|
During the Christmas holiday season it’s a great custom to make a gingerbread house. They are also great to make and give as Chrismas gifts. If you want to make your own gingerbread house you will first need to prepare the recipe below.
1- 1/2 Cups dark corn syrup
1-1/3 Cups packed dark brown sugar
1 Cup butter (no substitutes)
7 Cups all-purpose flour
1 Tablespoon ground cinnamon
1-1/2 Teaspoons ground ginger
1 Teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 Teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 Teaspoon salt
In a large saucepan, combine the corn syrup, sugar and butter; cook and stir over medium heat until butter is melted. Pour in a large mixing bowl. Combine dry ingredients; gradually beat into sugar mixture (dough will be stiff). Chill for at least one hour. Roll dough to 1/8 inch thickness on a greased baking sheet. Cut into desired shapes. Remove dough scraps. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Cool for 5 minutes; remove from pan to wire racks to cool.
Yield: one small gingerbread house approximately 8 in. x 10 in.
Then after you finish the gingerbread house ‘s recipe you will need to make the icing which will enable you to put the gingerbread house together.
1-1/2 Cups butter or margarine, softened
1-1/2 Cups shortening
3/4 Cup water
3 Tablespoons vanilla extract
12 Cups confectioners’ sugar
17-inch x 22-inch display base-heavy-duty cardboard or cutting board or piece of
plywood, covered with foil wrapping or aluminum foil
Serrated knife or emery board
Paste or liquid food coloring
Small paintbrush
Pastry bags or heavy-duty resealable plastic bags
Pastry tips-#10 round, #5 round and #67 leaf
Spice bottles
Heavy-duty cardboard
1 Pkg (9.5 ounce) Triscuit crackers
Decorative candies and sugars
Thin red ribbon, optional
Pretzels
Sugar ice cream cones
Spearmint candies or marshmellows
Jellybeans
To make icing: In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and shortening. Add water and vanilla; beat until smooth. Gradually beat in sugar; mix well. Place a damp paper towel over bowl and cover tightly between uses.
To assemble the frame of the gingerbread house you will first test the cookie pieces to make sure they fit snugly together. If they don’t you will need to file the pieces carefully with a serrated knife or an emery board to make the pieces fit.
To color the gingerbread house you will need to combine four teaspoons of water and 1/2 teaspoon of the food coloring that you would like the color of the gingerbread house to be. Carefully brush the icing onto the front, back and sides of the gingerbread house with a small paintbrush. Let it dry overnight.
Insert a #10 pastry tip into a pastry bag. Fill it two-thirds full with icing. Beginning with the back piece of the gingerbread house squeeze a wide strip of icing onto the bottom edge of the back piece. Postion the gingerbread house on a display base. Prop the gingerbread house up with spice bottles until the icing is firm about 3-4 hours.
To add the sides and front of the gingerbread house squeeze icing on the over edge of one of the side pieces and on the side edge of a back piece. Then align the pieces at a right angle making sure they are as tight as possible. Prop up these pieces also with spice bottles. Continue to repeat this step with the other side. For added stability, squeeze icing along the inside edge of all the pieces and on all of the corners.
Proceed to squeeze icing onto the bottom and side edges of the front piece and then proceed to position it with the other assembled pieces. Prop it up with more spice bottles and let it dry completly.
To make the roof of the gingerbread house cut out pieces to fit on top of the gingerbread house from cardboard. Squeeze icing on the upper edges of the front and back of the gingerbread house. Carefully place your cardboard pieces on the front and back slants of the gingerbread house. You can make roof shingles from Triscuit crackers cut in half. Using icing attach the Triscuits to the roof in rows beginning with a bottom row then
slightly overlap each row after that. If you prefer you can put hard candy, gumdrops, licorice or chocolate chips to on top of the roof to decorate it instead.
If you cut out windows on your gingerbread house you can decorate them this way. Use a #5 tip to outline the windows and doors with white icing. If you would like to make shutters on your windows you can use the pieces of a Hershey’s candy bar.
You could also get a little creative and decorate scenery around the gingerbread house like making a fence with pretzels. To make trees use a serrated knife and carefully score and cut sugar icecream cones to desired heights. Then tint a portion of icing with green and use the leaf tip to decorate the trees. You can also make shrubs by using spearmint candies or decorating marshmellows with green icing using a leaf tip. When the frosting dries you can arrange the trees and shrubs around the house where you want by attaching it to the base with icing.
If you want to make a path in front of the gingerbread house you could do this by cutting jellybeans in half lengthwise. Then arrange them cut side down in front of the door of the gingerbread house. To make grass tint coconut with green.
Basically, it’s easy to make a gingerbread house. Once you have the recipe you can make up your own design of a house by cutting out a pattern and then following the steps to build it from there. As far as decorating goes you don’t have to limit it to the suggestions I provided. Just use your imagination and go from there.
| 
