Gingerbread House

Let's Cook

1. Step 1.

   Melt in a medium saucepan: 2 sticks (8 oz or 225g) butter or margarine

2. Step 2.

   Add and stir over low heat until the sugar is dissolved and the mixture no longer feels gritty: 1 cup (200g) sugar; 1 cup (340g) molasses

3. Step 3.

   Remove from the heat and set aside to cool to lukewarm. Whisk together in a large bowl: 4 ½ cups (565g) all-purpose flour; 1 tablespoon ground ginger; 1 teaspoon baking soda; 1 teaspoon salt; 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon; 1 teaspoon grated or ground nutmeg

4. Step 4.

   Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients, pour in the lukewarm butter mixture, and beat to blend everything together. Work in: ½ cup (65g) all-purpose flour

5. Step 5.

   beating until the dough forms a ball and pulls away from the sides of the bowl. Remove the dough from the bowl and knead 3 or 4 times on the counter, until smooth and pliable. Wrap well and refrigerate until the dough is thoroughly cool. (The dough can be prepared several days in advance.) After refrigerating, if the dough feels too soft to roll out, work in a tiny bit more flour.

6. Step 6.

   To make the pattern pieces: Draw the pattern pieces onto stiff cardboard and cut them out. You should have 7 pieces: 2 sides, 1 front, 1 back, 2 roof panels, and 1 base. Rub flour over both sides of the pattern pieces to prevent the dough from sticking to them.

7. Step 7.

   To cut out and bake the gingerbread house: Position oven racks to divide the oven into thirds. Preheat the oven to 350°F.

8. Step 8.

   With a lightly floured rolling pin, roll out about one-third of the dough directly on an ungreased cookie sheet to about ¼ inch thick. Lightly dust the dough with flour. Position as many pattern pieces as will fit comfortably on top of the rolled dough, leaving about ¾ inch between them to allow for spreading during baking. Cut around the patterns with a sharp paring knife. Lift off the pattern pieces. Peel away the dough between the cut pieces. Gather the scraps and reroll one time to cut out more. Repeat with a second and third cookie sheet if needed, using the remaining dough and cutting out all the pieces. Cut around, but do not lift out, the windows and the front door (if they are removed now, the shapes will warp). Roll out the scraps and use cookie cutters or a paring knife to cut out gingerbread people, fence posts, animals, and other designs.

9. Step 9.

   Bake the gingerbread pieces until the color darkens slightly and the pieces feel nearly stiff (they will firm completely as they cool), 12 to 15 minutes, switching racks and rotating the sheets halfway through. (If the pieces are not crisp when completely cool, return them to the oven and bake a few minutes longer.)

10. Step 10.

    As soon as they come out of the oven, set the sheets on a heatproof surface and immediately, while the dough is still hot, place the pattern pieces on top of the corresponding pieces of hot gingerbread. One at a time, placing a potholder over each shape to protect your hand, cut around each pattern with a paring knife (trimming all the house edges will make them fit together more neatly). Lift off and save the scraps for decorations. Cut out and remove the door and windows. While the dough is still warm, you can halve each cut-out piece of window to make shutters. Save the door cut-out, too. Once the shapes are rigid but still slightly warm, transfer them to wire racks to cool completely. Store them flat on a tray or in a sturdy box in a cool, dry place until ready to assemble.

11. Step 11.

    To assemble the house, prepare: A double or triple recipe of Royal Icing or Quick Cookie Icing

12. Step 12.

    The house will require 2 to 6 cups icing, depending on the style of the decorations. Leave about half the icing in the bowl for assembling the house, and use the rest for decorations. Scoop the remaining icing into cups or small bowls, mixing in: Drops of food coloring

13. Step 13.

    Immediately cover the bowls of icing with plastic wrap so they don’t dry out; keep tightly covered when you are not using the icing.

14. Step 14.

    Set the gingerbread base right side up on a tray. (The right side of each piece is the side facing up when baked.) Center the front, back, and side pieces, right side down, on top of the base, with the bottom corners touching.

15. Step 15.

    Place some of the white icing in a pastry bag fitted with a plain ¼- to ½-inch tip or a zip-top bag with a ¼-inch hole cut in one corner, and pipe out a thick ½-inch-deep line of icing around the foundation lines. One at a time, lift the side pieces into place and, with the pastry bag or your fingertip, pipe or spread a generous line of icing along both side edges of each piece. Repeat with the front and back pieces, icing their side edges and standing them up in the foundation icing next to the sides. Gently press all the iced edges of the house together. If the icing is thick enough, the house should now stand up unaided. If it is wobbly, support it on all 4 sides with jars or cans until the icing dries, 1 hour to overnight, depending on the humidity. Do not attempt to add the roof until the icing is dry and the structure feels solid. Note: Don’t worry if the icing shows, especially along the seam joints, as it will be covered with “icicles” or other decorations.

16. Step 16.

    To attach the roof, spread icing generously along the top edges of each house piece and along one long edge of each roof panel. Press the roof panels in place, touching each other at the peak. Use your fingertip to smooth all the joints where the pieces meet; add extra icing if necessary for stability. If the roof panels droop, support them with jars or cans until the icing sets. Don’t decorate the roof until the icing is set, or the weight of the decorations may cause it to collapse.

17. Step 17.

    To decorate the house, use icing to glue on the window shutters and position the front door ajar. Using icing as glue, decorate the house with: Jelly beans, gumdrops, candy-coated chocolate pieces, nonpareils, jellied wintergreen leaves, hard round peppermint candies, candy canes, silver dragées, cinnamon red hots, colored sugar wafers, ring-shaped hard candies, caramels, “stone” candies, mini shredded wheat cereal, toasted oat cereal, red shoestring licorice, marshmallows, mini pretzels and pretzel rods, colored sugars, sunflower and pumpkin seeds, dried fruits, raisins, and/or nuts

18. Step 18.

    Make a chimney from flat candies glued together with icing and stacked up on the roof ridge line. To prevent sticking, oil the scissors before cutting soft candies. After the shutters, door, and chimney are in place, add a little water to some of the white icing, making it runny enough to drip. Use the piping bag to pipe drippy icicles along the edges of the roof. For snow, sift over the top of the house and the base a light dusting of: Powdered sugar