Gingerbread house - shows how to make it start to finish from http://www.sugarcraft.com

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Instructions Gingerbread Recipe Frosting Recipe There's no better way to usher in the holiday season than by creating a gingerbread house with the ones you love. You'll have the joy of working together to create something beautiful and when you're done you'll have a decoration that will nudge you into the holiday spirit every time you see it. "Gingerbreading is one of the few activities that can be equally enjoyed by people of all ages - young children, teenagers, adults, and even grandparents," says Lori Nerbonne, of Bow, N.H. She teaches gingerbread house making, hosts annual gingerbread parties, and has even turned her love for gingerbreading into a thriving business called Gingersnaps.

You can find gingerbread patterns in magazines, books, and in kits (available at crafts and cake decorating stores, or online at www.gingerbreadvillage.com). Follow the directions in the kit, if available, or use Nerbonne's tips below. Either way, you're guaranteed to have fun.

Step 1: Making The Dough
1) Make the dough according to recipe directions (See Nerbonne's favorite gingerbread recipe included below.)

2) Shape the dough into grapefruit-sized balls, then flatten into disks.

3) Wrap each disk twice in plastic wrap, then place into zippered plastic bags.

4) Refrigerate the disks for up to one week or freeze for up to one month.

5) If frozen, place in refrigerator overnight or thaw in microwave (Start at half power for 30 seconds; remove and try to work with your hands. If necessary, thaw for a little longer in microwave).

Step 2: Rolling, Cutting, And Baking The Dough
1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees. While it is preheating, allow your first disk of dough to sit at room temperature for about 15 minutes.

2) Wash your hands. Massage the chilled dough until it is workable in your hands.

3) You will be rolling the dough, cutting it, and baking it all on the same surface. Do not use a Teflon-coated pan, as it will scratch during cutting. Apply cooking spray to a baking stone, flat cookie sheet, or the bottom of an inverted cookie sheet with sides. Place the cookie sheet or stone on a damp dishtowel to keep it still while you roll and cut the dough.

4) Place one disk of dough in the center of the sheet or stone and dust flour onto the dough and your rolling pin. (Tip: If the dough gets too soft after you've been working with it, add a tablespoon or two more flour to it to stiffen it up.)

5) Work with one disk at a time; keep the rest of the dough refrigerated.

6) Roll from the middle of the dough out to the edges. (Hint: Some people put an elastic band on each end of the rolling pin for more even rolling.) Moving from the center to the edges, roll until the dough is 1/8" to 1?4" thick. Use your hand to feel for thicker areas and roll them until even with the rest of the dough. Remember Nerbonne's rule: When in doubt, thin is better than thick. If the dough is too thick in some spots, those areas won't cook as thoroughly and will end up too soft.

7) Dust your pattern pieces with flour so that they won't stick to the dough. (Don't worry about getting flour on the dough; you won't see it when the dough is baked and dried.)


8) Lay the patterns on the dough and cut the dough around them using a paring knife, or a pizza cutter. Cut out large pieces on the same sheet and small pieces on another sheet so that all pieces cook at equal times.


9) Leave 1/4- to 1/2-inch spaces between pieces on the sheet. The dough will expand slightly during baking, but if you have rolled it out thin enough, the pieces should not overlap.

10) Roll up the scrap pieces of dough and put them back in the refrigerator. These can be used later to make smaller pieces of your house or gingerbread men for the yard.


11) Bake the pieces at 350 degrees on the center rack, one tray at a time. Larger pieces (the sides and roof of the house) will take about 20 minutes to bake, but check them after 15 minutes. Smaller pieces (door and chimney) will take about 10 or 12 minutes. When browned slightly on the edges and on the top of the dough, the pieces are done. Slightly overcooked pieces are easier to work with than those that are too spongy. As soon as you take the baked pieces out of the oven, check for uneven edges. Try not to touch the dough (you may leave an indentation if you do), but gently lay down the pattern on top of the dough and use a knife to trim off the uneven edges.

12) Allow the dough to cool on the cookie sheet for about 5-8 minutes. Then, while it is still slightly warm but firm, slide a flat spatula or hamburger flipper under each piece, working gently from the edges to the center. Transfer the baked sections to pieces of wax paper or to a cooling rack.


13) Let the pieces cool completely (about 20 minutes) before attempting to assemble the house. If you're not going to assemble the house right away, wrap the pieces in wax paper first, and then in foil, and keep them in a dry place away from all humidity. If humidity in your area is very high, refrigerate the pieces until you use them. Remember, humidity is enemy No. 1 of gingerbread houses. You can store the baked pieces for up to a month before assembling the house.


Step 3: Assembling The House 1) First, you'll need a base. When decorated, the base will serve as the "property" for your house, including a yard and walkway up to the front door. You can buy cake bases ready-made at cake-decorating stores, or you can create one in any size by using cardboard covering with foil. Some people like to use colored foil, but usually the foil is covered with frosting to create a "snowy" yard. If a child will be decorating the house, keep the base small so the yard is no more than 3-4 inches around the house. Filling in a big yard with decorations can be overwhelming for some children. Remember Nerbonne's tip: The smaller the child, the smaller the yard.

2) Think carefully about the placement of your house on the base. Sketch it out with a pencil, if that helps. Consider where your front door will be and allow yourself more yard space in the front yard than in the back.

3) Make your frosting according to recipe directions below. Always use fresh frosting when assembling the house. Leftover frosting can be refrigerated for up to a month and can be used for putting decorations on the house, but during assembly the frosting should be fresh. Cover the bowl of frosting with a damp cloth during assembly to prevent drying.


4) Spoon the frosting into a zippered sandwich-size plastic bag until it is about half full. Twist the top to squeeze the air out, and close the zipper. Using scissors, snip a tiny hole off the bottom corner of the bag; make the hole bigger only if you need to. You can also use a frosting bag and tip (available at cake decorating stores) but they are not required.


5) You are going to assemble the house in the following order: front of the house first, then one side, the other side, and the back of the house. The roof goes on last. To begin, pipe frosting along the bottom edge of the front piece of your house. Place it on the cardboard base where you would like the front of your house to be. Use a small can to support this piece until the side walls are in place.


6) Choose a house side wall piece. Pipe icing onto the bottom edge and along the front edge of this piece where it will join with the front of the house. Gently attach this piece to the inside of the front end of the house at a right angle. Repeat this procedure with the other side of the house. Remove the can.

7) Lay down the back of the house on a flat surface so that the flat side of the piece is facing you. Pipe icing along the flat sides and the bottom edge of the back; attach to the rear of the house.

8) Wait at least 15 minutes before attaching the roof. Use this time to refill your frosting bag if necessary, begin cleaning up, or set out your candy if you're going to be decorating the house the same day.


9) Working on one side at a time, pipe a generous amount of icing along the top edges of one side of the front, back, and side of the house. Place one roof piece onto the slanted ends of the front and back of your house and the straight edge of the side of the house and gently work it into place, matching up the edges as best as you can. Don't worry about small gaps; they can be filled with frosting and/or candy later.


10) Repeat the same process for the other side of the roof, but also pipe icing across the top edge of the roof piece that's already in place. This is where the two roof pieces will join at the top. Gently shimmy the second roof piece in place, making it join at the top for the roof peak. Small gaps can be patched with frosting or candy at your discretion.


11) Attach chimney (optional) in the same way in which you assembled the house - front piece first, sides, and then back piece. You can place the chimney anywhere on the roof you like.

12) Let the house set for at least 30 minutes before decorating it with candy. If the roof shifts down during this time, set a small can under the roof edge for support, reinforce with frosting, and let harden.

Step 4: Decorating The House
The goal here, says Nerbonne, is to let your imagination run wild and just have fun! Some tips...

* Cover your surface with newspaper or a disposable tablecloth for easy cleanups. Keep a trash can and wet and dry paper towels nearby.

* Create an "inspiration" book with pictures of past gingerbread houses you've made, or photos clipped from magazines of gingerbread creations, or descriptions of houses from favorite books to help people get started.


* Put your candies in individual open containers - muffin tins, washed plastic margarine tubs (great because you can reseal any extra candy with their lids), small bowls, etc.

* When decorating your house, work from the bottom up, decorating the sides, front, and back of the house first, and the roof last. Decorate the house first, then the yard, and if you're going to put a fence in your yard, make it the last thing you do.

* To affix candies onto your house, dot each piece of candy with a little frosting first and gently press it into place. For small candies, tweezers work great for placing them where you want them.


* Look for larger candies and cookies for young children to use for decorating; they're easier for small hands to work with and they fill up the surface quicker, perfect for short attention spans. To prevent roof cave-ins, avoid heavy candies or stacking the candies on the roof. Mini frosted shredded wheat makes a great "thatched" roof. Sticks of gum or fruit leather can be cut into any shape, come in many colors, and are perfect for making shutters, doors, or walkways that look like brick. Gumdrops are colorful and can be cut and pressed into different shapes and easily affixed to the house.


* Candy-coated morsels or red cinnamon candies are great for outlining areas of the house or covering seams for a more finished look.


* For yards, decorate your base with frosting "snow" before adding other outdoor decorations. Turn over ice cream cones, cover with green frosting, and add small candies to make outdoor "Christmas" trees. Young children may enjoy using store-bought cookies in the forms of trees, Santas, reindeer, or other holiday shapes. Other ideas: use spearmint leaves for bushes and trees; stacks of chocolate chewy roll candies or pretzel rods for log piles; gumdrops affixed with icing to candy canes or cinnamon sticks for lamp posts; marshmallows with string licorice tied around the middle for snowmen; pretzel sticks or knotted pretzels or candy canes turned onto their sides for fences.


* Use your decorating bag of frosting to "draw" doors, windows, shutters, wreaths, or to outline areas with dots, stars, flowers, shells, or other shapes to create decorative borders. Clumps of frosting look like snowbanks and are great when placed around the base of the house or intermingled with gumdrop "bushes" and "trees." Use drips of frosting to create icicles on the edge of your roof. Sprinkle sugar atop a frosted roof to make it glisten like real snow.

Transporting, Displaying, and Storing Your House...
The Royal frosting dries rock hard in about 20 minutes, making your gingerbread house more solid and stable than you might realize. Still, if you have to drive it someplace, make sure to put it on a flat surface in the car, away from anything that could possibly fall on it.

Display your gingerbread house in an area where people can see it, but won't bump into it, and where it's away from humidity. At the end of the season, you can eat the house (gingerbread keeps amazingly well for several weeks), or store it to take out again next year.

To store it safely, wrap the gingerbread house in tissue paper, and place it in a large cardboard box so that the edges of the house do not touch the sides of the box. Seal it tightly and store it in a closet or other place that maintains a dry, constant temperature.

Be sure to take pictures of your house to remember it always!

Recipes

Gingerbread Dough Recipe
This recipe is appropriate for gingerbread construction projects and/or cookies for decorating. It's also delicious to eat and, while baking, will make your home smell like a gingerbread factory!

This is a great dough to make with children because it requires no stovetop cooking (many other recipes do). Once baked, the pieces are sturdy and hold up well. The molasses in the recipe results in pieces that are a rich deep brown color. The taste is classic gingerbread.

Use within 48 hours after refrigerating for best results. Can be frozen up to 1 month and then thawed in the refrigerator or in the microwave.

This recipe makes 2 Gingerbread Houses.

1 1/2 cups margarine or butter
2 1/2 cups brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
7 tsp. ginger
4 tsp. cinnamon
2 tsp. cloves
2 tsp. nutmeg
1 cups molasses (dark or light)
1/2 cup water
7 to 8 cups all-purpose flour

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream butter and sugar. Blend in salt, soda, and spices. Stir in molasses and water. Add 4 cups flour and mix, then add 4 more and mix until thoroughly blended. If you have one, you can use a heavy-duty mixer. Otherwise, use a wooden spoon and then your hands as dough becomes stiffer. A regular kitchen mixer cannot handle the weight of this dough. Divide dough in quarters or halves. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least one hour.

Bake the pieces at 350 degrees on the center rack, one tray at a time. Larger pieces (the sides and roof of the house) will take about 20 minutes to bake, but check them after 15 minutes. Smaller pieces (door and chimney) will take about 10 or 12 minutes. When browned slightly on the edges and on the top of the dough, the pieces are done.

Royal Frosting
This frosting dries quickly; it begins to set up within 5-10 minutes. It dries to a hard, glossy finish and literally holds gingerbread pieces together like glue or mortar. Because this recipe uses dried egg whites instead of fresh, it's safe to eat - a relief if kids are helping because they have a natural instinct to put their fingers in their mouths.

4 cups confectioners sugar (1 pound)
3 Tbs. meringue powder
6 to 8 Tbs. warm water

Combine sugar and meringue powder. Add water and blend with electric mixer on medium speed for 6 to 8 minutes or until mixture holds a peak. Consistency should be close to toothpaste - easy to push through a frosting bag. If too stiff, add 1 tsp. water at a time until desired consistency.