Ben and Gabrielle's 'The City of De-Lights' Gingerbread Christmas Centerpiece

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Ben and Gabrielle's 'The City of De-Lights'

Course:

Dessert

Gingerbread Pieces:

1. Preheat oven to 375*F (190*C) and 2 baking sheets with parchment paper
2. In stand mixer bowl, combine butter, molasses, sugar and beat until creamy
   
   1. ½ cup unsalted butter (softened) - 113g
   2. ½ cup brown sugar (packed) - 100g
   3. ½ cup unsulphured molasses - 120ml
3. Add in egg, vanilla extract, ginger, cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, and salt and stir until well combined
   
   1. 1 large egg
   2. 2 tsp vanilla extract
   3. 1 ½ tsp ground ginger
   4. 1 ½ tsp ground cinnamon
   5. ¼ tsp ground cloves
   6. ¼ tsp ground nutmeg
   7. ½ tsp salt
4. Add flour 1 cup at a time while mixing on low speed until fully combined and dough is smooth and stiff.
   
   1. 4 cups all-purpose flour - 500g
5. Sprinkle flour on counter and divide dough into 2 balls
6. Use rolling pin to roll out dough to ⅛ - ¼” thickness
7. Use pizza cutter, sharp knife, multi-purpose blade/chopper to cut templates of dough, starting with the bottom section of the tower (A shapes)
   
   1. Lay these pieces on prepped backing sheets and bake for 11-13 min (until edges begin turning brown)
   2. **Make sure to re-measure each one using template, then re-measure when they come out of the oven and use serrated knife to trim edges
8. Cut out the top section of the tower, along with fountain (oval or rectangle)
   
   1. Bake these pieces for 10-12 min
9. Cut remaining small pieces (peak)
   
   1. Bake these for 4-5 min
10. Once all pieces are re-measured and trimmed, place in freezer or refrigerator to speed up cooling

Meringue Royal Icing:

1. With an electric mixer, blend ingredients on low speed, then beat on high speed for 7 min (can help to time this!), or until the mixture holds stiff peaks
   
   1. 4 cups (1 pound) powdered sugar - 480g
   2. 3 tbsp meringue powder
   3. 6-8 tbsp warm water
2. If icing is too thick, add water 1 tsp at a time

Grandma Lil’s Cookies:

1. Preheat oven to 350*F and line baking sheet with parchment paper
2. Combine baking soda, flour, and salt
   
   1. 2 tsp baking soda
   2. ½ tsp salt
   3. 4 ½ cups flour - 563g
3. In a separate bowl, mix softened butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar
   
   1. 2 tsp vanilla extract
   2. 1 ½ tsp ground ginger
4. Beat in eggs and vanilla extract with butter mixture
   
   1. 4 large eggs
   2. 2 tsp vanilla
5. Add in dry ingredients and add chocolate chips
   
   1. 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
6. Make tiny cookie balls on baking sheet, increasing slightly in size to make trees
7. Bake for 6 -10 min

Chai Spice Buttercream Frosting:

1. Make chai spice by mixing cinnamon, ginger, allspice, and cardamom until combined
   
   1. 1 tsp ground cinnamon
   2. ½ tsp ground ginger
   3. ⅛ tsp ground allspice
   4. ½ tsp cardamom
2. With a paddle attachment on a stand mixer, beat butter on medium speed until creamy (2 min).
3. Scrape bowl and add powdered sugar, heavy cream, 1 ¾ of chai mix, vanilla extract, and a pinch of salt, and beat on low until partially combined, then increase to high speed and beat for 2 min (until creamy)
   
   1. 1 ½ cups unsalted butter (room temp) - 340g
   2. 5-6 cups powdered sugar - 720g
   3. ¼ cup heavy cream - 57g / 2oz
   4. Pinch of salt
   5. 1 ¾ tsp chai spice mix (will have leftover… can add to taste)
4. Add powdered sugar or cream to get to desired consistency

Assemble Eiffel Tower:

1. Assemble 4 A-shaped lower sections of tower, securing pieces to the board and to each other using royal icing
2. Separately, assemble 4 pillars of tower and allow to dry
3. Use royal icing to glue lights inside of lower tower
4. Use royal icing to begin piping on criss-crossing design on lower section of tower
5. Once top section icing has dried, place it on top of lower section and glue together with royal icing
6. Add criss-crossing pattern to upper section
7. Top tower with triangle pieces or cookie shape
8. Spray the tower with gold edible color spray

Additional Decor:

• Cookie trees - Add green-colored frosting on top of cookies and stack them to make trees
• Water fountain - Crush jolly ranchers into smaller pieces. Place crushed pieces in microwave safe bowl and heat in 30-second intervals, stirring in between. Pour this into the gingerbread fountain feature.
• Decorate ground with white leftover frosting