Façade decoration: Brush the outer surface with dissolved sugar and stud with sweets.
Decorate with cake icing (piped decoration using icing sugar):
Stir together 400 ml (14 fl oz) icing sugar, 1 egg white and a few drops of lemon or vinegar essence. Leave to stand for a while; add more icing sugar if necessary. Stir until the mixture is smooth and thick. If you want to add colour to your icing, add a few drops of caramel food colouring.
Pipe the cake icing on to the gingerbread house using an icing bag or a cone made of rolled-up greaseproof paper. "Snow": Brush the surface with egg white and sprinkle with desiccated coconut.
