My First Gingerbread House 2006 Recipes

Steps:

• Make half of the batch: In a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together half the butter and half the sugar for 5 minutes, until fluffy. Scrape down sides.
• Meanwhile, sift together the dry ingredients - the flour, ginger, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder and salt - and set aside half.
• With mixer running at low speed, add two eggs, one at a time. Mix in 1 cup molasses. Scrape down bowl.
• In 3 batches, add half the dry ingredients, mixing just to combine. To prevent any flour from flying out, make sure the mixer is off when adding each batch, and drape a towel over it when mixing. Mix in zest of 1 lemon and 1 orange.
• Pull dough out of mixer, and wrap in plastic wrap, or transfer to a resealable plastic bag. Repeat Steps 1 to 5 to make the remaining dough. Refrigerate overnight.
• When ready to bake, heat the oven to 350 degrees.
• Roll out dough: For each square, weigh out about 20 ounces of dough. The goal is to end up with five 9-inch squares, so you'll roll them out a bit larger, bake them and trim off the edges.
• Lightly dust a large piece of parchment paper with flour. Place the chilled dough on top. Roll side to side and up and down to make a rough square shape. While you roll, make frequent quarter-turns so that the dough remains even.
• Roll until dough is about 10 by 10 inches and a generous 1/4-inch thick. Transfer to a baking sheet. Repeat with remaining dough. (Any dough left after the squares have been prepared can be rolled out 1/4-inch thick and used for cookies.) In the oven, the slab will rise to about 3/8- or 1/2-inch thickness, which will make the house extra sturdy.
• Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until even and firmly set. Place pans on racks to cool. To prevent bending and cracking, carefully transfer to racks by lifting parchment paper. When completely cool, stack the slabs, still on parchment, and set aside to dry out at room temperature for 3 to 7 days. (When ready to assemble, see How to Make a Gingerbread House guide for full instructions.)

Steps:

• Dough using the template here:.
• Warm molasses in a saucepan or microwave, but do not boil just to soften. Remove from heat and stir in butter until melted. Let cool.
• In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, and brown sugar.
• Add butter mixture and egg and mix well. Refrigerate at least one hour until dough becomes stiff enough to roll.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• Roll out dough right onto the bottom side of cookie pan or on a edge free cookie pan that is lined with parchment. Maximum thickness for dough should be 3/8-inch. For houses larger than 6 inches square, use 1/4-inch thickness and for smaller houses, use 1/8-inch. Weight-bearing walls should be just slightly thicker. Place the template and cut house pieces using a ruler to guide for smooth straight edges. Bake for 15 minutes.
• If window are to be cut out do before baking. May place broken hard candies in windows for a glass effect be sure to really fill it.
• Royal Icing:.
• Mix 1/2 the powder and 1/2 the water beating till peaks form, add 1/2 the sugar beating till a good consistency. This half is to assembly.
• In a thick Styrofoam base cut grooves the size of the baked walls. Using the 4 wall as a guide.
• Pipe the icing into the grooves.
• Pipe out the icing on the bottom and one end of one long wall and one short, put them together at a 90-degree angle, and hold them in place on the foam with cans if needed. Repeat with the remaining two walls, running a line of icing glue along the corners so that all the walls are glued together. Again hold walls in place until icing is dry. Let the roofless house dry at least 30 minutes until the icing is firmly set. At this time careful plan and decorate the inside as you chose. Or leave it empty.
• Run a thick line of icing along one long side of a roof piece. Stick the two roof sections together at an angle and set the two pieces on top of the house. Make sure that the roof overhang is the same at both ends of the house, although it is okay if it isn't perfect. Hold the roof gently in place until it dries. Let dry for half an hour.
• To attach the chimney, on one side of the roof near the peak, glue one angled piece to the roof. Glue the largest rectangle to the angled piece and then glue the second angled piece in place. Last, glue the smallest rectangle to the other sections. Hide any mistakes under a "snow" of icing.
• Side a this layer of icing on sides of house One side at a time. Place fruit roll up starting from the bottom going up overlapping slightly. Be sure to cut it where the window are. Leave the top half of the front and back to overlap with the spearmint leave adhering with icing.
• Spread the icing covering the base for snow.
• Place Chocolate Mint sticks along the front and side of the house for porch add railing using mint sticks and glue with icing the marshmallow on place the bird (shaped from the fondant) on the railing. using the twisted marshmallow place along the bottom edge of the house.
• Make the other half of icing when needed.
• Sled is made from a chocolate bar and peppermint sticks, thin red licorice, red fondant as Santa `s bag.
• Spread icing on roof and starting at the bottom edge work your way up in uneven rows overlapping slightly.
• Decorate the chimney by icing then pressing toffee bits into it. Then shape Santa and decorate him with a bread made from icing and a red fondant hat, skin fondant face place in chimney.
• With the icing go over the house and fill in where needed to make it look like snow and at the eves making icicles.
• Place a small battery lit candle inside so you can appreciate the stained glass windows.
• Add your touches. Have fun.

Steps:

• In a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter until smooth. Add the sugar and mix until light and fluffy. Add the eggs 1 at a time until incorporated. Add the molasses and vanilla and mix. Sift together the flour, ginger, cinnamon, baking soda, cloves, and salt. Working in batches, and mixing after each addition just until combined, add the flour mixture to the butter-sugar mixture. Shape the dough into a thick disk, wrap in waxed paper, and refrigerate 1 to 2 hours.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and grease 2 cookie sheets.
• On a lightly floured surface, divide the dough in half and roll each piece out into a large 1/4-inch thick sheet. Transfer the dough sheets to the sheet pans; then cut out the required shapes with your templates (see Gingerbread House Templates below).
• Bake until stiff and toast-y, about 10 to 15 minutes. Let cool completely.
• Make the Royal Icing: In a standing mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip the confectioners' sugar and egg whites together. Add more sugar, if necessary, to reach a spreadable consistency.
• Assemble and Decorate the House: Glue the house walls together by setting them up on the cardboard base, and piping the royal icing at the joints with a medium plain tip from the inside. Prop the sides up with wine or soda bottles and let set for 30 minutes. Attach the roof pieces, using the icing in the same way
• Using a spatula to apply the icing, glue the frosted mini-wheats on the roof to look like thatching. Attach the front door, with hinges made from icing (leave it open to be more inviting). Decorate as you like, following the suggestions in the ingredient list, using the icing as glue, if needed. Use a small plain tip for any filigree style decorative line work, you may want. *RAW EGG WARNING Food Network Kitchens suggest caution in consuming raw and lightly-cooked eggs due to the slight risk of Salmonella or other food-borne illness. To reduce this risk, we recommend you use only fresh, properly-refrigerated, clean, grade A or AA eggs with intact shells, and avoid contact between the yolks or whites and the shell.
• Gingerbread House Templates:
• Brown paper bags, as needed
• You'll need to make 7 templates, by drawing the dimensions out on brown paper and cutting them out. Use the templates as a stencil to cut the dough into the required pieces. Here are the templates you'll need:
• Two front and rear walls: 5 inches high by 8 inches long. Cut out 2 windows from each wall, and 2 1/2 by 1 1/2-inch door in one.
• Two side walls shaped like a house (triangle on a square): 5 inches high by 6 inches long, with a triangle 7 inches high on top (cut all in 1 piece). Cut 1 window out of each side.
• Two overhanging roof pieces: 4 1/2 inches wide by 9 inches long.
• One door: 2 1/2 inches high by 1 1/2 inches wide.

Steps:

• Gingerbread House: In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter, brown sugar, molasses, cinnamon, ginger, cloves and baking soda together until the mixture is smooth. Blend in the flour and water to make a stiff dough. Chill at least 30 minutes or until firm.
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
• Cut out the following paper patterns for the gingerbread house template: Two rectangles, 3 by 5 inches, to make the front and back of the house. Two rectangles, 3 by 5 1/2 inches for the roof. Two pieces for the ends of the house, 3 inches wide at the base, 3 inches to the roof line, and slanted to a peak 5 1/2 inches from the bottom. Four smaller rectangles, 1 1/2 by 1 inch for the roof and sides of the entryway. And one piece, 2 inches wide at the base, 1 1/2 inches to the roof line, and slanted to a peak 2 1/2 inches from the bottom for the front of the entryway.
• Roll gingerbread dough out to edges on a large, rimless cookie sheet. Place paper patterns onto the rolled out dough. With a sharp, straight edged knife, cut around each of the pieces, but leave pieces in place.
• Bake at 375 degrees F for about 15 minutes until dough feels firm.
• Place patterns on top of the gingerbread again and trim shapes, cutting edges with a straight-edged sharp knife. Leave to cool on baking sheet.
• Place royal icing into pastry bag with a writing tip and press out to decorate individual parts of house, piping on decorations, windows, door, etc., as desired. Let dry until hardened.
• Glue sides, front and back of house together at corners using royal icing. Place an object against the pieces to prop up until icing is dry (it only takes a few minutes).
• Glue the two roof pieces to the pitched roofline of the house. Then, similarly, glue the sides and roof of the entryway together with icing. Attach the entryway to the front of the house.
• Continue decorating the house, gluing on gumdrops, licorice and peppermint, as desired.
• Mix all of the ingredients together using an electric hand mixer, until the icing is smooth and thin enough to be pressed through a pastry bag with a writing tip. Add more lemon juice, if necessary.

Steps:

• Cover a piece of heavy cardboard with aluminum foil or freezer paper, dull-side up, to make a base for the gingerbread house.
• Cut templates for the gingerbread house out of heavy cardboard or cardstock; label each piece.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease 3 rimless baking sheets (or the back of rimmed baking sheets).
• Combine butter, brown sugar, molasses, and dark corn syrup in a large, heavy saucepan over medium heat; stir until melted, about 3 minutes. Stir in lemon zest, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, salt, and mace until blended, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat.
• Sift flour into a large bowl. Stir into the butter mixture 2 cups at a time, mixing the last 2 cups by hand to create a warm, firm mass of dough. Place a large handful of dough on a greased baking sheet; roll out to 1/8-inch thickness. Keep remaining dough covered.
• Dust cardboard templates lightly with flour and place on top of dough; cut around templates with a sharp knife. Cut out doors or windows as desired. Cut shutters, door knobs, or other features from the scraps. Return remaining scraps to the covered pan.
• Bake in the preheated oven until firm and slightly browned at the edges, 5 to 7 minutes for small pieces and 12 to 15 minutes for large pieces. Remove from the oven and place templates over the baked pieces; trim excess with a sharp knife to produce clean edges.
• Cool pieces on the baking sheet until firm, 5 to 10 minutes; transfer to a wire rack to cool completely, 15 to 30 minutes.
• Combine confectioners' sugar, egg whites, cream of tartar, and white vinegar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment; beat until icing is stiff and shiny, 7 to 10 minutes.
• Stick candies and decorations over gingerbread pieces using royal icing. Let icing dry until hardened, about 5 minutes. Assemble gingerbread house pieces using icing. Let stand until icing is dry, about 5 minutes.