Gingerbread "houses"

[mskelly]

Have you ever made a gingerbread house from scratch? We have always used a kit. This year, my son wants to design a gingerbread sports car. I'm looking for a gingerbread recipe I can use to make this happen. I think he wants to be hard like the box kits and the recipes I'm finding are for gingerbread cake.

 

Do you have a recipe to share that you KNOW will work well?

[catz]

Here is a recipe similar to one I've used.

 

http://pickyourownchristmastree.org/gingerbreadhouse.php

 

I've done them completely from scratch a couple times. My biggest recommendations are to bake on parchment and build some sort of cardboard frame to "glue" the gingerbread to. And allow plenty of time for drying. I'd let the gingerbread cool overnight before handling and build it slowly. I find doing it from scratch MUCH more arduous than doing it from a kit. Sounds really fun though! I might try it with my kids some year. We're travelling this year over the holidays so it's definitely not my year. It looks like this website has some good construction tips too. Good luck! Don't forget to take pictures. :D

[Spryte]

We do it from scratch, due to allergies. I will try to dig up that recipe for you. Editing to add the tutorial and recipe we used the past few years. We are gluten free now, but we used this before kiddo had developed the wheat allergy, and it was good.

 

The tips from the PP above are excellent. I've never used a kit (again, due to food allergies), so I can't compare, but it is a lot of work (so much so that this year, I convinced little man that foam kit would be just as special!).

 

When you roll out the various components, make sure they are all exactly the same thickness. Otherwise as they bake, they will spread differently, and it's harder to put together. :)

[MinivanMom]

I always make our gingerbread house from scratch. It really is no harder than doing it from a kit, but it can be trickier to get everthing to fit together perfectly. For years I made my own pattern pieces each year, but I finally broke down and bought the Wilton gingerbread house cookie cutters. I roll the dough out directly on a flat cookie sheet, so that the shape isn't altered by transferring the dough from countertop to cookie sheet. I also bake them until well-done, because I want gingerbread house pieces that will hold up for the construction. I use a good, stiff icing for assembling the pieces and then use a tasty buttercream for the decorating. I love this recipe. I think I originally got it from The Joy of Cooking.

 

6 C flour

1/2 t baking powder

4 t ginger

4 t cinnamon

1/2 t ground cloves

1/2 t salt

1 1/2 sticks butter

1 1/2 C brown sugar

2 eggs

1 C molasses

1 T water

 

Mix the dry ingredients and set aside. Beat the butter and sugar on med until fluffy. Beat in the eggs, molasses, and water. Beat in 1/2 of the dry ingredients and then beat in the remaining 1/2. Knead the dough on a floured surface until well blended. Wrap the dough up and set aside for 2-6 hrs or refrigerate for up to 3 days (I always mix it up the day before and refrigerate overnight, because of the eggs). Bring the dough to room temperature, roll out, and cut into gingerbread house pieces or gingerbread men. Bake at 350 for 8 min for small house pieces (or gingerbread men). Bake for 15 min for larger house pieces. Once the pieces are completely cool, I assemble them using Royal Icing. I can't remember where I originally got this recipe. It doesn't taste very good, but it will hold those gingerbread pieces together like cement.

 

1 large egg white

1/3 C powdered sugar

2/3 C powdered sugar

 

Mix egg white and 1/3 C powdered sugar. Microwave for 30-60 sec (I usually err on the side of 60 sec). Beat in additional powdered sugar until icing is cool and holds stiff peaks. You have to use the icing right away, but don't go too quickly. If you're making a house you want to assemble the sides carefully, let them set completely (at least 1-2 hrs), and then make another batch of icing to attach the roof. I wait until the icing is well set (usually overnight) before decorating with buttercream frosting (so much tastier) and candies.

 

I think a sports car sounds fun. Good luck!

[Erica in OR]

One other option, although gingerbread purists may scoff. We use graham crackers for the construction with an icing cement recipe to hold pieces together. DS is making his version of the Titanic this year.

 

Erica in OR

[Jann in TX]

We make them every year from scratch. I use a recipe similar to what a previous poster used-- so I won't post mine.

 

Purchase the cheapest cookie sheets you can find. The BEST ones for gingerbread figures are the thin sheet metal kind that do not have a lip on at least 2 sides.

 

You do NOT want to use a baking stone or 'air bake' cookie sheets.

 

Let the cookies cool on cookie sheet for 3-5 minutes before removing to a wire rack-- it is IMPORTANT to use a wire cooling rack-- you actually want the cookies to dry out!

 

Bake them at least 1 day before you want to decorate them-- so they have cooled completely and have dried out!

 

Use Royal Icing (I use powdered egg whites) for the glue.

 

Next week I will be baking 10-15 houses-- my dd10 is having friends over (each will bring a different candy decoration to share).

 

My middle dd has a December birthday-- most years she had a gingerbread house themed birthday party-- I've baked 100's of houses (I usually make my own patterns).

[justLisa]

One thing I will add, is I always "frost" ours with melting chocolates. They have white chocolate ones either plain or little sprinkle flecks. That things stays solid for days. And it's yummy

[maize]

It sounds like most people are cutting out the pattern shapes then baking. We always did it where you bake a sheet of gingerbread then cut out the pieces when it comes out of the oven. You have to cut while it is hot because it hardens fast.

[maize]

One thing I will add, is I always "frost" ours with melting chocolates. They have white chocolate ones either plain or little sprinkle flecks. That things stays solid for days. And it's yummy

 

I have never thought of doing it this way--my kids would love frosting with chocolate.