Gingerbread Train Works Well With A Gingerbread House Recipes

Steps:

• Make the gingerbread: In a medium saucepan, combine the brown sugar, molasses, water, ginger, cinnamon, and cloves. Melt over medium heat until the sugar is dissolved, 1-2 minutes.
• Remove the pot from the heat and whisk in the butter until completely melted and the mixture is glossy. Let cool completely.
• Add the flour and salt to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on low speed to combine for 30 seconds. Pour in the wet ingredients and mix until the dough comes together, about 2 minutes.
• Remove the dough from the bowl and wrap tightly in plastic wrap. Chill in the refrigerator for 20 minutes.
• While the dough is chilling, make your templates for the train pieces. The gingerbread will fit snugly over your mechanical train. Find template here: https://tasty.co/article/tasty/gingerbread-train-template
• Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
• Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface to ⅛ inch thick. Cut out the shapes from the template. Transfer the shapes to the prepared baking sheets.
• Bake for 24-28 minutes, until the shapes are stiff to the touch. Let the shapes cool completely, about 45 minutes.
• While the gingerbread is cooling, make the royal icing: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix together the powdered sugar, meringue powder, and water. Mix on medium-low speed for 1 minute, until no lumps remain and mixture is shiny and glossy.
• Transfer ¼ of the icing to a piping bag fitted with a small round tip. This will be the icing to decorate the outside of the train.
• Add the brown food coloring to the remaining icing in the mixer and mix until homogenous in color.
• Using the brown icing, assemble the train pieces according to the template. Let dry for at least 2 hours.
• Once all 5 pieces of the train have dried, use the white icing to decorate the train as desired. Let the icing set until hardened.
• Gently slide decorated gingerbread pieces over the cars of the mechanical train and place on the track.
• Fill the cargo cars with the gum drops, peppermints, and truffles.
• Enjoy!

Steps:

• Make the gingerbread dough: Sift together the flour, ginger, cinnamon, baking soda, nutmeg, cloves and salt into a large bowl. Set aside.
• Combine the butter, shortening, brown sugar and granulated sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 1 minute. Add the egg, molasses and vanilla and beat on medium until smooth, about 1 minute. Add the sifted flour mixture and mix on low speed until combined into a smooth dough, about 1 minute. Form the dough into a flat square, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate until just firm, about 2 hours and up to overnight.
• Meanwhile, make templates for a gingerbread house. Gather several sheets of stiff paper; a manila folder works well. For the wall panels, cut a rectangle that measures 4 by 7 inches. For the front and back panels of a house with a peaked roof, cut a template that is 6 inches wide at the base, 4 inches to the roofline and 4 1/2 inches slanted to a peak. The template for the roof panels should measure 4 1/2 by 8 inches.
• Roll and cut the gingerbread: Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F. Line 3 baking sheets with parchment paper. Unwrap the dough and cut into 3 equal pieces (a pizza wheel is handy for this). Working with one piece of dough at a time and keeping the other pieces refrigerated, roll the dough into a rectangle 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick. Using the templates, cut out the front and back of the house and remove the scraps around the cutouts. Repeat with the remaining pieces of dough, cutting out 2 roof pieces and 2 side pieces. (If the dough gets too soft while rolling, return it to the refrigerator for 15 minutes before proceeding.) Discard the dough scraps or reroll to make cookies. Chill the dough pieces on the baking sheets for 15 minutes.
• Bake the gingerbread: Bake the dough pieces until crisp almost all the way through (the very center will still be a little soft), 30 to 35 minutes. Cool the pans 10 minutes on a rack, then remove the house pieces to the rack to cool completely. Assemble and decorate the gingerbread panels as desired.

Steps:

• Melt the butter, add golden syrup and 2 drops of vanilla.
• Stir in the brown sugar, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and egg.
• Add the flour, seived, bit by bit. When it starts to become a very stiff mixture you may find it easier to use your hands. Keep adding flour until the dough is ready to be handled.
• Sprinkle flour over your work space and roll out the dough to about 1/2 inch thickness.
• Cut out your train shape. (Tip: draw onnto card and use as template) you do't need to add wheels so a smaller rectangle on top of another rectacle is sufficient.
• Cut out your carriages.
• Bake these on a greased tray with space in between as they will expand. Bake for approx 10 minutes. Until edges are golden. Remove and cool on wire rack.
• Make thick icing and spread along your plate/tray/serving platter. This will hold the train in place.
• Place the train into the icing and add the wine gums for wheels.
• Prepare 3 smaller amounts of icing in seperate bowls, with a lighter consistancy and add colorings.This is for decorating the tops of your carriages with cargo, or adding icing letters.
• Decorate the train, platter, icing etc however you like with spinkles, silver balls etc.

Steps:

• Make the gingerbread: Combine the syrup, molasses, brown sugar and margarine in a saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring often, until the margarine is melted and the sugar has dissolved; set aside.
• Place the flour, salt, cinnamon, cloves, ginger and star anise (if using) in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment.
• With the machine running on medium-low speed, slowly stream in the sugar mixture and beat until incorporated. Wrap the dough in plastic and refrigerate until firm, at least 1 hour.
• Heat oven to 375 degrees. (If using a convection oven, heat to 350 degrees.) With a floured rolling pin, roll out the dough to about 1/4-inch thickness on a large sheet of parchment paper. Cut out your desired shapes with a chef's knife or pizza cutter and pull away scraps (if making the gingerbread house from the templates provided, you'll need to cut out two sides and two roofs). To minimize distortion, gently slide the parchment onto a baking sheet. Reroll the scraps and repeat as needed to cut out all of the necessary shapes.
• Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, or until the edges are lightly browned. If using the template, be sure to bake the door piece. Remove from the oven and let cool completely on the baking sheets. The cookies will harden as they cool.
• Assemble the house: Using a pastry bag fitted with small plain round tip, draw windows with royal icing on the pieces as they lie flat. Let the icing set, about two minutes. Then, using icing as glue, attach the 4 walls of the house to each other and support the walls with jars or cans to allow the icing to set. Attach the two roof pieces with icing, and let the icing dry. Attach the door with icing, and then decorate with icing and assorted candies.

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour 10 regular-size muffin cups, or spray with baking spray with flour. Place mini paper baking cup in each of 18 mini muffin cups.
• In large bowl, beat granulated sugar, 1/2 cup butter, molasses and eggs with electric mixer on medium speed. Stir in flour, baking soda, salt, ginger 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, the allspice and water. Divide batter evenly between regular and mini muffin cups, filling each about two-thirds full.
• Bake regular cupcakes 15 to 18 minutes, mini cupcakes 11 to 15 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center of cupcake comes out clean. Cool in pans 5 minutes; remove from pans to cooling racks to cool. Cool completely, about 30 minutes.
• Meanwhile, in medium bowl, beat cream cheese, 1/4 cup butter, the lemon peel, 1 teaspoon cinnamon and the vanilla with electric mixer on low speed until smooth. Gradually beat in powdered sugar,1 cup at a time, until smooth. Beat in milk, 1 teaspoon at a time, until spreadable. Reserve 1/2 cup frosting for decorating.
• Frost cupcakes with remaining frosting leaving one regular size cupcake unfrosted. Place 5 regular cupcakes on serving platter. Cut unfrosted cupcake in half; place upside down at front of train. Attach mini cupcakes to both sides of train with frosting and connect with pretzel sticks. Add additional cupcakes to front and back of train as shown in photo. Decorate with candies, pretzel sticks and cone, as desired (attaching with frosting as needed). Serve any remaining cupcakes, as desired.