Gingerbread House

Gingerbread House

1 1/4 cups sugar
3/4 cup maple syrup
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon ground cloves
1 tablespoon ground ginger
3/4 cup whipping cream
1 stick butter, melted
2 teaspoons baking soda
4 cups flour

Making the Dough
Measure all ingredients into a large mixing bowl. Mix well with a sturdy wooden spoon until completely smooth and free of lumps. (If the dough feels too heavy to mix with the wooden spoon, put your hand into it and knead it till smooth.) Cover tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least overnight, preferably for two days. This recipe makes one small gingerbread house and several dozen small cookies.

Cutting Out the Parts
Here are drawings for a traditional gingerbread cottage -->
(Click for a larger image.)

Procedure
On a well-floured board, roll out about 1/5 of the dough to a thickness of a little more than 1/16 of an inch. Roll from the center out. After a few passes with the rolling pin, lift the dough off the board to rotate and, if necessary, to add flour to prevent sticking. Keep your hands and the rolling pin floured as well. Working in a cool kitchen helps, too.

Lay the paper patterns over the dough and cut along the edges with a sharp knife, pizza cutter, or cookie cutter. (For a traditional cottage: one end wall should have a door as in the picture on top of this page; the other end should have a window. ) Remove each piece with a spatula immediately after cutting and place on a buttered cookie sheet. Roll out additional dough as needed to cut out all the house pieces. Then cut trees, shrubs, people, animals, skis, fences, ladders--whatever you would like to see in the "yard". Use another large chunk of dough to roll out a 10x12 inch oval, slightly thicker than the house pieces. This will be the "lot" your house will stand on.

Bake the pieces for five or six minutes in 350°. (As oven temperatures vary, bake a test cookie first.) Keep an eye on the small pieces to keep them from turning too dark. Let set for a minute or two on the cookie sheet, then remove carefully with a spatula and let cool on a wire rack or wooden board. Because it is thicker, the "lot" will take several minutes longer to cook.

Decorating the House
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
5 teaspoons water

Mix powdered sugar and water in a small mixing bowl untiul spreading consistency. If necessay, make small adjustments in the amounts of sugar and water. If you do not have pastry bag, make a funnel out of piece of waxed paper folded in two. Roll into a cone and secure with two or three pins. Fill with frosting and cut a small hole in the tip. Carefully squeeze out frosting to draw a straight or wavy line around all the house pieces. Draw shingles on the roof and add hearts and other little touches where they look nice. (Here's where you get creative even if using my standard house design. The decoration says it's your very own house.) Let dry several hours, preferably overnight, before assembling the house.

Putting the House Together
Place 1/2 cup of sugar in frying pan. Melt carefully over medium heat. It will take 3-4 minutes for the melting to start, but once it begins, it happens fairly quickly. When the sugar begins to turn brown around the edges, begin to stir to finish melting quickly, because sugar burns easily. Then turn the heat down and keep it as low as possible. The sugar should remain liquid but not start turning really brown.

Working carefully (Ouch! Hot sugar hurts!) but quickly, dip the bottom of the back wall in the melted sugar and place it in the back of the "lot". Hold for a few seconds to set. The sugar hardens quickly and the wall will soon stand on its own. Then pick up a side wall. Dip the end that will form a corner with the back wall, then dip the bottom, and press the wall in place. Repeat with the remaining walls. Watch out for your fingers! If the sugar hardens too quickly to form a good joint, pick up extra sugar with a teaspoon and pour it into place. To put on the roof, use a teaspoon to put some sugar on top of the walls and press the roof sections in place. Drizzle an extra spoonful of sugar where the roof sections meet to reinforce the seam.

Decorate the yard as you wish with trees, animals, and people, Walnuts make nice rocks, and raisins and chocolate chips can edge garden paths. Last of all, put some powdered sugar in a tea strainer and make a snowfall.

If you want to use your imagination and three-dimensional design skills, go ahead and create your own architectural drawings.

Gingerbread House Hall of Fame

Rachel, Amanda, and Janice 2015:

Rachel's House:

David's Castles:

David's Spaceship:

Heikki's Houses:

Heikki 2015: Storm damage on the outhouse.