Gingerbread Houses 101
Posted: Mon Dec 01, 2008 7:02 pm
Gingerbread Houses 101
Suggestions for House Decoration:
Raisins, nuts, gumdrops, chocolate chips, hard candy, candied fruits, animal crackers, graham crackers, lollipops, waffle cone pieces, mini-cookies or cookie bits, shredded wheat (for roofs or for stacks of hay), popcorn, cinnamon candies, chocolate kisses, etc.
Gather the Goodies
Save time and unnecessary stress by preparing all of the house walls and glue icing the night, if not several nights, before. First, concoct the gingerbread dough from the recipe below. Before you bake it, use patterns found on the Internet to cut out the walls and roof pieces. You’ll need to have four walls and two roof pieces ready. Bake and store in the refrigerator.
Next, make the cement icing from the recipe below. Place the icing in small plastic baggies. Refrigerate overnight.
Have small bowls ready for the candy decorations. You might want to buy a few bags of your own and have them ready in case of an unexpected guest or if someone arrives sans candy.
You will also need a small stack of bound corrugated cardboard. Each piece of cardboard should be equal to the dimensions of the house; you will use the stack to easily form their gingerbread walls. Also remember to pick up some napkins, plastic utensils, paper plates wrapped in foil (for building on) and plastic wrap (to cover the houses). For easy clean-up, cover your table with a plastic tablecloth and your floor with a plastic drop cloth.
Set the Stage
Now that all the “building materialsâ€
Suggestions for House Decoration:
Raisins, nuts, gumdrops, chocolate chips, hard candy, candied fruits, animal crackers, graham crackers, lollipops, waffle cone pieces, mini-cookies or cookie bits, shredded wheat (for roofs or for stacks of hay), popcorn, cinnamon candies, chocolate kisses, etc.
Gather the Goodies
Save time and unnecessary stress by preparing all of the house walls and glue icing the night, if not several nights, before. First, concoct the gingerbread dough from the recipe below. Before you bake it, use patterns found on the Internet to cut out the walls and roof pieces. You’ll need to have four walls and two roof pieces ready. Bake and store in the refrigerator.
Next, make the cement icing from the recipe below. Place the icing in small plastic baggies. Refrigerate overnight.
Have small bowls ready for the candy decorations. You might want to buy a few bags of your own and have them ready in case of an unexpected guest or if someone arrives sans candy.
You will also need a small stack of bound corrugated cardboard. Each piece of cardboard should be equal to the dimensions of the house; you will use the stack to easily form their gingerbread walls. Also remember to pick up some napkins, plastic utensils, paper plates wrapped in foil (for building on) and plastic wrap (to cover the houses). For easy clean-up, cover your table with a plastic tablecloth and your floor with a plastic drop cloth.
Set the Stage
Now that all the “building materialsâ€