbread houses have become increasingly popular in the UK.  The first time I made one in the UK four years ago most of my friends had never even seen one before and they all just asked me why I made it.  Um, because it's fun!  And it's tradition!  Gingerbread kits have been increasing in popularity each year here, and there's some really good ones out this year.  By far the coolest one I've seen isn't even really a kit.  It's a mould.  A chocolate mould!  This year Lakeland has released a super cool mould that allows you to make a gingerbread house entirely out of chocolate.  No baking required.  Just melt your chocolate, pour and wait until it's set before "gluing" your house together with some more melted chocolate.  

Next comes the best part - the decorating!  My favourite part of building any gingerbread house (chocolate or the cookie kind) is the decorating.  I love shopping for all the different types of candy, and although I do prefer my old favourites from North America (traditional ribbon candy, spearmint trees and life savers), I have also discovered some wonderful traditional UK sweets that have made my house look amazing.  I especially loved the pink and white marshmallow twists called Flumps, which I used for the peak of the roof, chimney and window boxes.

I'm so pleased with the way my chocolate house turned out.  I used pieces of strawberry Moam for the roof tiles, Jelly Tots for the christmas lights, Flumps for the roof peak, chimeny and window boxes, Dolly Mix for the fence and light posts, Millions for the pathwaym and also some mini Chuppa Chups for an extra bit of decoration.  The icicles and snow are made from white chocolate.

My only word of caution with this gingerbread house mould is that it does require a lot of chocolate.  1.2kg to be exact.  But the good thing is that the mould can also be used to bake your traditional gingerbread cookies in as well.  So if you'd rather not have a house made of chocolate, then you can always go the more traditional route using your favourite gingerbread recipe. 

Thanks to Lakeland for providing this fabulous gingerbread mould. 

Also, thanks to Jude's (from A Trifle Rushed) comment below I'm adding my chocolate gingerbread house to the Seasonal Gingerbread House link up via the Turquoise Lemons blog.  If you've made a gingerbread house this year, then why not share yours too!

Coincidentally the gingerbread house in the picture above is traditional gingerbread baked in the same Lakeland mould I used for my chocolate house.