Cut the templates i attached from cardboard, and line 2 baking trays with greaseproof paper.

Sift the flour, bicarbonate of soda and all of the spices into a bowl and add the butter. Then, rub them together until they look like breadcrumbs. Add the sugar and mix it all really well.

Put the golden syrup in a bowl and warm it up in the microwave for 30 seconds so it's thinner, then add the egg and beat it.

Stir the golden syrup mixture into the flour mixture, and need it until it's like a smooth dough.

Take half of the dough and roll it out so it's half a centimetre thick. Put the templates onto the dough and cut them out with a knife.

Bake them in a preheated oven (190 C or 375 F) for about 10 minutes until they're golden brown.

Repeat steps five and six again but with the other piece of dough because you need two of each piece. If you have any left over, you can make gingerbread people

Make the royal icing by mixing the egg whites and icing sugar until they make a thick paste.

When the pieces have cooled, decorate them with the royal icing and sweets (I used smarties). I used some foil for the windows as well, using a bit of icing to stick it.

Stick the pieces together with the icing, make sure you only do them one by one otherwise it'll fall apart. Its easiest if you stick one wall to the plate first, then each other wall one by one. Stick the roof pieces on last, but you might have to use some objects to hold it up.