I still remember. This happened years ago and I promise that it won't happen again!
Years ago, I had a minor meltdown while constructing mini gingerbread houses for Christmas. Silly me! It was an unforgettable experience and since then, I have not make another gingerbread house again. Why? Am I a chicken or what??? LOL!
After all these years of baking, I still think that baking a gingerbread house from scratch can be challenging but can't deny too that it can be an extremely fun thing to do!
So here we go again...
Here I have baked another gingerbread house! Not just a gingerbread house but a large and professional looking one!!! With absolutely NO crying and any meltdown!!! LOL!
Christmas Gingerbread House
You have guessed it right? I have made this impressive gingerbread house with a d.line Gingerbread House Bake Kit.
This kit contains 7 metal cookie cutters, a recipe and a set of instructions.
Honestly, I can't deny that the cutters provided in this kit have made my life so so SO much easier but what to do if you can't find this kit??? Don't panic! I will provide you the measurements of the cutters that I used and they are:
The front / back
The side
The roof
The chimmey and windows
Plus a Christmas tree cutter (provided by the kit) - any size should be ok
And my own gingerbread man and reindeer cutters
To make the gingerbread dough, this is what I did:
Instead of using copha shortening (suggested by the recipe in the kit), I have used butter. No Copha, please!!!
And instead of using brown sugar, treacle or golden syrup, this recipe uses molasses which is a fantastic choice as this gingerbread house smells so yummy!!!
No electric mixer or any fanciful equipment is required to do this.
Just a saucepan and a spoon can do this job beautifully!
Then transfer dough onto a cling wrap and allow it to rest in the fridge for about an hour.
After chilling, the dough is "cool" and firm enough to handle.
Roll portions of dough in between two sheets of baking paper and cut them into shapes accordingly.
I have baked my gingerbread slightly more than usual so that they are more robust to handle.
After baking, I have gathered these ingredients (plus warm water) to make a fluffy kind of royal icing.
Instead of meringue powder, you can use egg whites to make this icing but for me, I prefer not to use raw eggs.
Whip mixture until stiff peaks form.
Now I'm ready to assemble these...
... into this!
Although there is a crack in front, I have managed to patch it with no tears and no worries! Ha!
I decorated the house with gingerbread man, reindeer, tree, lollies, sprinkles and chocolate sticks.
Plus lots of sparkling bling on it.
Can you see my bling bling?
"Hey mum, our house smells so good!" said my son whenever he took a deep breath at our dining area.
"This gingerbread house is making our house smelling so yummy and Christmasy!"
"Thanks Sweetie. Glad that you like it"
Here's the recipe that is mostly adapted from d.line Gingerbread House Kit.
The original recipe uses Copha shortening to bake the gingerbread and also raw egg whites to make the royal icing but I don't.
Make one large house
For the gingerbread:
250g butter (the original recipe uses Copha shortening... Eeeewww!)340g unsulphured blackstrap molasses
200g sugar
750g all purpose flour
2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
Note:
This amount is more than enough to make the house and you will have about 1/4-1/3 of the dough as leftover.
Nevertheless, I will highly recommend you to make this amount as it is always better to have extra than not enough. Then you will have to make more dough again! Any leftover? You can always use it to bake more gingerbread man for your family :) Or store it in the freezer for up to 3 months and use it whenever you are ready to use them for baking.
For the royal icing with egg white:
4 large egg white650g (6 1/2 cup) icing sugar
2 tsp cream of tartar
Note:
I didn't use this royal icing recipe because I prefer not to use raw egg for my baking.This amount of icing made is more than enough to construct and decorate the house and you will have about 1/4-1/3 of it as leftover.
Instead, I have made my royal icing with meringue powder this reduced amount which is just right for me!
For the royal icing with meringue powder (adapted from Joy of Baking):2 1/2 cups (300g) icing sugar
2 1/4 tbsp (24g) meringue powder
90 ml warm water, for a thicker kind of consistency
Any decoration that you like to decorate your house and I have used:
sour patch kidschocolate waffle sticks
Christmas sprinkles
silver cachous
red colouring gel to color a small amount of royal icing
edible glittering powder
extra icing sugar to dust
To bake the gingerbread:
Preheat oven at 190°C. Line baking trays with baking papers.
Using medium low heat, melt butter in a saucepan. Reduce heat to low. Add sugar and molasses into the melted butter. Stir and cook until the sugar is completely dissolved.
Combine flour, ground ginger, nutmeg, salt and baking soda in a large mixing bowl. Sift the flour mixture into the melted butter mixture. Mix thoroughly with a spoon or spatula to combine.
Transfer dough into a cling wrap. Knead the dough slightly until it is pliable and not too sticky to handle. Wrap the dough with the cling wrap and place it in the fridge to chill for 1 hr or until firm.
When the dough is firm enough for rolling. Remove it from the fridge and the cling wrap and divide dough into 3-4 portions. Use a rolling pin, roll each portion on a well floured surface into a large rectangle with 1/4 inch or 0.5 cm thickness. Then, use the cookie cutters provided to cut into shapes. Repeat the rolling and cutting with the rest of the portions.
You will need:
2 x front/back2 x side
cut the windows from one front/back and one side cookies
Tip from the original recipe: Do not remove the window dough. It will keep the window shape while baking. However, I can't remove my window from my baked cookies and I just use it as it is.
2 x roof
2 x chimneys with triangle cut out
2 x chimneys with no triangle cut out
tree
For the large cookies (front/back, side and roof), bake for 13 mins or until lightly browned. For the smaller cookies (chimmeys, tree, gingerbread man and reindeer), bake for 7 mins or until lightly browned. As soon as the cookies are removed from the oven, re-cut the window immediately to get the exact sizes and shape or otherwise just leave it as it is.
Transfer the cookies to cool onto a wire rack and allow them to cool completely.
To prepare the royal icing:
For the royal icing with egg white, use an electric mixer with whisk attachment to beat egg white until foamy. Gradually beat in the sugar and cream of tartar. Continue to beat until smooth and stiff peaks form.
For the royal icing with meringue powder, use an electric mixer with whisk attachment to beat the icing sugar and meringue powder until combined. Add water and beat on medium to high speed until very glossy and stiff peaks form, about 5 mins. If required, add more icing sugar or water to get the right consistency.
The icing needs to be used immediately or transferred to an airtight container as royal icing hardens when exposed to air. Cover with damp cloth or plastic wrap when not in use.
To assemble:
Take a cardboard base and spread a heavy icing base where the front/back and the end cookies stand.
Arrange the front/back and the end cookies to form the base of the house and press the corners together. Apply more icing from the inside of the house to secure the edges together.
Allow the icing on the house to harden for about 15 mins
Apply beads of icing on the rim of the top side of the end cookies and place one section of the roof at a time. Hold to secure the roof for a few minutes and allow to stand for about 10 mins before repeating the same step with the other section of the roof.
Note: The kit suggests adhering a paper (provided in the kit) on the two root sections but I choose not to do that because I'm not sure if the paper is edible???
Next, construct the chimney by icing 4 pieces of it to form a box with the triangle cut out parts parallel to each other. Allow it to harden for about 10 mins and attach it on the top of the roof.
There you go... Here's our gingerbread house. Now you can decorate this house with all the tree and decorations that you like :)
Happy Baking
Please support me and like me at Facebook...
Thanks d.line for providing me this fantastic Gingerbread House Kit. I really love it!
This post is linked at
Cook and Celebrate: Christmas 2015 hosted by Yen from GoodyFoodies, Diana from The Domestic Goddess Wannabe and Zoe from Bake for Happy Kids.
Don't forget to submit your details to win:
One: Tovolo Gingerbread House Cutters set from Tovolo, Australia (Donaldson)
Open to ALL international participants. Submission ends on 10 Dec 2015.To win, please enter your details:
Tovolo Christmas Gingerbread House Cookie Cutter Giveaway
Tovolo Gingerbread House Cookie Cutter
Two: Tovolo Winter Wonderland Round Cutters set from Tovolo, Australia (Donaldson)
Open to ALL international participants. Submission ends on 3 Dec 2015.
To win, please enter your details:Tovolo Christmas Round Cookie Cutter Giveaway
Tovolo Winter Wonderland Cookie Cutters
