#11 1/2. Gingerbread House (Bonus Recipe)

These are so much fun to make, just the decorating, the baking, they're very interactive. They're so pretty too, and every time you walk by your own house on display, you'll be very proud. Plus they'll put you in a Christmas mood right away.

Here is a basic cookie recipe for gingerbread. To make a house with this I would triple the recipe, depending on what size house you are planning on making. This one is basic, it has 4 sides, 2 sides are rectangles, the other 2 sides are squares with a triangle as one piece, then 2 pieces for the roof. To glue the house together caramel was made (this makes it very sturdy, and you can decorate it immediately instead of waiting, the waiting way would be to use royal icing). When planning your house, draw, and cut out the sides on parchment paper first. Put these on top of the dough, and with a pizza cutter, go around the stencil. Rolling out the gingerbread to 1/2" should be good. Start with a smaller house, maybe like 9" wide, 12" tall. Display it on a round sheet tray with powdered sugar around it. Buy lots of different colorful candies to decorate the house with.

Gingerbread:

2C all purpose flour
1T ground ginger
1t ground cinnamon
1/2t salt
1/4t ground cloves
1/4t ground nutmeg
1/4t baking soda
1 stick butter or 4oz shortening
1/3C dark brown sugar
1 egg
1/3C unsulphured molasses

Cream the fat with sugar, add the egg, then the molasses, add the dry, mix till combined. Cool for 2 hours at least in plastic wrap. Roll out using lots of flour, use your stencil and lay it on top of the dough. Cut out your sides. Bake at 350F, depending on your size of house, starting at 30 minutes, it must be solid. Cool. Put together. Decorate with royal icing.

Caramel:

1 stainless steel pot
2C sugar
1/2C water

with a clean, wet hand make sure all the sugar is wet, and that the sides of the pot are clean.
Boil. This will take a while. When the edges start to brown a little turn down the heat to medium, do not stir or the sugar will crystalize. The sugar will be ready when it is a caramel color. Take it off the heat, don't let it get too dark, because it will continue to darken, and it will be harder to work with. When it is a light brown start using it, work fast with rubber gloves and an off set spatula.

Have your gingerbread pieces baked and cooled, place then on parchment and dip one side in the pot, stick the other side to that etc. Use the spatula for more detailed areas. Even pour some caramel on the inside corners of the house to strengthen them. You must work fast, or it will not stick as it cools quickly. It will be messy, but you can cover up the imperfections with your decorations.

Royal Icing:
10oz confectioner's sugar
2 egg whites
1T lemon juice

whisk till smooth. If it is too loose, add more sugar, you don't want it to spread, test it on a flat surface. If it looks good, put it in a piping bag with a small tip. Keep it in a damp cloth, so it doesn't dry out. Use this to make different colors, add food coloring. White, red and green are good colors. The other colors will come from using candies.
To pipe the icicles, use a an extra large piping tip.