how to make gingerbread houses?

Answer 1

This is going to be a lot of reading but it contains the bread recipe and frosting, decorating and construction directions.
Have fun! It is easier to buy the kit at Walmart but this response is for those who like to create things on their own.


6 cups all purpose flour
1 3/4 cups sugar
2/3 cups shortening
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon ground ginger
2 teaspoons double-acting baking powder
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 eight-ounce container sour cream
2 eggs

To prepare dough: Into large bowl, ,measure 3 1/2 cups flour and remaining ingredients. With mixer at low speed, beat until well mixed, constantly scraping bowl with rubber spatula. With hand, knead in remaining 2 1/2 cups flour to make a soft dough. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate 2 hours or until dough is not sticky and is of easy kneading consistency.

To roll dough: Keep refrigerated until ready to use. Working with half of a batch at a time on a lightly floured work surface with lightly floured hands, knead dough until smooth. Then on a greased and floured 17" x 14" cookie sheet, with lightly floured rolling pin roll dough to 3/16" or 1/8" thickness. You can use dowels ofthe same size at either side of the dough on the cookie sheet to help create a uniform thickness. (For easy rolling, place cookie sheet on a damp cloth to prevent it from slipping.)

To cut and bake dough: Make your pattern pieces of heavy cardboard. Lay them on the dough and using a sharp knife use as many pieces as you can from the rolled dough on your cookie sheet, leaving at least 1/2" inch between the pieces. Remove scraps and reserve for re rolling. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. (Place cookie sheet in the refrigerator if there is room while the oven preheats. Bake until golden brown and very firm when lightly touched with your finger. Remove cookie sheet from oven and cool on wire rack 5 minutes. Carefully remove the baked pieces from cookie sheet and place on wire rack to cool completely.

Note: If you need to do some trimming do it while the cookie dough is warm out of the oven.

You may need to make several batches of dough to complete your project, but don't multiply and try to do it all at once...the process just doesn't work that way.



Alternative Recipe:


I've used this recipe a few times and find it works well, particularly because you DO NOT chill it. In fact if it gets cold you must get it warm again to use it.


1 cup vegetable shortening
1 cup sugar
1 cup dark molasses or corn syrup (dark gives dark, chocolate colored dough; corn syrup gives light dough...or use half molasses and half corn syrup for a medium colored dough)



Melt these three items in a pot over low heat.


Remove from heat and stir in
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ginger
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon cinnamon



Then stir in 4-4 1/2 cups of flour, 1 cup at a time. (You may have to enlist the help of an electric mixer on the last cup as the dough gets quite thick and hard to stir. Split the dough into manageable balls, wrapping excess in plastic wrap. Roll out, cut pieces, bake at 375 for 6-12 minutes.



Note: If you feel like the dough isn't working well, heat it in the microwave about 10 seconds to warm it, knead again and then roll it.






CONSTRUCTION TIPS




To assure proper fit, check gingerbread pieces before assembling; if necessary shave edges with a rasp (sold in hardware stores) or a sharp knife. When assembling gingerbread pieces with icing, work with pastry bag with medium tip. Check vertical angles of major pieces with a right triangle or carpenter's square.

To attach right angle pieces: Pipe a line along the edge of one piece; press it against the adjoining piece and hold it in place for several minutes until the icing sets. Let dry thoroughly propping attached pieces with a sturdy small object. When dry, smooth seams with a damp cloth; fill in any spaces with more icing.

For extra stability, pipe icing along the inside seams as well. Allow to stand for an hour until the icing has completely dried before decorating.






ICING

(makes 2 cups, you'll probably have to make several batches)



Egg White Icing

3 egg whites
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 (16 oz box) confectioners powdered sugar

In a large bowl combine all ingredients. Beat 7 minutes with an electric mixer until smooth and thick.. A good test is when a knife blade drawn through the icing leave a clean cut. Store in a tightly sealed container if you are not using it right away.





Second Method




MERINGUE POWDER ROYAL ICING

3 Tablespoons Meringue Powder (available where cake decorating supplies are sold)
1 1 LB box (3 3/4 cups) confectioner’s sugar
4-6 Tablespoons cold water

Put dry ingredients together, add half the water, then add more water as needed. The consistency of the icing should be thick, where a knife can be drawn through it leaving a clean path...but not so thick it won’t go through an icing tip. Takes about 2-3 minutes with this method.



ICING TIPS





You will need a basic knowledge of decorating with icing tips and bags to make gingerbread structures.

If you have never done this before, practice first. Go to a cake decorating store and buy a Wilton book. It will show you techniques and give you lots of ideas.

Buy some disposable plastic pastry bags, and some tips.

You can use tips you like some of the ones I use over and over are:

Round tip 1
Round tip 2
Round tip 3

You will also need what are called “couplers” . Buy several, you will want to have one for each color of icing you plan to use...buy at least 5.

These are two piece sets, half goes inside the pastry bag, the other piece holds the tip on the pastry bag. If you are not familiar with this ask at the cake decorating store...it’s really easy, but like anything else, if you have not done it before, it’s a little hard to explain.







Mixing icing is a double edged sword. It’s much easier to mix it all ahead, but you need to use it in a timely fashion or it hardens. I usually mix it up, and try to fold the pastry bags over to keep the top from drying out. If I need to keep icing overnight I put it in a Tupperware container right in the bags. They sell “covers” for the tips to be used for storage, but in my opinion they don’t make that much difference. You are going to have to unclog the tips anyway if you leave them sit for any period of time.

Keep toothpicks handy for cleaning out tips, and a paint brush works well too for getting into the points of the tips.

Toothpicks work well for helping correct errors, keep some handy. Coloring icing :

Color small batches of this icing as needed with Wilton decorating pastes, which are much more intense and not watery like liquid food colors.

Using the pastry bags: This is a simple matter of practice. Practice on wax paper before you try and decorate on the house.

You might also want to decorate the house pieces flat before putting them together. It can be much easier to do intricate decorations flat rather than trying to work vertically.




Painting

Another technique I use a lot is “painting”. I put a little icing into a small container or bowl and then add just the smallest amount of water. In fact sometimes I just wet the paintbrush and then stir the paint with it and that is enough water. You then paint the gingerbread pieces. The result when the icing dries is a smooth coating with no visible brush lines.



Decorating Techniques:

Sometimes it is better to decorate elaborate pieces flat, then assemble the pieces.

Answer 2

Look it up on google.... Basicly you cook gingerbread in the shape of the four walls and roof, decorate them with icing sugar and lollies when they are dry and then stick the walls together with the icing sugar also. Make sure you make the icing with egg whites not butter, or else it wont harden well enough to stick....

Answer 3

You will need:

a pattern
one batch of gingerbread dough
four to five batches icing glue
cookie sheets
aluminium foil
room temperature butter
flour
rolling pin
knives
spatula
cooling racks
a plywood base on which to put the house
six unopened pop cans (to hold up the roof while icing dries)
pastry bags and tips (if you don't have them, use a knife and spread the icing)
lots of candies (lifesavers make good stained glass windows; ginger snaps make great shingles)
The Pattern
Cut from paper the following:

Roof: 2 rectangles, 7 inches by 11 inches
Side walls: 2 rectangles, 5"x8"
Front and Back: base 5", total height 9". Cut door from front.

/\ /\ -
/ \ / \ 4 inches
/ \ / \ _
| | | | |
| _ | | | 5 inches
| | | | | | |
|_|_|__| |______| _

|--5"--| |--5"--|

Chimney: (optional) 1" wide.
_ _ _ _
| | | | | | | |
| | |_| | | | |
| | | / \ |
|_| |/ \|
Front Back Side1 Side2
2.5" tall 1.5" tall

Dough
Day 1

1 cup butter at room temperature
1 3/4 cups brown sugar
1 1/4 cups white sugar
2 tablespoons molasses
6 eggs
6 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 tablespoon ground ginger
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon allspice

Line Several cookie sheets with aluminium foil. Butter and flour the foil.
In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugars. Beat in the molasses and eggs.

In another large bowl, sift dry ingredients. Combine mixtures and knead into a smooth ball. Cover and refrigerate at least 30 minutes.

On a well-floured surface, roll out a small amount of the dough until it's 1/4 inch thick. Place one of the paper pattern pieces on the dough and cut around the edges. Gently, using the spatula, lift the dough and place it on the prepared cookie sheet.

Put all scraps into a bowl and cover. Save these for the kids to play with, or to make gingerbread men.

To make windows and the door: Cut out a rectangle from the appropriate side. Cut the window in half to make shutters. Fill empty window holes with crushed life-savers to form stained glass windows.

To make the chimney: Cut out a rectangle big enough to hold all pieces of the chimney. When the baked dough is still warm and soft, lay the pattern on top and cut out the pieces.

Preheat the oven to 325oF. Bake 15-20 minutes or until slightly firm. Let cool on racks until firm enough to handle. Peel the foil off the sections and set the pieces aside to dry thoroughly overnight.


Icing Glue
Day 2
This recipe is for a single batch. You will probably need several, but if you make them all at once, keep them in separate bowls: it dries very quickly and is like cement. Keep it well covered: one piece of saran wrap touching the icing itself and another on the bowl.


3 egg whites
1 1/2 teaspoons cream of tartar
3 - 3 1/2 cups icing sugar

In a large bowl, beat the egg whites until they begin to foam. Add the cream of tartar and beat until the whites are stiff but not dry. Gradually beat in the icing sugar, beating for about 5 minutes until it reaches spreading consistency. Keep it covered and refrigerated until needed.
To Assemble
Day 2
Cover the plywood base with aluminium foil. Pipe (or spread with a knife) two straight lines of glue at a 90o angle from each other: one for a side wall and another for an end wall. Pipe glue on the side wall where it will meet the end wall. Place walls on base, touching each other. Hold them in place until they are dry enough to stand on their own (about 15 minutes, and you can use those pop cans as support).

Repeat with the remaining two walls, running a line of icing glue along the corners so that all the walls are glued together. Again hold walls in place until the glue is dry.

Let the roof-less house dry at least 30 minutes until the icing is firmly set.

Banish small children from kitchen; find an extra pair of hands. Pipe a lot of icing along the tops of all the walls. Run a thick line along one long side of a roof. Stick the two roof sections together at an angle and sit the two pieces on top of the house. Make sure that the roof overhang is the same at both ends of the house.

Hold the roof gently in place until it dries (the pop cans should be the right height to support them). Let dry half an hour.

While the roof is drying, attach the door to the doorway by running a line of icing glue down one side and along the base. Make sure the door is open wide enough to slide a small flashlight inside later (so you can appreciate the stained glass windows). To attach the chimney: on one side of the roof near the peak, glue one angled piece to the roof. Glue the largest rectangle to the angled piece, then glue the second angled piece in place. Lastly, if there's room, glue the smallest rectangle to the other sections. Hide any mistakes under a "snow" of icing.

Let the house dry until completely solid, preferably overnight.

To Decorate
Day 3
Remove the soda cans. Attach shutters to windows. Decorate by gluing candy to house.

And there u go!!! One Beautiful Gingerbread House!!

Answer 4

Hire little gingerbread men.
Ha Ha, I have no clue. I do know it is not as easy as Martha or any magazine makes it out to be.
Good Luck.
Happy Holiday!

Answer 5

go to the store & buy those gingerbread house kits.

Answer 6

Ok follow the link I've provided it tells you everything from the dough to the icing to the chimney to the little house decorations. Good Luck!

Answer 7

Log on to Martha Stewart's website or Sunset or any other cooking magazine, I am sure they all have instructions. It is time consuming but pretty neat.

Answer 8

Buy the box sets. They're great.

Answer 9

you can just buy graham crackers and icing and maybe some candy to make it pretty

Answer 10

bake ginger bread but dut them in to house shapes before cooking then use frosting to hold them togther and candy to decorate hope this hlps pls add me thanks

Answer 11

get some ginger brad and put it all over ut house. there it is!