Christmas and New Year– the most fabulous and magical time, and not only children, but even adults believe in it! Well, what could be the best personification of fairy tales and magic on a holiday, if not Gingerbread house?
But you can create it the whole family and then long winter evenings look into the windows, come up with the most incredible adventures about its inhabitants and break off tidbits and sweet pieces from the roof?
Does it really seem like the fairy tale has already begun? Then let's quickly get inspired by charming ideas and make your own gingerbread house best recipe!
Well, let's stock up on a huge portion of spices (it's a gingerbread house!), delicious decorations and good mood!
Gingerbread house dough
Let's start by preparing the dough, for which we will need:
- flour (1 kg);
- egg (3 pcs);
- sugar (200 g);
- honey (250 g);
- butter (200 g);
- soda (1/2 teaspoon);
- and exactly ¼ teaspoon of each spice (cinnamon, ginger, cloves, allspice and cardamom).
The first step is to mix all the spices into a spicy mix, beating them in a mortar. We mix flour and soda separately! Then we take another container in which we combine our crushed spices, honey, sugar, eggs and butter. Add flour combined with soda to this container. Knead the dough and refrigerate it for 3 hours.
And we have time to choose the shape of the house and make templates!
For the first try, it is best to stop at simple version– two side parts of the house with windows, rear end, a front part with a doorway and two identical parts of the roof. By the way, it’s worth drawing them on paper, so that you can simply attach them to the dough and cut them on it.
And if you have completed this task, then it’s time to take the dough out of the refrigerator, give it a couple of minutes to adapt in the warmth and don’t forget to knead it again! But the gingerbread house can’t wait to give a holiday to your family, so we start rolling out the dough on parchment paper about 0.5 cm thick, apply the prepared stencils of parts to it and cut out parts of the house.
The final stage is to bake the spicy parts for 10-15 minutes at a temperature of 170-180 degrees.
Caramel icing for gluing a gingerbread house
Are you already dreaming about the moment when you will decorate the gingerbread house? But it must first be glued together. And the best way to deal with it is caramel glaze. Combine 100 g of sugar and 2 tbsp in a metal bowl. spoons of water. Bring the syrup to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until light Brown and viscosity.
Well, that's it, if the baked parts have already cooled down, you can start doing the magic - assembling your gingerbread house!
Gingerbread house decorations
The main component of the magic of all gingerbread houses is the patterns of sweet protein glaze. And it’s very easy to prepare – just drive one egg white, 2 drops lemon juice and 180 g of powdered sugar until soft, but thick foam. It can be applied using pastry syringe or bag.
And most importantly, to decorate your house, don’t forget to stock up on chocolates, nuts, M&M’s, marshmallows, Oreo cookies, coconut flakes, confectionery powder and gummies!
Let's take a look at the most fabulous gingerbread houses for inspiration?
1. Isn't it magic?
2. And Metelitsa herself probably lives here!
3. That's it, I'm going to live in London!
4. Well, a cupcake house is also an option!
5. This is a whole gingerbread village!
6. Gingerbread bakery?
7. I wish I could stay in something like this...
8. Great - a hut for the tropics!
9. But it turns out that it’s not at all difficult to do.
10. Also a gingerbread yurt?
11. Wow - even a gingerbread lamp!
12. And icicles made from glaze!
14. And how much M&M’s juice!
15. Wow size...
16. A whole gingerbread carousel!
18. Gingerbread street.
19. I wish I could look through the window...
20. There are also steps!
21. And we will make this ourselves!
22. This is cool!
23. Do you know what these babies are for?
25. Isn’t that great?
26. How do you like the idea of decorating a whole cake with gingerbread house details?
27. How bright!
28. And a sea of jelly beans...
30. All that’s left is to wait for the holiday!
Making a beautiful, edible, fairy-tale house with your own hands is quite difficult, because it requires not only culinary skills, but also the talent of a decorator. We'll tell you all the secrets of making a gingerbread house.
New Year's gingerbread house: a little history
How and who first prepared a tasty and beautiful treat? The answer to this question was lost among historical vicissitudes. It is known that buildings made of dough were iconic back in the days Ancient Rome and were considered the dwellings of the gods. But after the holidays they were treated in a completely modern way - they were simply eaten by the whole family. As tasty and beautiful decoration It was first prepared in Germany for the New Year. Gingerbread houses became popular immediately after the release of an edifying and instructive tale about the adventures of two children - Hansel and Gretel. It was with a sweet house made of gingerbread, marzipan, candied fruits and candies that they were seduced by the evil witch, from whom the children later managed to escape.
The gingerbread house is not only fabulously beautiful, but also incredibly practical. Thanks to its composition, it can be stored for quite a long time and remain as tasty as on the first day after preparation. Thus, the housewife can bake it for Christmas, and it will serve as a decoration for the house until the end of all New Year holidays without any problems.
Soon after German confectioners began to prepare this annual unusual dessert, it has become so popular that it has taken root overseas - in America. Each housewife now had her own recipe delicious decoration, and each one believed that hers was the best. In truth, the basic recipe was quite simple - honey, flour, sugar and spices. It was the addition of the latter that was kept in the strictest confidence, because both the taste and the “durability” of the finished gingerbread depended on them.
The gingerbread house also gained fame in Russia - it was considered a sign of prosperity in the house and a guarantee of prosperity in the coming year. In those days, gingerbread cookies in our country were very popular and accessible to everyone, but poor people did not make houses out of them - there was neither the time nor the desire to paint gingerbread cookies, and such decorations as candied fruits, chocolate or marmalade were too expensive.
Be that as it may, the gingerbread house is best gift for a little boy or girl. Turn the preparation of this delicacy into family celebration- bake and decorate it with your children. Memories of this will definitely carry through your entire life, and someday your children will cook it according to “grandmother’s” proven recipe together with your grandchildren.
Step-by-step gingerbread house recipe
How to make a gingerbread house? This a whole science, because it is very important not only to properly knead the dough, but also to make the icing (cream with which you can connect all the parts of the house).
You should start preparing the New Year's delicacy by kneading the dough. You won’t find a single recipe for gingerbread - there are more than a hundred of them in the world and each of them has the right to be called the best. Required ingredients honey, flour, sugar, butter and spices are considered. The peculiarity of this recipe is minimal amount liquid used, which makes the dough quite tight and dense. We will tell you how to prepare the dough step by step a little later, but now we will look at another very important and required process- preparing the pattern. Cut out the details of the house from already ready dough very difficult, because the dough is honey-sandy, which means it crumbles easily under a knife. Because of this, all the details need to be cut out at the stage of rolling out the dough - this way you will be sure that the prepared material will be enough for the “construction”.
You can easily find patterns for a gingerbread house on the Internet - the simplest and most affordable models are presented there. To make such a dessert you will need two rectangular walls, two facades (one must be made with a cut out doorway) and two rectangles for the roof. Their exact dimensions can be found on the World Wide Web or you can draw them yourself. But a one-story house is far from the ultimate dream, because gingerbread can be used to make beautiful two-story cottages, mills, and even castles for princesses. In general, with the help gingerbread dough and your own imagination, you can prepare a real masterpiece that will make your dreams come true.
The next stage is also considered important. How to do protein cream to connect the house (icing)? It is made from eggs, sugar and lemon juice. Even a novice cook can prepare it, so you can transfer these pleasant chores per child (of course, if he is not too small).
Assembling and painting a fairytale house is the most pleasant and exciting moment. It’s better to do it with the whole family, because such moments bring us closer together. Organize a small competition to see who can draw a window the fastest or who can frame the roof better. You can also record a joint master class for your loved ones and acquaintances.
Gingerbread house dough: the most popular recipe
As mentioned earlier, there are a lot of gingerbread recipes, but we will look at the most popular one - with honey and cinnamon.
To prepare the dough you will need:
- 125 g of liquid honey (if the honey is candied, it should be melted);
- 100 g granulated sugar;
- 100 g butter (soft, but not liquid);
- 1 chilled chicken egg;
- 1 tbsp. l sour cream (or half a teaspoon of soda);
- a pinch of salt;
- a pinch of cinnamon;
- a pinch of cardamom.
With the same ingredients you can prepare ginger dough, adding a teaspoon of dry ground ginger to the mixture.
Step-by-step preparation:
- In a large bowl, combine dry ingredients: flour, sugar, salt and spices;
- Beat the egg with a whisk, add honey and butter;
- Mix dry and wet ingredients and knead elastic dough. Properly kneaded dough does not float, although this largely depends on the quality of the chosen flour and the amount of gluten in it. If it turns out a little liquid, then add a little more flour and knead well;
- Roll the dough into a ball and wrap it in cling film and put it in the refrigerator so that it can “rest” properly. Optimal time“rest” 2 hours;
- After this time, the workpiece should be pulled out and allowed to cool a little in a warm place;
- Divide the dough into several pieces and roll it out thinly;
- Cut out the figures needed for the house. Don’t throw away the scraps - they make wonderful gingerbread animals and people;
- The gingerbread baking process does not last long - 20 minutes at 180 degrees. Be careful not to burn the dough; if necessary, reduce the temperature to 150 degrees;
- The baked parts of the house should be cooled and only then proceed to assembling the dessert.
This dough recipe is the simplest and takes the least time to prepare. If you want to experiment or discover something new, then pay attention to the ancient gingerbread dough that is made custard method and can remain fresh for many months. This recipe in Rus' was used by women when sending their husbands on a long journey or on a military campaign.
Gingerbread house frosting recipe
Since ancient times, caramel has been used to glue all the parts of a gingerbread house together. This viscous substance perfectly connects all the parts, but after hardening it becomes hard like the caramel that it is. That is why it was replaced over time light protein cream - icing. It's very simple to make: beat 2 egg whites with 1.5 tbsp. powdered sugar and a teaspoon of lemon juice (add at the end of whipping) and the cream is ready. Next, transfer the mixture into a pastry bag and you can begin to form the house, as well as its subsequent painting.
DIY gingerbread house: recipes without honey
As mentioned earlier, among the many desserts there are also those for which honey is not so important. We present to your attention a recipe for Christmas gingerbread house without honey. To prepare it you will need:
- 150 g flour;
- 60 g sugar;
- 2 tbsp. l melted butter;
- a quarter teaspoon of soda;
- a pinch of ginger and cinnamon;
- 1 tbsp. l milk.
It is not difficult to knead this dough - just mix all the ingredients, make a knead and let it stand under the film for half an hour. Please note that this amount of dough will only be enough for a small house measuring 15 by 20 cm. If you want a more monumental structure, double or triple the weight of the ingredients.
A gingerbread house with or without honey is a DIY fairy tale. Don't miss the opportunity to cook this wonderful dessert, which will not be ignored by any little sweet tooth.
Hello, dear hostesses. Today we will bake a gingerbread house. From the very beginning to the bitter end. The article turned out to be big. But this is because I told all the secrets and nuances. I laid straws wherever a novice cook might fall.
I set a goal for myself warn you against all possible mistakes in advance so that you get a wonderful gingerbread house the first time.
You will know all the tricks and all the tricks. I'll give you a choice several ways to glue a gingerbread house, and you will choose the one that seems most convenient for you.
And if you still have any questions, ask them in the comments to this article.
I’ll tell you the time right away, so that you know , How many hours will the entire process of making a gingerbread house take?
- Kneading dough 20 minutes + time to keep it in the refrigerator for 1 hour (so make the dough the night before, in cellophane and in the refrigerator it will last well even for a couple of days)
- House drawing on cardboard for 20 minutes (can also be done ahead of time)
- Rolling out the dough And cutting out parts gingerbread house 10 min
- Baking 15 minutes
- Preparing glaze for gluing and decorating(while the house is baking for the same 15 minutes)
- Decoration details cream and culinary tinsel 10-30 min (depending on you)
- Assembling a gingerbread house(20-30 min), with assistants faster (or slower).
- Drying the house(10 min if my way)
- Roof installation(20 -40 minutes, if you also use toothpicks, you will quickly fix it)
- Decorating a gingerbread house sweets, cream, laying edible tiles on the house (from 30 minutes to infinity, because there is no limit to perfection).
The minimum is 3 hours without rest breaks and with the condition that the dough has already been in the refrigerator for the allotted time.
Many housewives make a gingerbread house not in one day, but in stages:
- 1 day - dough and baking walls for gingerbread house
- Day 2 – gluing a gingerbread house
- Day 3 – decoration, decoration of gingerbread house
If you want the process to be a little faster, you can make a simplified version of a gingerbread house in the form of a gingerbread hut.
Or make a house from ready-made store-bought cakes(by the way, there are cakes specifically for gingerbread houses with cut out windows), or from chocolate bars, or from large cookies(photo below).
Step 1. Prepare the dough
200 g butter(crush with a fork or chop with a knife)
5 spoons of liquid honey(if the honey is candied, heat it in a water bath, or very low heat, stirring continuously)
200 g sugar
1 packet of baking powder
4 egg yolks (!!! Before separating the yolks from the whites, read the instructions below)
4 cups flour(this is approximately, depends on the size of the eggs)
Salt And Spices of your choice, 1 tsp each.: ground ginger, cinnamon, zest of 1 lemon, cardamom, anise
ATTENTION!!! Instructions for properly separating whites from yolks
We will need the whites from these eggs for gluing and decorating the house. We will beat them with powdered sugar. In order for the protein cream to turn out as it should, follow the following rules:
1. Break the eggs with clean and DRY hands, and the whites should also plop into the DRY bowl. One drop of water - and it's all gone.
2. Not a single particle of yolk should get into the whites - otherwise the cream will not form a foam (separate the white from each egg over a separate dry bowl and, if it separates without any yolk, pour it from the bowl into a bowl with other whites).
3. Since we will be whipping the cream later, when we put the walls of the house up to bake, place the dishes with the whites much higher so as not to accidentally splash water into it.
So, from the above ingredients, knead the dough, wrap it in film and put it in the refrigerator for an hour or two. Let it lie there, and we’ll go cut out a template of our future house from paper.
Step 2. Cut out the template from cardboard
If you are not confident in your own architectural or culinary abilities, then you can make a simplified design of a gingerbread house - a kind of gingerbread hut (see photo above). As you can see in the photo, such a gingerbread house does not have side walls, only triangular facades and a roof. A very convenient option for those who prefer a simpler design.
You choose the dimensions of the gingerbread house yourself - for the above amount of dough the height of the facade of your house should be equal in size to your palm. The main thing is that the parts fit together in size. I depicted how to achieve this in the diagram below using the example of a drawing of a simple gingerbread house.
As you can see, the matching sizes of the parts are as follows:
The side wall must be the same height as the side of the front (value b)
And the roof slope is the same length as the side side (value b) and the same height as the upper line of the slope of the front part (value a), the height of the slope can be made larger so that the roof overhangs in the form of a canopy.
Step 3. Roll out the dough and cut out the pieces
Chilled dough place on parchment or paper and roll it out with a rolling pin. Be sure to lay parchment down; it is needed to transfer our cut out house parts onto a baking tray. If you carry parts in your hands, they can stretch, become deformed, and then when assembling the house they will not match each other in size.
The thickness of the dough layer should be at least 0.5 cm.
The picture below shows one trick, allowing you to roll out the dough to an even thickness. On the sides of the dough, even before rolling, we place 2 slats with the height we need 0.5 cm and roll out the dough by rolling our rolling pin along these slats (a foam profile from a hardware store is ideal as slats; a 2-meter profile costs half a dollar).
On the rolled out dough put a cardboard template and cut it out with a knife, very convenient to cut with a pizza wheel. You can immediately cut out windows on the raw dough, or later on the baked parts (see photo below). From the remains of the dough we cut out figures of Christmas trees, animals, a pipe, a porch, a fence - whatever your imagination tells you and what the dough is enough for.
Right on the parchment where we rolled out, and transfer the figures to a baking sheet, cutting off a piece of parchment with the part with scissors (photo below, left).
The baking tray must be level, otherwise the house may also end up with curved walls (and try connecting them later).
We bake the gingerbread house parts at a temperature of about 200-220 gr. WITH(medium heat) approx. 10-12 minutes. Remove from the oven as soon as the cakes are already yellow, but not yet brown (photo above, right). While the cakes are hot, you can easily cut out windows from them if you want.
But it’s better not to overdo it at first, because you can simply paint windows on the walls of the house with protein cream, like here:
And when you bake your next gingerbread house, you can not only cut out the windows, but also “glaze” with marmalade or caramel.
Step 4. Make glaze for decoration and gluing
Ingredients: for 1 protein, 200 gr. powdered sugar + 1 tsp. lemon juice (or a little vinegar, or dry lemon acid). Acid is needed not only for taste; thanks to it, the glaze turns out to be more elastic, tight, and sticky.
If you don't have powdered sugar , don’t worry, I’ll tell you a secret, I personally always make the same glaze on regular sugar. The main thing here is that there is sugar fine-crystalline, so to speak, finely ground (this is often found on sale), such sugar has time to melt in the egg white during the beating process. And to ensure that it melts (even coarsely crystalline ones), even before whipping, you can simply let it sit in lightly beaten egg whites, it will melt during this time, and the cream, after whipping with sugar, will also turn out as it should. Beat the whites gradually adding sugar with a tablespoon until the foam becomes stiff and standing as in the photo below. You can also make your own powdered sugar, resins sugar in a coffee grinder.
In the photo below, I made and photographed 2 types of glaze in the first bowl from sugar, in the second from powdered sugar - there is no difference in stickiness, moreover, the one made from sugar tastes much better, and is also cheaper. That's why I personally choose sugar icing– and you can try both and decide for yourself which one you prefer.
Process:
First, beat the whites without anything until they form a foam, then gradually add the powder, one tablespoon at a time, without stopping beating. As soon as the cream becomes tight and holds its shape, it is ready, even if you did not pour out all the powder. There are eggs too different sizes. For small eggs, you don’t need as much powder as in the recipe.
If desired glaze can be tinted by adding cocoa or food coloring.
ATTENTION, dyes for easter eggs, are suitable only if they do not contain salt, or the packaging contains the inscription “Can be used for confectionery" You don't want a salty glaze.
Because the glaze has the properties to harden quickly, then after cooking it is better to cover it with a damp (not wet) towel. Otherwise, while you are fiddling with the cakes, the icing will harden, but if you work quickly (in the spirit of Yulia Vysotskaya), then you don’t need a towel; the icing will not harden in half an hour.
Better yet, cook first one portion of glaze from 2 egg whites(for decorating the walls of the house), and then a second batch of glaze(for gluing house parts). It will be smarter that way.
Step 5. Decorate the walls
Even before gluing the gingerbread house together, we paint the walls and roof.
It is convenient to write using pastry syringe or pastry bag . But if you have neither one nor the other, then read the following note:
How to make a pastry bag yourself in 1 minute.
We take a regular stationery file (or a clean, thick cellophane bag), cut off (straightly or diagonally) the bottom corner to make a tiny hole, load a portion of cream into the file and roll up the top of the file (like a carpet) and fix it with a stapler in several places (if not in stapler at home, paper clips will do, or you can sew it up with a needle and thread). Done - you can extrude patterns.
We draw windows, decorate with small candies, colorful confectionery sprinkles, almonds, glue patterns cut from regular marmalade.
You can depict a Christmas tree on one of the walls. Paint it with white cream and stick it with candies like toys, or lay out a Christmas tree using the mosaic technique of triangular-shaped marmalades.
The roof can also be decorated before assembly, but I find it more convenient to decorate the roof already on the gingerbread house itself. I posted a lot of ideas for decorating a house in a special article , there you will also find many photographs of different gingerbread houses.
Step 6. Select a base
Decide right away what your gingerbread house will stand on.. This could be another dough crust, an elegant dish, a tray, cutting board, box of chocolates. Once you glue the house together, you will not be able to transfer it to another dish. You will only move it along with the base on which you will glue it.
It is not advisable to choose dishes made of plastic. Because when you want your house, glued with protein cream, to harden in 10 minutes warm oven(and not in 3-4 hours indoors), you won’t be able to do this, since plastic releases toxins when heated, and of course we don’t need that.
Take the cakes and, without gluing, join them on this base, see if the house fits on the dish, if the parts fit together. If there are uneven, lopsided walls somewhere, now is the time to straighten them with a knife.
Step 7. Choosing what to glue the house together with
1. Protein glaze
See the white glaze recipe above. It is convenient to apply the glaze for gluing parts using a pastry bag or little bag (read a little higher on how to make a little bag yourself in 1 minute), or just with a spoon.
If the icing doesn't stick well to the cake, lightly moisten the gluing area with water using a brush. The glaze can be applied simultaneously to both parts in the places where they are glued, and then pressed against each other. Hold it with your hands for a while, and then simply support the walls with improvised jars. And so, together with the jars, send them to dry.
To make the gingerbread house glue faster, I do this: I heat the empty oven until hot, but not red-hot. I turn off the OVEN (that is, the fire does not burn in the oven!!!) and place my gingerbread house in this heated environment for 2-10 minutes. The time depends on the “degree of heating” of the oven. I open it periodically and check it with my finger. When our protein cream begins to turn into marshmallows (you will feel this to the touch, or the cream may look slightly browned around the edges) - carefully take it out. Your gingerbread house is held together with strong frosted cream.
2. Melted chocolate
MELTED CHOCOLATE (melt the tile for steam bath, such chocolate glue hardens quickly, and the house does not need to be held additionally after gluing.
3. Caramel glue
CARAMEL GLUE : 100 gr. sugar + 2 tbsp. water + a little bit citric acid.
Acid is needed to prevent the “saccharification” of caramel. Anyone who has made caramel knows that sometimes it does not crystallize into candy, but is completely candied into fragile crumbs. But citric acid will not allow this.
Cook the sugar and water at a light bubbling stage, stirring continuously until a drop of such syrup begins to crystallize on a cold saucer, that is, harden into caramel.
4. Butterscotch glue
TOFFEE GLUE: 100 gr. sugar and 2 tbsp. cook sour cream at the boiling stage, stirring continuously until a drop of such syrup is dropped into a glass with cold water, will not land at the bottom of this glass in the form of a soft and stretchy toffee to the touch.
During cooking, you can add a spoonful of cocoa to this toffee glue - you get chocolate toffee.
You need to glue the parts of the house with hot glue, until the glue cools down. That is, either act very quickly, or keep the pan with the syrup in a hot water bath (that is, we immerse a small pan with hot sweet glue in a larger pan with boiling water in it).
Gluing with caramel, toffee or chocolate looks something like this.
Keep the remaining caramel in a boiling water bath so that it does not harden. We will need it as an excellent glue for laying tiles on the roof of a gingerbread house. And if you want to glaze windows with such caramel, read this article.
Step 8. Making the tiles
Now we glue the roof in the same way. This connection must be as strong as possible so that the roof halves do not move off the house.
Some people attach the roof by inserting skewers or toothpicks in the place where the roof meets the front facade of the house.
I'm just generous protein glaze on the upper edges of the walls of the gingerbread house and as soon as the 2 halves of the roof are fitted, I immediately apply a thick layer of sticky cream along the entire ridge of the roof (top of the roof). The glued roof can be supported on both sides with suitable sized jars until the glue completely hardens. .
Once the roof is glued, you can lay tiles:
The tiles can simply be painted with protein glaze, laid out with almonds, chocolate bar, crunchy pads, gummies, or whatever you like. You can glue tiles for white glaze or caramel glue. You will read more about the types of sweet tiles and how to lay them in our next article - there you will also learn many more techniques for decorating a gingerbread house.
I will be glad to see your questions, suggestions and photographs of baked gingerbread houses in the comments to this article.
GINGERBREAD HOUSE. Part 1 - all the secrets of mastery.
4.4 /5 - Ratings: 37One of the fun and interesting activities during the New Year holidays is baking a gingerbread house. Without it traditional dessert doesn't cost winter holiday. Almost every family has its own proven recipe, which is passed down through generations. What remains the same is the process of assembling and decorating the sweet decorations.
Baking a gingerbread house at home is very easy. How to do it? Find all the answers in this article.
How to make a gingerbread house - preparing and baking preparations
- Prepare the dough you often use for baking gingerbread. Place it in a bag and leave it in the refrigerator for a couple of hours.
- While the dough is resting, make templates for the house. First, decide on the size of the sweet decor. Then cut out a rectangle and a square with a pointed top from cardboard. Take out the dough and roll it out to a thickness of 1 centimeter.
- Transfer the templates to the layer. In total you will need 4 rectangles and 2 shapes for the front (back) part of the house.
- Preheat the oven to 180 degrees. Place the baking dish out of ginger dough 15 minutes. Determine the degree of readiness by piercing a toothpick. If it comes out dry, then the dough is ready.
- While the cakes are still warm, trim the edges according to the template. Do this with a sharp knife so that the cutting line has smooth edges. Such actions will ensure a tight connection of all parts of the house when assembled.
How to make a gingerbread house - assembling the house parts
- The icing will help to connect the dough patterns together. Beat the whites with powdered sugar until peaks form.
- The cakes must cool completely before assembling. Brush the side of each base with the egg white mixture. Lift the pieces of decor one by one and apply them to each other.
- To ensure the stability of the structure, place a glass in the center of the house. Move it from one corner to another while connecting the shapes. Let the glaze harden a little.
- Once the walls are assembled, proceed to install the roof. Brush the edges of the cake with glaze. Place this side against the frame of the house. Keep the mold in this position for 5-10 minutes until it is firmly attached to the rest of the cakes.
- Install the second roof layer in the same way. Use your free hand to hold the two cakes together.
How to make a gingerbread house - decorating with sweet decor
- Prepare or buy ready-made brown mastic. Instead of fondant, use a melted mixture of chocolate, butter, powdered sugar and caramel. Roll it out and cut into small rectangles.
- Push strips on one side of the mastic using a toothpick. This will give you a tile-shaped pattern.
- Decorate the roof with these blanks. Start gluing the fondant onto the cakes from the bottom row. Place each next tile segment above the previous one. Or in a checkerboard pattern.
- Make an imitation of logs near the house from sweet straws. Cut it into pieces of the required size.
- You can secure the sweet sticks with icing. First apply it to the entire surface of the walls of the house, then install the tubes.
- Decorate the end of the roof with individual straw sticks and strips of mastic. Attach all parts to the icing.
- Cut out the door and window from brown mastic. Also make stripes on them or carved edges. The handle for the door will be a sugar bead.
- Place the figures on the house before the mastic hardens. Or brush the back of them with glaze.
- Place the attic window between the doors and the roof. Using a knife, apply a design on it in the form of two wings.
- Cut out the Christmas wreath from mastic using shapes of different diameters. Brush the surface with syrup and sprinkle with green sugar.
- Attach the decor above the doors. Decorate the wreath with red edible beads.
- Sprinkle the top of the dessert with powdered sugar. So the house will be covered in snow. Leave it to harden overnight, then transfer to a platter and serve.
Gingerbread house options
Above was just one way to decorate. New Year's decor. Show your imagination and make a gingerbread house original decoration for the festive table.
Now you know all the secrets of preparing a traditional Christmas treat. The process of creating a gingerbread house will seem like a game if you stick to it like this simple master class. Therefore, you can bake it with your children. Bon appetit!
For a more detailed recipe for baking a gingerbread house at home, watch the video:
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Photo gallery: Making your own gingerbread house for Christmas, unique recipe
Today we will learn how to bake a gingerbread house at home. Our recipe with photos will reveal the secrets of how to properly prepare gingerbread dough and create fabulous Christmas decor.
Making your own gingerbread house - little tricks
These little tricks will help you properly prepare real choux gingerbread dough:
- it is prepared with honey and without adding sugar or molasses;
- Do not use artificial leavening agents. Vodka/cognac/rum should be added to the dough (4 tablespoons per 1 kilogram of flour);
- do not use margarine or vegetable oil instead of creamy;
- to achieve best result when preparing gingerbread dough, use low-grade flour;
- be sure to use gingerbread spices (dry perfumes), which are easy to prepare at home. In a blender, grind coriander seeds (1 tsp) + cinnamon (1 tsp) + cardamom seeds (0.5 tsp) + nutmeg(1/3 tsp) + cloves (2-3 pcs.) + star anise seeds (1/3 tsp) + allspice (4-5 pcs.) + dry ginger (1/3 tsp). For 1 kilogram of dough use 1-2 tsp. dry perfume;
- Do not bake the gingerbread dough for too long;
- It is recommended to place a few pieces next to the gingerbread fresh apple. This way they will retain their aroma longer and will not become stale;
- if you use light honey, the dough can be tinted with cocoa powder to achieve a dark gingerbread shade;
- the resulting dough is quite plastic; it should not stick to the table, but only slightly to your hands; do not knead the dough too hard, as it will not rise during baking and the gingerbread cookies will turn out hard; Very batter will spread and the gingerbread cookies will lose their shape;
- Gingerbreads based on raw dough become hard and dry out faster than gingerbreads made from choux pastry.
DIY gingerbread house, recipe with step-by-step photos
Required Ingredients
Using a measuring cup = 250 milliliters
Dough:
- Wheat flour (premium grade) – 3 cups,
- Natural honey – ¾ cup,
- Butter 72%-82% - 100 grams,
- Sour cream 26% - 100 grams,
- Vodka/cognac/rum – 3 tbsp. spoons,
- Spices for gingerbread (dry perfume) – ¾ teaspoon,
- Chicken egg (D-1) – 1 piece,
- Drinking water – ¼ cup
Glaze (icing):
- Protein chicken egg(D-0) – 1 piece,
- Powdered sugar– 150 – 200 grams.
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