Gingerbread house recipes on how to make multi-colored icing. Gingerbread. Recipe. Design ideas. Adviсe

To make familiar confectionery products elegant and festive, confectioners created a special coating based on powdered sugar. Glaze not only makes gingerbread cookies beautiful, but also allows them to stay fresh longer. Before you prepare icing for painting on gingerbread cookies, check out the recipes and varieties of this decoration.

How to make gingerbread icing

There are many types of coating for confectionery. It is prepared on the basis of egg white or powdered sugar with the addition of coloring components (cocoa, vegetable and fruit juices, modern artificial colors). Some housewives mistakenly believe that fondant for Easter cakes and buns is also suitable for cookies, but this is not entirely true. Glaze for gingerbread has its own preparation characteristics.

Preparing Ingredients

To make a beautiful, high-quality decoration for cookies, you need to carefully prepare the products:

Powdered sugar. It must be sifted through a fine sieve - not a single grain should remain. Can be prepared from regular granulated sugar, but then you need to grind it in a coffee grinder as finely as possible. Experts recommend not to do without powdered sugar.
Squirrels. Separate the yolks from the whites very carefully so that not a single gram of yolk gets in protein mass.
Pastry syringe or special tools very useful for decorating cookies.
Small plates (bowls) are needed for mixing new colors.

Glaze for painting gingerbread cookies - recipe

Once all the ingredients are prepared, you need to process them properly. Place the whites in a container with sifted powder and start beating at low speed, gradually increasing it. The consistency of the protein mass should resemble white thick foam. Run a spoon over it - the mark should remain for 10 seconds. This is a sign that the base is ready. Next, the recipe for gingerbread glaze may vary; new components are added to the mixture depending on the color.

Icing

Number of servings: 6 persons.
Calorie content of the dish: 305 kcal.
Purpose: decoration.
Cuisine: European.

This beautiful word is used to describe the royal icing used to cover gingerbread and cookies. The finished tops of the desserts resemble snowdrifts, which is how the name is translated. Fondant is made from a sugar-protein mass, to which dyes are added and used as a decoration for gingerbread cookies or cakes. Depending on the purpose of preparation (filling or painting), the sugar glaze for gingerbread cookies can be thicker or thinner. This is adjusted by adding water or powdered sugar.

Ingredients:

lemon juice – 15 g;
powdered sugar – 150 g;
egg – 1 pc.

Cooking method:

Carefully separate the white from the yolk. Whisk the egg whites until smooth.
Once it is mixed, add the sifted powdered sugar and mix.
Add lemon juice, stir well to desired consistency.
The finished icing can be colored and applied to gingerbread cookies.

Dry

Cooking time: 30 minutes.
Number of servings: 6 persons.
Calorie content of the dish: 300 kcal.
Purpose: decoration.
Cuisine: European.

To make decorations for gingerbread from albumin (dry protein), you only need protein, water and powder. This icing is used for inscriptions and outlines of drawings, for filling the surface of products and for gluing (in the manufacture three-dimensional figures– houses, other structures). Glaze for gingerbread from dry protein is easy to prepare at home, strictly following all the rules.

Ingredients:

dry protein – 15 g;
cold water – 85 ml;
fine powdered sugar – 450-500 g.

Cooking method:

Pour albumin into a bowl, dilute with water, mix thoroughly and let stand for 15-20 minutes until it dissolves well.
Start beating at low speed with a mixer, gradually adding powdered sugar in portions.
Beat until the consistency resembles soft peaks, meaning the fudge should hold its shape for a while when you remove the whisk.
>Once the mass has become glossy and shiny, you can start painting.

White

Cooking time: 30 minutes.
Number of servings: 6 persons.
Calorie content of the dish: 278 kcal.
Purpose: decoration.
Cuisine: European.
Difficulty of preparation: medium.

This fondant has a thick, elastic consistency, great for decorating gingerbread cookies. After drying, it becomes even, smooth, does not crack or crumble. Recipe royal icing simple, but you need to approach the preparation with all responsibility. If you suddenly have any additional questions, you can find videos and master classes on making veneers online./p>

Ingredients:

egg – 1 pc.;
powdered sugar – 200 g;
lemon juice – 25 ml.

Cooking method:

Carefully separate the white from the yolk until it is transparent. If necessary, carefully remove the fibers with a fork.
Sift the powder through a sieve or cheesecloth and add in portions to the protein mass.
Stir the fudge with a spatula until the mixture turns snow-white.
At this stage, add lemon juice and stir for another 2 minutes. If you have to draw thin, contour lines, then white glaze for gingerbread it should be thick and not spread. This can be adjusted using powdered sugar - add it little by little, constantly stirring the mass.

From sugar and water

Cooking time: 30 minutes.
Number of servings: 6 persons.
Calorie content of the dish: 263 kcal.
Purpose: decoration.
Cuisine: European.
Difficulty of preparation: easy.

The fondant prepared according to this recipe will turn out translucent, it is easy to cover gingerbread cookies and glue together parts for the house. The manufacturing process does not take much time, and the recipe consists of two simple ingredients: sugar and water. As soon as the icing is ready, it needs to be allowed to cool slightly to a temperature of 70-80C, and only then can you begin to decorate the products.

Ingredients:

powdered sugar – 450 g;
warm water – 8 tbsp.

Cooking method:

Pour powdered sugar into the container, which must first be sifted.
Gradually add water, stirring the mixture with a wooden spatula or whisk.
The glaze from sugar and water should become homogeneous, without lumps. To achieve the desired consistency, beat the mixture with a mixer. The next step is to boil the syrup.
Place the container on the fire and begin to gradually heat for 1 minute - this will completely dissolve the sugar. Cool the mixture slightly and decorate the gingerbread cookies.

Lemon

Cooking time: 30 minutes.
Number of servings: 6 persons.
Calorie content of the dish: 269 kcal.
Purpose: decoration.
Cuisine: European.
Difficulty of preparation: easy.

If you are afraid of using raw eggs, then try preparing icing based on lemon juice. Sourish fruit juice goes well with the sweetness of the powder - it turns out very delicious decoration. Sugar glaze with lemon juice is suitable for decorating Czech gingerbread cookies, cupcakes and Easter cakes. If you don’t have lemon juice on hand, you can prepare a glaze with citric acid.

Ingredients:

lemon juice – 2 tbsp. l. or lemon acid– 0.5 tsp;
powdered sugar – 3 tbsp;
butter – 100 g.

Cooking method:

In a saucepan, mix butter and powder and rub well.
Gradually introduce lemon juice or acid, previously diluted with 50 milliliters of water.
Grind the mixture thoroughly until it has a homogeneous consistency.
If you need to apply fondant to a cupcake, then make it thinner, and if you are going to paint gingerbread, then make it thicker.

Protein

Number of servings: 6 persons.
Calorie content of the dish: 282 kcal.
Purpose: decoration.
Cuisine: European.
Difficulty of preparation: easy.

There are many subtleties and secrets in preparing icing. For example, protein-sugar glaze should not spread, but drip slowly. To do this, you cannot beat the egg whites too much - the mass will become saturated with oxygen and begin to bubble. Lemon juice should be added drop by drop, stirring constantly so that the icing reaches the desired consistency. Store the frosting in the refrigerator in an airtight container.

Ingredients:

lemon juice – 10 g;
egg white – 1 pc.;
powder – 230 g;

Cooking method:

Take a clean container, place the protein in it, add lemon juice.
Whisk the ingredients, gradually adding powdered sugar.
As soon as the mass becomes homogeneous, it hangs from the whisk and does not flow - the preparation of the egg white glaze is finished. The perfect homemade fudge is ready - you can start making painted gingerbread cookies.

Multicolored

Cooking time: 20 minutes.
Number of servings: 6 persons.
Calorie content of the dish: 247 kcal.
Purpose: decoration.
Cuisine: European.
Difficulty of preparation: easy.

How to make beautiful gingerbread cookies, how to cover and decorate? On the Internet you can find many master classes on making gingerbread - honey, ginger, custard, Tula and others. They are often decorated with multi-colored mastic. Many housewives have repeatedly asked the question: how to make colored glaze using whenever possible natural dyes.

Ingredients:

powder – 200 g;
lemon juice – 2 tbsp. l.;
carrot, spinach, cherry, beet juice– 1 tbsp. l.;
egg whites- 2 pcs.

Cooking method:

Sift the powder through a sieve into deep container, mix with egg white and lemon juice.
Whisk the mixture to the desired consistency.
Divide the entire volume into 4 parts and place in bowls. Pour a tablespoon of the desired dye into each of them and stir.
Colored glaze for gingerbread must be uniform, without lumps; only this mass can be applied to the products.

No eggs

Cooking time: 20 minutes.
Number of servings: 6 persons.
Calorie content of the dish: 304 kcal.
Purpose: decoration.
Cuisine: European.
Difficulty of preparation: easy.

This type of vegetarian, Lenten glazing can be safely used to decorate children's gingerbread cookies, cookies, and cakes. Eggless icing hardens very quickly, so you need to quickly apply it to slightly cooled products. For flavor, you can add a little vanilla concentrate or get by with lemon juice. If you are decorating gingerbread cookies, this master class will be very useful.

Ingredients:

powder – 280 g;
lemon juice – 4 tsp;
water – 4 tbsp. l..

Cooking method:

Sift the powdered sugar into a bowl.
Pour in lemon juice drop by drop, constantly rubbing the mixture.
Enter warm water, knead very well. If you need to change the consistency, add water or a little more powder. Drop a little icing onto a plate - the drop should not spread.

Made from white chocolate

Cooking time: 30 minutes.
Number of servings: 6 persons.
Calorie content of the dish: 312 kcal.
Purpose: decoration.
Cuisine: European.
Difficulty of preparation: medium.

Just the name of this icing makes you want to bake homemade gingerbread cookies or make a gingerbread house for children. Before making white chocolate frosting for Christmas gingerbread, stock up on a bar quality chocolate, butter, milk. The mass will need to be cooked over low heat or in a water bath in a saucepan with thick walls so that nothing burns.

Ingredients:

White chocolate– 200 g;
butter – 200 g;
milk – 50 ml;
sugar – 1 tbsp;
salt - a pinch;
vanillin - a pinch.

Cooking method:

Break it into pieces chocolate bar, place everything in a saucepan.
Place the diced butter here too.
Place the container on water bath: To do this, bring water to a boil in a wide saucepan, then place a saucepan over it so that the bottom does not touch the boiling water.
Stirring constantly, bring the mixture until smooth. Add sugar, pour in milk and simmer until the fudge thickens.
Immediately remove the saucepan from the heat, place it in a container with very cold water and beat with a mixer until the milk icing begins to separate from the whisk.

Chocolate

Cooking time: 30 minutes.
Number of servings: 6 persons.
Calorie content of the dish: 298 kcal.
Purpose: decoration.
Cuisine: European.
Difficulty of preparation: medium.

This original way preparing icing does not require brewing the components. The recipe for chocolate glaze with starch does not contain butter or sour cream, it fits perfectly on hot and cooled baked goods and does not harden too quickly. To make delicious fudge, it is better to use dark dark chocolate - it has perfect taste and consistency.

Ingredients:

potato starch – 25 g;
cocoa powder – 3 tbsp;
powdered sugar – 100 g;
water – 3 tbsp.

Cooking method:

Pour pre-sifted powdered sugar into a bowl, add starch and cocoa.
Pour in very cold water gradually and begin rubbing.
The mass should become glossy, shiny, and have a uniform consistency.

How to decorate gingerbread cookies with icing

What could it be the best decoration New Year's holidays, a gift for friends and children? Homemade glazed gingerbread cookies or gingerbread houses, lovingly decorated and gifted from the heart. Pay attention to a simple master class that will help you decide how and with what to paint treats, and what painting technique to choose:

Decide on a cookie recipe, select molds for making it. If you don’t have special ones at hand, then cut them out of cardboard using patterns. Samples of such gingerbread cookies can be found in abundance on the Internet or you can come up with your own.
If there is a complex pattern on the gingerbread, then it is better to first outline it with a food marker and only then start painting the gingerbread with icing.
Fill a pastry bag or syringe with the thinnest nozzle with the prepared icing.
Make multi-colored icing based on the colors of the design and place it in bowls.
Start drawing with the outline - trace it and wait until it is completely dry, take your time.
Apply base - White color in the center of the gingerbread, dry.
When the cookies are fully decorated with the desired colors, sometimes you want to highlight special details. To do this, go over them again, applying another layer.
If you want to decorate the products with confectionery powder, do it immediately, before the icing dries, so that the decoration does not fall off.
To decorate very small details, you can use toothpicks.
The most important rule is to take your time and allow all layers to dry thoroughly.

Tools

Making gingerbread houses and men belongs to the category confectionery art. But don’t think that you can’t master it to the common man. Show creativity, decorate gingerbread cookies with your children, and let it not be a professional painting, but just a beautiful, elegant gingerbread made with soul. To decorate cookies at home, you need to have the following tools for painting gingerbread cookies with icing:

Pastry bag with different nozzles.
Small spoons.
Toothpicks or needles.
Pastry silicone spatulas.

If you don’t have some professional tools at hand, then you can use a simple, very thick food-grade polyethylene bag, having first cut off a small corner from it. Some housewives manage to paint gingerbread cookies using a regular stationery file, in which they also cut off a corner. The main thing in this process is to get used to it, try to make a few curls, draw an outline, and then everything will go like clockwork.

Basic rules for decorating gingerbread cookies:

They should be completely cooled and rest for several hours after baking.
The glaze should have a homogeneous structure, be slightly thicker than sour cream and not drip from a spoon, like sugar syrup.
Prepare samples of the patterns you will use in advance and place them in front of you to clearly observe all the nuances.

Learn how to cook and many more you will find in step by step photos and video tutorials.

Video

Hi all! Now there is a lot of work and very little free time, so I appear here in bursts. But, my conscience did not allow me to leave you without a recipe for New Year's gingerbread))) So take it)) I think I wrote everything down in detail, but if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask))

For gingerbread you will need:

For the test:

Honey	200 gr.
Egg	1 PC.
Flour	500 gr.
Sugar	100 gr.
Butter	130 gr.
Cocoa powder	1 tbsp.
Baking powder	1 sachet (10 g.)
Ground ginger	1 tsp.
Cinnamon	0.5 tsp
Vanilla sugar	1 sachet (25 gr.)
Nutmeg	0.5 tsp

For the glaze:

Egg white	1 PC.
Powdered sugar	about 250 gr.
Lemon juice	1 tsp
Food dyes	optional

First you need to heat the honey with sugar and spices. The taste of gingerbread will depend on the type of honey. I like it more delicate taste so I use the regular one flower honey. If you want a rich taste, use buckwheat honey. The same goes for spices. You can optionally add cardomom, citrus zest, ground cloves, etc. It's a matter of taste. Place honey, sugar, spices in a small saucepan, vanilla sugar, baking powder and cocoa powder. And put it on the stove to heat, stirring constantly.

After a few minutes, the mass will lighten and begin to foam. When the contents of the saucepan are a creamy mass, remove from heat. In this photo I showed how ready mass should look like.

Pour the hot mixture into a bowl and add softened butter. Mix well. Then beat in the egg and mix again. It is not necessary to use a mixer or whisk. Simply stir well with a spatula or spoon. Gradually add flour and knead the dough. You may need a little more flour than indicated in the recipe. It all depends on the flour itself. The dough should not be very elastic and should not stick to your hands.

Ready gingerbread dough wrap it in cling film and put it in the refrigerator to “ripen” for 1.5 - 2 hours.

Prepare cookie cutters and disposable pastry bags.

After the dough has “ripened”, take it out of the refrigerator and roll it out into a layer about 4 - 5 mm thick. If the dough is rolled out too thin, the gingerbread cookies will not be soft. Gingerbread is baked at 180 degrees for about 7 - 12 minutes. If the gingerbreads have lightened and the edges are slightly browned, then the gingerbread is ready. It can still be very tender and soft, so you need to remove the gingerbread cookies from the baking sheet carefully and preferably with a flat, wide spatula. It is better to cool on a wire rack or parchment paper so that the gingerbreads do not get soggy from the steam.

While the gingerbread cookies are cooling, make the glaze. To prepare protein glaze, use only fresh, well-washed chicken eggs. Lightly beat the egg whites with a whisk. You don't need to beat it for long, just enough to create bubbles. If you beat the protein too much, the glaze will turn out to be very fragile and will crumble and crumble as it dries on the product. Gradually add powdered sugar, which is best sifted through a fine sieve. You will need approximately 250 grams of powder. The glaze should not be liquid, but not very thick either. The photo below shows the correct consistency.

We divide the glaze into parts equal to the number of colors we need + one part for the outline. Add a few drops of lemon juice or concentrate to each. Add dye. The amount of dye depends on how intense the color you want. I use gel dyes. And to the part of the glaze that we left for the outline, add a little more powdered sugar to make the glaze a little thicker.

Transfer the icing into piping bags. To do this, put the bag on a long glass and turn out the edges, as shown in the photo. Pour the icing into the bag and tie it shut. You need to tie it so that when drawing the glaze does not flow into the reverse side. We cut off the excess part of the bag so that it does not interfere with us. If you don't have piping bags, use paper files or heavy-duty plastic bags (those designed for freezing and long-term storage products).

To make it convenient to draw with icing, you need to hold the bag correctly. Place it in your palm, gripping the base with your thumb. Grasp the bag with all four fingers; in the future you will work with these fingers, squeezing out the icing.

Cut off the tip of the bag and draw the outlines of the future design on the cooled gingerbread cookies. Let the contour dry for half an hour.

Well, now we paint the gingerbread cookies with colored icing, filling it with the space outlined by the outline. Use a toothpick to push the frosting into hard-to-reach places (corners, for example)

To ensure that the glaze is evenly distributed over the surface of the product, lightly shake the gingerbread from side to side.

If you want to fill several colors, then you need to do this before the first color dries. So don't get distracted and act quickly)))

After the gingerbread cookies are covered in glaze, leave them to dry for 2 - 3 hours.

After the main fill has dried, you can finish painting the small details of the gingerbread.

AND The final stage- daily drying. We leave the gingerbread cookies to dry for a day. During this time, the glaze will dry well and the gingerbread cookies can be packaged. Gingerbread can be stored for up to 90 days, since honey, which is part of the dough, is a good natural preservative. To prevent gingerbreads from becoming stale, it is better to store them in an iron jar or in a tight Ziploc bag. And to prevent the glaze from fading, it is better that the gingerbread cookies are stored in a dark place where there is no direct sunlight.

If you make holes in the gingerbread cookies with a cocktail straw before baking, you can use the gingerbread cookies as decorations for the Christmas tree or build a whole gingerbread garland.

You can also make these funny melted snowmen using additional marshmallows and melted chocolate.

Bake! Create! Make your loved ones happy! With coming!))

I use protein icing for gingerbread cookies. The icing recipe is very simple and does not require much expenditure, you can find it below: both a recipe for raw protein icing and a recipe for albumin icing.

But there are some subtleties of preparation. And, most importantly, different working consistencies of icing, which can be used to do completely different things: liquid icing can be used to fill gingerbread smoothly, while hard icing can be used to fill voluminous and textural elements: flowers, leaves, baskets. If the liquid consistency is incorrectly selected, the filling will be uneven and lumpy, or very thin and translucent. A mistake in thick consistencies and the icing thread either breaks or blurs. It's not that easy to find them. In the master class

Icing master class includes:

- raw egg white icing recipe and step by step preparation;

- a recipe for icing and albumin and its step-by-step preparation;

— preparation of various working consistencies of glaze for gingerbread. All these consistencies are used in free video master classes on painting gingerbread cookies and there are already more than 70 of them (!!!).

— icing coloring: we get colored glaze from the base white one. We get a variety of colors and shades from just three basic colors - and you don't have to buy many colors of food coloring!

On the page you can purchase, which, in addition to a master class on making icing, includes a master class on baking gingerbread cookies and the basics of decorating gingerbread cookies. When purchasing this master class you save 200 rubles!

The recipe for icing - glaze for gingerbread from raw egg white and albumin is below.

Icing is a sugar glaze for gingerbread and cookies.

The sugar icing that I use to decorate gingerbread cookies is called royal icing— Royal Icing.
The recipe for this glaze was borrowed from English confectioners. This is a protein sugar glaze that is used to decorate confectionery products. Classic English cakes were decorated with this glaze. And it received the name “royal” during the reign of Queen Victoria, after a beautiful a wedding cake, decorated with this sugar icing. The Queen's chief cook published a book back in 1864 that described a recipe for making a glaze using sugar, egg whites and lemon juice.

Previously, only raw egg whites were used to prepare icing. Now it is possible to prepare icing from albumin, a dry protein. This option is often used when painting cookies professionally, i.e. sell painted gingerbread. The fact is that salmonella, the causative agent of the disease of the same name, does not live in albumin, so its use is safer. And in the case of professional gingerbread painting, using albumin is much more convenient - you don’t have to constantly think about where to place the yolks left after preparing the icing. And, in addition, albumin icing is whiter than raw egg white icing.

But the sad truth is that not in every city you can suddenly go and buy albumin. In my city, I found and constantly buy albumin only in one store, and it is wholesale and packaged there for 10-25 kg. This suits me quite well now that I am making and painting gingerbread cookies professionally. But if painting gingerbread cookies is just a hobby for you, then I think that 25 kg of albumin is not the most profitable investment)) Therefore, in my video master class I show how to prepare icing for gingerbread cookies from both albumin and raw egg whites. A master class on making icing is included, but can be purchased separately.

Icing for gingerbread cookies.

Raw egg white recipe.

The recipe for protein sugar glaze is very simple and does not require much expenditure - raw egg white (or albumin), powdered sugar, flavoring, lemon juice. Glaze for gingerbread cookies can be made at home. Here's my recipe for basic hard icing.

Icing. Raw Egg White Recipe: Approximately 300g for 1 egg white. sifted powdered sugar through the finest sieve (if you are going to make icing for fine painting with small diameter nozzles, then it is better to sift the powder 2-3 times). It is impossible to give the exact amount of powdered sugar that will be used for cooking, as it depends on the size of the egg. Therefore, you may need more or less. Lemon juice 5-7 drops. Lemon juice is not needed to add any taste qualities or bleaching, but only to stabilize the structure of egg white. Therefore, you don’t need to add a lot of it, otherwise the painting made from such icing will be fragile. Any food flavoring. Mix thoroughly (do not beat) for 10 minutes. There is no need to whip the icing, as when whipping, air bubbles form in the icing, which have a bad effect on its structure. You should get a thick white mass with hard peaks - the peak holds its shape.

Icing for gingerbread cookies.

Albumin recipe.

Icing. Albumin recipe: Albumin, 2 heaped teaspoons, diluted in 4 tablespoons cold boiled water and soak for 1-1.5 hours. Albumin manufacturers claim that the equivalent of 1 egg white is 1 teaspoon of albumin, but I liked working with icing made from 2 teaspoons of albumin more, since 1 spoon produces a completely watery liquid that bears little resemblance to egg white. In my experience, the quality of albumin is very dependent on the manufacturer. Gradually add 300g. sifted powdered sugar. Add food flavoring. There is no need to add lemon juice, since albumin icing is already stable structure. To stir thoroughly. The consistency will be the same hard peak.

As you can see, nothing complicated. Sugar icing for gingerbread is very easy to make. The icing recipe does not require much expense or much effort. But there are some subtleties of preparation. And, most importantly, different working consistencies that can be used to make completely different things: liquid icing can be used to fill gingerbread smoothly, while hard icing can be used to fill voluminous and textural elements: flowers, leaves, baskets. If the liquid consistency is incorrectly selected, the filling will be uneven and lumpy, or very thin and translucent. A mistake in thick consistencies and the icing thread either breaks or blurs. It's not that easy to find them. In the master class Icing for gingerbread cookies. Recipe, preparation, consistency and coloring I show my methods for determining the desired consistencies.

The smell of a raw egg is not very pleasant and not everyone likes it. Albumin, unless some aromatic additives are already included in its composition, also has such an odor. That's why I always use food flavoring when making icing.

My video is a master class for beginners, so in the video I use crystalline vanillin as a flavoring for the sugar glaze - this is a food flavoring that can be easily purchased at any grocery store (just don’t confuse it: crystalline vanillin powder, not vanilla sugar - grains sugar will clog the nozzles!).

BUT: be careful with vanillin (and even more so with vanilla essence) – if you put too much of it, the icing will turn yellow after drying. Moreover, this will be revealed only after drying - it will be an unpleasant surprise if you were counting on a white color. Therefore, add very little vanillin to the icing. And if you want to paint gingerbread professionally, or immediately avoid such surprises, then it is better to purchase some other food flavoring.

Powdered sugar for preparing gingerbread icing should be sifted several times through the finest sieve. When sifting, you will see how many grains of sugar it contains. If you don’t do this, then you simply won’t be able to paint with nozzles with a small diameter, such as 0, and even more so 00, 000, which produce a thin, neat thread - the nozzles will constantly become clogged with grains of sugar. But, of course, such thin attachments are not always necessary. Powders like this good quality, which does not require sifting, I have not yet seen in all my work. I heard that there is such a thing, a special fine one for icing, but it’s somewhere far, far away, not here yet.

Icing consistency.

In my opinion, the most basic concept for successful work with icing - this is its CONSISTENCY. It is due to different consistencies that you can make completely different things: for example, a smooth glaze filling of gingerbread or a voluminous flower.

I highlight 4 icing consistencies that I most often use in painting.

I use the hardest, most basic consistency of icing to make three-dimensional elements: flowers (roses, violets, leaves), textured decorations (baskets, finishing the joints of a house), imitating satin stitch embroidery (Gzhel matryoshka doll), gluing parts of three-dimensional gingerbread cookies (houses, boxes).

I use the consistency of the flexible peak directly for painting, applying a pattern, when I need a simple smooth line that does not require fixing some kind of texture or creating volume. I use the same consistency for the outline during the subsequent background fill.

Consistency of sugar glaze for filling small gingerbread elements without an outline and creating a “quilted” texture.

Consistency of icing for pouring with contour. Used as a filling glaze for large gingerbread cookies.

Another additional consistency is icing for painting using the piping technique. I also show how to accurately determine it in order to avoid failures in details in the video master class. This technique is quite impressive - the drawing turns out to be convex and voluminous.

But it brings a lot of disappointment to beginners. This technique has many features: not only the consistency of the icing is important, but also the method of pouring itself. That is why in I showed how to achieve convex details with a large volume without piping, with the usual pouring consistency of gingerbread glaze. Safe way, which will turn out even if you don’t guess the consistency for piping - there will be no failures.

All of these consistencies can be obtained from hard base icing by adding water to it. In the video master class Icing for gingerbread cookies. Recipe, preparation, consistency and coloring I show you how to determine the right consistency.

Colored glaze for gingerbread. Icing coloring.

Colored glaze for painting gingerbread cookies is made from basic white glaze.

Food coloring is used to color the icing. There are dyes from different manufacturers on sale.

Imported dyes are more expensive, those produced in Russia are cheaper. I used imported dyes Wilton, AmeriColor (made in the USA) and Russian dyes produced by Top Product, so I can only compare these manufacturers. The price difference is very significant. I didn't see much difference in quality. Russian inexpensive Top Product dyes, as well as imported ones, give wonderful bright colors to the icing. But imported manufacturers have a much wider range - they offer great amount colors and shades, which, of course, is very convenient in the case of professional gingerbread painting.

The consumption of food coloring is very small: for coloring, they are added to the icing drop by drop. Moreover, even to paint the glaze in the brightest colors of the dye you need very little, so in case of household and amateur use they will last for a long time.

There are different types dyes: liquid, dry (powder), gel, paste. All of them can be used to color icing sugar. Liquid ones are added to the icing in drops; dry ones are best diluted in vodka or lemon juice first. Gel and paste types are highly concentrated: you need to add very little of them using a toothpick. I liked using liquid dyes better. But this, of course, is a matter of personal preference.

Since my video is a master class on preparing and coloring icing for beginners, I don’t recommend buying many colors of food coloring to begin with - after all, it is unknown whether your passion for painting gingerbread cookies will last for a long time. Maybe you will just sometimes have fun with your children, painting gingerbread cookies with colored sugar icing, or present your creations to your family and friends. Therefore, to begin with, you can purchase only three primary colors - red, blue, yellow. From these colors, with the help of coloring, you can get colored glaze of other colors and shades.

Today the heroine of my recipe is protein glaze for gingerbread! 😀 However, it is perfect for anyone. I will also give you a chance to verify this! 😉

I’ll be honest, I was hit by a gingerbread wave this year during Christmas time! Yes, yes, this happens! Previously, I didn’t have a particular love for such baked goods... Somehow, pies and cookies were more to my taste. But... last year, after making it, I somehow looked at gingerbread dough in a new way. And this year, when I baked it on the eve of Christmas, I realized - I want more!!

If you, too, are a lover of such delicacies and are wondering how to make glaze for gingerbread house and just gingerbread, then this recipe will come in handy! What I like about it is that you don’t need to beat anything with a mixer or blender. This is convenient if painting gingerbread happens late in the evening, when you don’t want to make noise. A regular (mechanical) whisk or even a spoon will suffice.

To prepare this glaze, I took two egg whites from small eggs category C2. The volume turned out to be about 40-45 ml. In fact, it's a lot. And the output is a decent amount of icing. I used it to cover and paint five baking trays of gingerbread cookies. Of course, this is a conditional guideline, because you can decorate in different ways. If you make a purely outline or minimal drawing, it will take one amount. But if you completely cover the surface, it’s different. This icing is also suitable for gluing a gingerbread house.

Ingredients:

egg whites - 2 pieces from small eggs C2 (40-45 ml)
starch - 0.5 tsp.
lemon juice - 0.5 tsp.
powdered sugar - 210 g

Icing for gingerbread - recipe:

The whites must be free of yolks and, of course, without shell particles.
Add 7 tablespoons of powdered sugar to the whites. I got the powder by grinding sugar in a small grinder (I described this in detail in the recipe). But this is exactly the case when store-bought powder has advantages. She's like dust. While ground with a blender still consists of small but noticeable grains. They may periodically get stuck in the small hole of the bag through which the icing will need to be squeezed out. But this can be managed ;)

Mixed the powder and egg whites well. After that, I poured in lemon juice and added starch. Mixed thoroughly again.

Next, I began to add 1 tablespoon of powder and stir it with a whisk.

Thus, I needed another 14 tablespoons of powder. Its quantity may vary depending on the degree of grinding and the size of the proteins.
How do you know when the glaze for gingerbread made from protein and sugar is ready? You need to put your finger in it and lift it up. If it drips, then you need to add more powder. If it remains a drop/peak on your finger, then you can start decorating. The finished icing is quite thick, white, glossy.

If you have a good one cream injector and a nozzle with a very narrow hole can be used. I have neither one nor the other :) So I went the other way - I put the prepared glaze in a small zip bag. Small - because the portions are needed small. Zipovsky, because, firstly, it is more durable than a standard bag, and secondly, for convenience, it can be zipped up after expelling the air from it.

So, I put a couple of spoons of white glaze for gingerbread cookies in a zip bag and cut off a very small corner, remembering that it’s never too late to cut off a little more, but you won’t be able to put it back))
I drew the outline of each gingerbread with icing. It dries quite quickly, after which you can proceed further - either cover the entire surface or apply the selected design.

That's all! Protein glaze ready for gingerbread and in action! Although, let me remind you that it is no worse suited for or any others.

It can be stored in the refrigerator, covered with a bag/lid. If at the time of use it turns out to be thicker than you would like, dilute it with water at room temperature. But only a little! Don't overfill! You can also use lemon juice for this purpose, but it will increase the fragility of the glaze, so it’s better not to get too fancy here.

These are the delicious treats I got! I strung each of them on thin colored twine (you can use strong threads or narrow ribbons). For them I hung mittens, candies, Christmas trees, months, socks on my Christmas tree with toys! But more about this in next recipe and, as usual, with a photo report;) I will be glad if this recipe for glaze for decorating gingerbread cookies is useful to you!

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It’s hard to imagine a sweetness more atmospheric than gingerbread with glaze: just look at the photo to feel this spicy smell, hear the delicious crunch and get into the holiday spirit. Of course, such cookies are incredibly popular in winter period, but also in the summer from tea with fragrant gingerbread homemade you will get no less pleasure. All that remains is to find out how to make this culinary ambition a reality!

On the way to the perfect gingerbread

When it comes to baking, there are some things you should know before you go shopping for ingredients so you can be prepared for the pitfalls and know the basics of baking techniques. Your gingerbread cookies will definitely be a hit if you can follow these 3 rules:

1. The ingredients must be of high quality

We know that this truth is already textbook, but with baked goods the risk of seeing it in action is much higher than with soups or main courses. As for flour, eggs and sugar, it’s difficult to go wrong with them: even cheap brands will cope with the task. But it is better to choose proven butter. It is believed that real butter cannot have a fat content lower than 82.5%, so you will have to pay a little extra for the taste and texture of your gingerbread cookies.

No need to use flour premium. The first or second grade will give the cookie its own chic and make it more natural

2. You need to work with the dough quickly

After you get it ready dough from the refrigerator, it’s better not to pull the rubber: if you get distracted or just take too long to roll out and cut out the gingerbread cookies, the butter will begin to melt and the dough may float. In this regard, preparing ginger cookies in the summer is a little more difficult, since you will have to act even faster.

Tip: When you take the dough out of the refrigerator, immediately turn on the oven to preheat. Did you cut out the cookies first and then turn on the oven? The outline will float and the cookies will not come out very beautiful.

3. You will have to act according to the situation

No matter how hard you try to follow the recipe, the chance of getting a 100% copy of what the author came up with is negligible. A slight deviation in proportions, a changed brand of one of the ingredients or a different oven is enough - and such a carefully written recipe will leave you alone with cookies spreading on the baking sheet or dough crumbling when rolling out. These unpleasant moments can be avoided if you focus on the texture and are not afraid to make your own changes to the recipe. Is the dough runny and sticky? Add a little flour. Is the dough falling apart and not wanting to come together into a ball? Mix some oil into it. Be bold and trust your culinary intuition!

Exemplary gingerbread cookies in just an hour and a half

If you think that an hour and a half is a long time, let us remind you that the dough usually spends about 2 hours in the refrigerator alone, not to mention the labor-intensive rolling or painstaking mixing of ingredients. How to meet the deadline, what ingredients to buy, and how to do everything right? Let's tell you in order.

What will you need?

250g flour (plus some for adjustment)
100 g butter,
1 egg,
50 g honey,
100 g sugar,
1 tsp baking powder,
2 tsp ground ginger,
1 tsp cinnamon,
a pinch of nutmeg.

Without coloring with cocoa, the color of the gingerbread cookies will be something like this:

Secret: In all the photos, the gingerbread cookies are brown, but it is very difficult to achieve this color without coloring. Usually a little cocoa is added to cookies or taken Brown sugar instead of white - this way the color will be more saturated. Although the combination of honey + cinnamon gives a beautiful golden hue, which intensifies as it cools, we recommend preparing the first batch without coloring.

What to do?

The oil should be very soft, but not liquid, so you won’t be able to use a microwave or water bath. It is advisable to leave it to warm up in advance room temperature for about an hour.
If the honey is not liquid, you need to melt it in a water bath. You can also microwave it, just make sure it doesn’t boil.
Now grind the butter and sugar with a fork, pour the egg and honey into the mixture and mix. The honey should not be hot, otherwise the egg will curdle!
Separately mix flour, baking powder and spices. We leave sifting at your discretion: if you mix the ingredients thoroughly, the difference in taste will be ready-made gingerbread will be noticeable only to special connoisseurs.
Gradually stir the dry mixture into the oil mixture until large pellets form. It’s quite convenient to do this with a fork rather than a mixer, although here you have to decide on your preferences.
Large crumbs should easily form a ball, the consistency of which will be slightly reminiscent of marzipan. If the dough crumbles or spreads, don't be afraid to deviate from the recipe by adding a little butter or flour.

Correct ginger dough for gingerbread it does not stretch and has a consistency similar to marzipan

Now we make a pancake out of the dough, wrap it in film and put it in the refrigerator for 40 minutes. In this form, the dough will cool faster and will be easier to roll out. By the way, if there is too much dough, you can store it in freezer a few months!
After 40 minutes the dough can be rolled out. This is best done between two sheets of baking paper, but the good old method of flouring your rolling pin and countertop will also work. The thickness of our gingerbread cookies is about half a centimeter.
Cut out cookies using a mold, remove excess dough, transfer the blanks to baking paper using a knife and repeat rolling again with the remaining dough. It may take 4 or 5 such passes until all the prepared dough is utilized. By the way, do not spread the cookies too tightly, because they will increase in size a little in the oven.
The baking tray with the cookies is placed in a well-heated oven at 180˚, where they are baked for 5 to 12 minutes: the time greatly depends on the thickness of the gingerbread and your preference for softness or crispiness. In general, once the edges begin to brown, the cookies are ready and can be removed.

Right out of the oven, the baked goods are really very similar to fluffy and soft gingerbread, but as the cookies cool, they settle and harden a little, becoming cookie-like. So, when you want to keep the cookies in the oven for an extra 2-3 minutes, keep in mind that with tea, you may not be eating gingerbread, but almost a cracker.

Interesting: The shelf life of any cookies, even homemade ones, is several months, but, of course, over time the aroma will go away and the dough will become stale. It's useful to know how long gingerbread can last, but it's even better to make enough of it to realistically eat in about a week.

It's not the same without the glaze!

Ginger cookie good and in pure form, but, you see, gingerbread cookies painted with colored icing look much more tempting, and sometimes it seems that such decoration makes them even tastier. Certainly, ready glaze you can buy it in the store, but since we got involved in home cooking, we suggest you go to the end and prepare the glaze with your own hands, well, our small master class will help you with this.

Option on the water

Worried about raw eggs? Then use glaze on water! It may not be as boiling white as on an egg, but it is 100% safe and no less tasty!

The glaze on water turns out translucent, but it sticks to cookies no worse than protein

What will you need?

150 g powdered sugar.
2 tsp lemon juice for white paste or any other juice to add a light tint.
A little cold water.
Food colorings optional.

What to do?

The basic principle here is: a lot of powder - little liquid. Just carefully add the juice and water in small portions until the powder forms a sticky mass. Kneading can take a lot of effort and time, because soaking a glass of powder with a few drops of water is not so easy. You can breathe a sigh of relief when a drop of glaze holds its shape without spreading.

Protein option

The glaze on the whites turns out snow-white, but it will require a little more effort from you. But if you are not too lazy to carry out this experiment, the cookies will turn out simply bewitching, as if from the pages culinary magazines!

For a dense contour glaze, beat the mixture at maximum speed of the mixer.

What will you need?

150 g powdered sugar.
1 egg.
Food coloring optional.

What to do?

Separate the white from the yolk using any method known to you. The main thing is that the yolk does not get into our mixture. Now gradually pour the powder into the egg whites, beating with a mixer until high speed. When a drop of glaze holds its shape, you can begin painting.

Tip: If you want to fill rather than outline, just make the glaze thinner. Just keep in mind that the filling takes longer to dry than the outline, and it is better to leave such cookies to dry overnight, especially if you plan to transport them.

Well, all that remains is to put the icing in a special confectionery bag or a regular plastic bag, cut off the spout and give free rein to your imagination. Good luck with your experiments and delicious gingerbread!