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The creation of gingerbread houses is a common tradition at Christmas.
The first aspect of creating the perfect gingerbread house is making sure you have a strong foundation. There are many recipes online for making firm gingerbread, which usually uses less butter to ensure the pieces bake hard. Alternatively, pre-made pieces can be purchased in the store or online, and graham crackers work as a good substitute if gingerbread isn’t your thing.
When making gingerbread, it is a good idea to use a template for precise cuts. Just like building a real house, if the pieces aren’t cut to specific specifications, the house won’t have the integrity it needs to stand firm.
The theme of your gingerbread house is also very important as it will allow the gingerbread decorations to remain consistent. For instance, if you want to go with a Candy Cane Lane style, make sure to buy plenty of candy canes or hard candies with swirls or looping patterns. Winter Wonderland is also a popular theme and can use ingredients such as coconut or snowflake-shaped sprinkles as an element.
Don’t forget to secure your decorations with construction-grade royal icing. If you want to make your house a little bit different the rest, don’t be afraid to dye to the royal icing a colours like red or green, and use multiple colours during creation. It’s best to make the icing on your own as store-bought icing usually doesn’t hold up as well.
It is strongly recommended that you decorate the walls and roof of your gingerbread house before you begin assembly. If you decorate beforehand, you can easily end up losing decorations you have already placed on the individual pieces. Once the house is put together, don’t add any other decorations you may have missed (like icicles) until the icing has dried, usually overnight.
For finishing touches, go back and add icing to any area where sharp edges are exposed. You can also use any leftover icing as a base for snow or a sprinkle of powdered sugar will also do the trick!
Once finished, don’t forget to take a picture to share with family and friends. While gingerbread houses look good to the eyes, they are also good to the taste and pieces will start going missing as the days go by.
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Photo Credit: ID 17816778 © Kati Finell | Dreamstime.com
