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Guidelines for Baking and Decorating a Gingerbread House

sylveee
Chanukah Gingerbread House

This is the time of the year when Gingerbread House Construction occurs.  Making your own Gingerbread House can be rewarding, but it can also be frustrating unless you have some guidelines to follow.  The remainder of this post will suggest some guidelines to you to help with your baking, constructing and decorating endeavors.

Before you start make sure you have all of the necessary equipment and ingredients on hand and then be sure to give yourself plenty of time.  One good rule to follow is to bake the parts one day, construct the house the next day and then decorate it on the third day.

There are classes available that will teach you all of the above and the best part is that you can avoid having the mess at home and someone to guide you all the way from start to finish. (For class availability follow our link under upcoming events) If you want to take on the endeavor at home follow the guidelines below.

  GUIDELINES for BAKING A GINGERBREAD HOUSE

 Roll out dough no thinner than ¼ inch.

Spray pans for easy removal of baked parts.

Cut the doors and windows, but do not remove until baked.

Loosen house pieces immediately upon removal from oven.

Remove the door and window pieces before the house parts completely cool.

Allow parts to cool completely, directly on the baking sheet.

Allow parts to air dry completely before assembling.

         GINGERBREAD HOUSE CONSTRUCTION GUIDELINES

Assemble sides and fronts and allow to set for at least 20 minutes before applying roof.

Allow the roof to set at least 20 minutes (longer if possible) before adding any decorations.

Keep the weight of the roof decorations proportional to the thickness of the roof. (The less weight the better)

In conclusion, be patient, take your time, and allow all parts to dry before weighing them down with icing and decorations.

Go ahead and try your hand at building a Gingerbread House.  It will be a creative and rewarding and experience for your whole family.

 

9 thoughts on “Guidelines for Baking and Decorating a Gingerbread House

  1. Barbara

    Please post the gingerbread recipe for a house that was in 1995 masters choice a&p booklet .it had 5 c flour spices shortening and sugar and molasses but i need the amounts

    1. sylveee

      Sorry I didn’t see this sooner. Do you want it posted now or closer to the Winter Holidays.

      1. Barbara Petruccelli

        Please post now thank you

        1. sylveee

          I know it is somewhat late, but I posted the recipe yesterday. If you are making houses this year, this is the recipe you want. Sorry about the delay but I was sort of indisposed for a while.

      2. Barbara Petruccelli

        Please post as soon as you can I’ve been trying to find this recipe for a long time

        1. sylveee

          Barbara – I am sorry that I did not respond sooner to your request. I have been somewhat incapcitated but am now getting back in form. If you have not yet found the Ginger House Recipe I have posted it in this blog. I am not sure what publication you were referring to but this one was in a Market Publication on the East Coast. It was originally Mother’ Molasses Recipe but I have altered it to make it tastier and easier to work with. There are just some things that they do not tell you in the instructions and that you have to learn yourself. I have found it easier to make the Dough on low speed in my Standing Mixer. Please let me know your results if I am not too late in posting the recipe. Here is the Recipe address. https://www.sylveeeskitchen.com/cooking-classes/gingerbread-houses/gingerbread-house-dough/

          1. sylveee

            Just a note – the recipe is listed under Baked Goods/Cookies. It will be at the bottom of the cookie list.

  2. Barbara

    Thank you

    1. sylveee

      A Belated Welcome to you!

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