Gingerbread House
The kids and I made a little gingerbread house again this year. We used the following Gingerbread Recipe with a few alterations: I increased the margarine to about 1/3 cup, reduced the molasses to about 1/4 cup, and the flour to about 2 3/4 – 3 cups – just until it felt nice to roll out. I made pattern forms out of cereal box cardboard, and my 7 year old did most of the rolling and cutting out of the dough. We also made some gingerbread men and other shapes.
When making the patterns, don’t forget to make the roof pieces at least 1/2″ or more longer, and a bit wider than the adjoining pieces, to account for the thickness of the dough. (In other words, dough is thicker than cereal box cardboard! So take that into account when measuring and cutting pattern pieces.) Here’s a picture of our pattern pieces. We made two of each, cutting a door into one end piece (saving that piece for the door), and a window into one side piece. I also cut a couple small pieces to use as shutters (although they did slide a bit when we put them on, as you can see from the picture.)
After baking and cooling the pieces to room temperature, you can either start assembly right away, or set them aside for later. We didn’t get around to putting ours together right away, so the pieces just sat in a pile on the counter for a few days until we got around to it, none the worse for waiting (this gingerbread can be left uncovered, and has a very long shelf life.)
To stick the pieces together, I made a basic frosting. Beat together a couple tablespoons of margarine with a cup or so of icing sugar, add a couple tablespoons of milk, and then gradually add enough icing sugar and continue to beat to make a thick frosting that will make a fairly stiff peak and will not run. I put the frosting in a decorating bag with a basic tip and we went to work. I squeezed frosting along both surfaces we wanted to stick together, and along the bottom of the piece, as well, to attach to the base (an aluminum foil covered baking sheet). We had to hold the pieces steady for a couple minutes after sticking together until the frosting set up a little. Just build slow and careful – don’t rush.
(Last year was our first attempt at a gingerbread house, and I ended up using toothpicks like nails to hold some of the pieces together because the frosting just wasn’t doing the trick by itself. The gingerbread pieces were pretty fresh and soft, so I was able to insert the toothpicks without too much trouble. You wouldn’t be able to do this after the gingerbread has hardened.)
After assembling the house, reinforce any areas if needed, fill any chinks, and add doors, shutters or chimneys. Finally, add the finishing decorative touches with icing and candy. We decorated ours with swirls and drips (”icicles”) of icing, and Skittles candies, but you can be as elaborate or as simple as you like.
A couple of days later, we broke it apart and ate it, piece by piece, over the next few days. Yum!
