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| "Works of art: on display! |
Last
year (2016) I bought a gingerbread house cutter after much deliberation – it
was in my hand, then I put it back on the shelf and left the store. Later, in
another store I found it for half price and bought it. My idea was to have a
gingerbread house decorating party. I make a batch of dough and constructed one
house. That was enough! All party plans were off the table and I vowed never to
make another.
However,
by the time the 2017 holiday season rolled around a decorating party again
seemed like a fun idea. This time around I found a sturdy dough recipe and
instructions @ Genius Kitchen blog. This is what they said about it, “While
edible, this gingerbread house dough recipe is ‘structural.’ It has no
leaveners that would make it puff up and distort the shapes, and it's firm so
it can support lots of decorations.”
I made the dough, baked it and all was well so I
proceeded to invite several couples to an party.
Wednesday before the Sunday afternoon party was
designated as the construction day. Made
the Royal Icing and began to build . . . and the sturdy sides immediately began
to fall in! Decided if I’d support the first wall and let it set, then I could
proceed; that seemed to be working. After the four walls were up and dry, then
I attempted to add the roof (the sturdy dough is also relatively heavy) and
kept sliding off . . . then the walls started imploding! By this time I’m
ranting ###@@** and telling Barry that I was going to cancel the party! He said,
“Just use a hot glue gun!” Still determined to do it the traditional way, I
managed to get two houses together and I decided our decorating challenge would
be to turn a shack into a mansion! But by then, it was time to leave for the
GTP play and I only had two of the five constructed and no time left before
Sunday to finish. That meant after the play out came the glue gun and I
finished off the other houses in a relatively short period of time.
On Saturday afternoon I covered our dining room table
with brown packaging paper and set out candies, cookies, crackers, cereal, etc.
in anticipation.
Sunday the guests arrived and I have to say we had a
blast! It was lots of work, but definitely worth the effort. I might even do it
again next year.
 |
| Gingerbread House Cutter Kit |
Gingerbread
Dough Sturdy Enough to Make a House
This recipe makes 2 gingerbread houses using this cut outs I purchased.To
double or triple the recipe, see the Note below.
2 cups light corn syrup (or dark corn syrup for a darker house)
1 1/2 cups firmly packed light-brown sugar (or dark brown sugar for a
darker house)
1 1/4 cups margarine
9 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
- In a medium microwave-safe bowl, heat corn syrup, brown sugar and margarine until margarine has melted and sugar has dissolved completely. Stir until smooth.Meanwhile, in a large bowl, combine flour and salt. Add
syrup-sugar-margarine mixture. Mix well.
- Wrap the dough in plastic and let it rest at least 30
minutes at room temperature.
- Heat the oven to 350°.
- Roll out the dough 1/4-inch thick onto a sheet of parchment
(I used a silicon sheet) cut to fit your baking pan. (If dough was difficult to
roll, microwave it for 20 to 30 seconds.)
- Lightly flour the cutters and place them on the rolled-out
dough, leaving about a 1-inch space between pieces. Try to fit as many as you
can without crowding. Remove and reserve excess dough. Reroll dough scraps for
the remainder of the pieces.
- Grab the opposite edges of the parchment paper (silicon
sheet) and transfer to the baking sheet.
- Bake 12 to 15 minutes or until pieces are firm and lightly
browned around the edges. Cool completely before removing from pans.
Note: This recipe can be easily be doubled or even tripled.
Instead of measuring out the flour, for a double recipe, use 1 (5-pound) bag
plus 1 cup flour. For a triple recipe, use 2 (5-pound) bags plus 2 cups flour.
Partial pictorial construction of a house . . .
 |
| I secured one wall with the peaked roof on a tray with Royal Icing and rested it against a mixing bowl until dry. |
 |
| Coat edges on edges of sides and attach to tray. |
 |
| Add 4th piece and as you noticed I tied the house so it wouldn't fall apart and then allowed the icing to harden. |
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| Here's what it looked like on the inside. Roof additions were the problem until I resorted to gluing them in place with a hot glue gun. |
An icing that
hardens as it sets so ideal for gingerbread house construction.
1 lb powdered sugar (about 4 cups or 450 grams)
4 egg whites (or 1/2 cup liquid egg whites)
1 teaspoon lemon juice
Optional: food coloring in desired colors
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whip
attachment, beat the egg whites on high speed until foamy.
Switch to low speed and gradually sift the sugar into the
egg whites until it's completely incorporated. Then add the lemon juice and
beat on high speed until the icing is very thick and forms stiff peaks, about 5
to 10 minutes.
At this point, you can add the food coloring, if you're
only going to need a full batch of one color. But if you need more than one
color, separate whatever quantities of icing you need into individual bowls and
just stir in the coloring you want.
Tips:
Although the icing can be thinned, keep it thick for
gingerbread house construction. Add it to a piping bag or use a spatula to
spread.
You should use the royal icing right away or store it in
an airtight container because it will harden quickly when exposed to the air.
You can store it for a few days in the fridge, as long as it's in an airtight
container.
Photos of the party set up, construction and final "works of art" -- all were unique and creative. The party was a blast!
Recipes without photos . . .
Gingerbread Dough Sturdy Enough to Make a House
This recipe makes 2 gingerbread houses using this cut outs I purchased.To double or triple the recipe, see the Note below.
2 cups light corn syrup (or dark corn syrup for a darker house)
1 1/2 cups firmly packed light-brown sugar (or dark brown sugar for a darker house)
1 1/4 cups margarine
9 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
- In a medium microwave-safe bowl, heat corn syrup, brown sugar and margarine until margarine has melted and sugar has dissolved completely. Stir until smooth.Meanwhile, in a large bowl, combine flour and salt. Add syrup-sugar-margarine mixture. Mix well.
- Wrap the dough in plastic and let it rest at least 30 minutes at room temperature.
- Heat the oven to 350°.
- Roll out the dough 1/4-inch thick onto a sheet of parchment (I used a silicon sheet) cut to fit your baking pan. (If dough was difficult to roll, microwave it for 20 to 30 seconds.)
- Lightly flour the cutters and place them on the rolled-out dough, leaving about a 1-inch space between pieces. Try to fit as many as you can without crowding. Remove and reserve excess dough. Reroll dough scraps for the remainder of the pieces.
- Grab the opposite edges of the parchment paper (silicon sheet) and transfer to the baking sheet.
- Bake 12 to 15 minutes or until pieces are firm and lightly browned around the edges. Cool completely before removing from pans.
Note: This recipe can be easily be doubled or even tripled. Instead of measuring out the flour, for a double recipe, use 1 (5-pound) bag plus 1 cup flour. For a triple recipe, use 2 (5-pound) bags plus 2 cups flour.
An icing that hardens as it sets so ideal for gingerbread house construction.
1 lb powdered sugar (about 4 cups or 450 grams)
4 egg whites (or 1/2 cup liquid egg whites)
1 teaspoon lemon juice
Optional: food coloring in desired colors
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whip attachment, beat the egg whites on high speed until foamy.
Switch to low speed and gradually sift the sugar into the egg whites until it's completely incorporated. Then add the lemon juice and beat on high speed until the icing is very thick and forms stiff peaks, about 5 to 10 minutes.
At this point, you can add the food coloring, if you're only going to need a full batch of one color. But if you need more than one color, separate whatever quantities of icing you need into individual bowls and just stir in the coloring you want.
Tips:
Although the icing can be thinned, keep it thick for gingerbread house construction. Add it to a piping bag or use a spatula to spread.
You should use the royal icing right away or store it in an airtight container because it will harden quickly when exposed to the air. You can store it for a few days in the fridge, as long as it's in an airtight container.
)
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