A small gingerbread house built from homemade gingerbread, held together with royal icing glue and decorated with frosting, cereal, pretzels and candies. Makes 1 house, about 5 inches wide.
Contains: milk, egg, wheat. Based on the ingredients as written; check package labels, which can change.
A small gingerbread house is a holiday project you can finish in an afternoon. The gingerbread is a sturdy, spiced dough made with corn syrup and brown sugar, cut to a simple pattern and baked firm enough to stand.
Royal icing is the glue: it dries hard and holds the walls and roof in place. Then the fun part: a frosted yard with a cereal or pretzel fence, a candy roof, piped windows and an ice cream cone tree. Make several and you have a gingerbread village.
Ingredients
Gingerbread
1 cup light corn syrup
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup vegetable shortening
4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon ground ginger
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
Icing glue
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 egg white (pasteurized if the house will be eaten)
1/3 cup boiling water
Decorations
Prepared vanilla frosting
Bite-size frosted shredded wheat cereal
Striped chocolate candies
Pretzels in various shapes
Ice cream cones
You will also need
Stiff cardboard, for the base
A pastry bag with small and medium round tips
Instructions
Melt the syrup mixture. Heat the oven to 350°F. In a small saucepan, cook the corn syrup, brown sugar and shortening over medium heat, stirring, until smooth.
Make the dough. In a large bowl, whisk the flour, ginger and cinnamon. Pour in the warm syrup mixture and stir until a dough forms; mix only until it comes together.
Roll and cut. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough into a 1/2-inch-thick rectangle. Cut the pieces from the pattern below: 2 roof pieces, a front and a back, and 2 sides. Place them 1 inch apart on baking sheets.
Bake and trim. Bake 10 to 15 minutes, until firm. Cool on the sheets for a few minutes, then trim any uneven edges while the pieces are still warm and let them cool completely on racks.
Make the icing glue. In a medium bowl, combine the confectioners’ sugar, cream of tartar and egg white. Add the boiling water and beat until the icing holds stiff peaks.
Build the walls. Pipe icing glue along the edges where the front, back and sides meet (a pastry bag with a medium tip works best, or use a spatula). Hold the walls upright until the icing sets. When the walls are firmly joined, pipe icing along the bottom edges and set the house on the cardboard base. Let it harden.
Add the roof. Pipe icing along the top edges of the walls and the peak, then press the roof pieces gently in place. Let the icing harden well before decorating.
Decorate. With a small tip, pipe windows, doors and trim. Frost one area at a time, since frosting dries quickly: spread the base and press in cereal or pretzels for a fence, then frost the roof generously and press on striped candies or other sweets. Let it harden before moving the house.
Tips
Pattern, in inches: 2 roof pieces about 5 7/16 x 4 1/4; a front and a back 5 wide at the bottom and 5 13/16 tall at the peak; 2 sides 4 1/4 x 3 1/4. Trace them on paper or cardboard and cut around them.
Do not overmix the dough; blend it only until it holds together, or the gingerbread can turn tough.
For lit-up windows, cut small squares out of the front and side pieces before baking.
Trim the baked pieces while warm. Cold gingerbread cracks when cut.
To make several houses, make separate batches rather than doubling; a single batch is easier to roll and cut.
Royal icing made with raw egg white is fine for a house that is only for show; use pasteurized egg white or meringue powder if anyone will eat it.
For a full house: graham cracker doors and windows, a mini pretzel fence, a nonpareil roof and an upside-down ice cream cone for a tree.
Questions about this recipe
What holds a gingerbread house together?
Royal icing, made from confectioners’ sugar, egg white and cream of tartar. It dries hard like glue; regular frosting stays soft and will not hold walls.
Can you eat a gingerbread house?
You can if it is fresh and the icing is made with pasteurized egg white or meringue powder. Most houses are kept for decoration through the season.
How far ahead can I bake the pieces?
Bake the gingerbread pieces up to a week ahead and store them flat and airtight until you build.
