G is for Gingerbread House

I did it!  I successfully baked my own gingerbread house pieces, whipped up my own royal frosting, used an authentic piping bag (as opposed to the ziploc variety), and decorated a little Candy Land dream all by myself!  This was on my goal list and now I can put a big fat check mark next to this accomplishment.  I see no need for the store-bought kits now, although my years of using the gingerbread kit from Michaels probably prepared me for this moment.  Honestly, this kitchen craft wasn't too difficult;  it just took a lot of time.     

I had an incredible amount of candy to work with since my students decorated their own gingerbread houses on our last day of school before break.  Even if I'd sent home a bag of candy with each child, I would've still had leftovers because a kindergarten teacher donated a dozen half bags of candy to our cause as well.  Wow!  The kids worked hard to calculate gingerbread budgets and "bought" their candy from me to decorate their houses.  One student's grandmother sent in precious little gingerbread men that the kids put in their yards.  I manned a sprinkle and coconut snow station in the classroom and told the class that they could only eat a piece of candy when they heard a bell ring.  They demonstrated wonderful self control!  Granted, some of them sighed and groaned when their hands were coated with frosting and I wouldn't let them lick it off, but I probably would've responded in the same way if I were in their shoes.  I wish you could've heard the cheers each time I rang the official candy bell.  Those kids have never been so happy to pop a marshmallow or a gum drop in their mouths!  Any guesses on how many pieces of candy I let them eat before I loaded them on the bus with their candy-coated creations?  Three.  Just three.  Aren't I a grinch?!  

Thank goodness no one was there to ring a candy bell in my kitchen!  I licked a little bit of frosting off my fingers.  I ate a few sour straws.  I munched on mini candy canes.  I may have polished off the rest of the mini M&Ms...and I had a blast!    

To create my confectionary abode, I used a Pampered Chef stoneware gingerbread house mold (circa 1992) from my mother-in-law.  It came with directions and recipes and a reusable piping bag with interchangeable tips.  I'll share the recipe, but understand that this dough was dry and crumbly and had to be tightly packed into the stoneware mold.  This gingerbread recipe is not for rolling out and cutting or shaping the pieces of the house.  After baking for 20 minutes, the pieces came out without a hitch and I was able to glue all the sides of the house together without any serious crumbles or cracks.                    

Gingerbread Base

from Pampered Chef

3 c. flour

1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. ground ginger

1/4 tsp. ground cloves

1/4 tsp. salt

1/2 c. butter, softened

1/2 c. sugar

1/2 c. molasses

1 egg yolk

Preheat oven to 350 F.  Lightly grease mold with vegetable oil spray.  Blot out excess oil with a paper towel.  Set aside.  Combine flour, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and salt.  Set aside.  In a large mixing bowl, beat butter and sugar at high speed until light and fluffy.  Add molasses and egg yolk and beat until smooth.  Gradually add flour mixture and continue to beat until dough is thoroughly combined.  Dough will be stiff and slightly dry.  Gather dough into a large ball.  Press half of dough firmly into greased mold.  Wrap remaining dough in plastic wrap to prevent further drying.  Level off back of dough in mold using a serrated knife.  Bake for 20 minutes or until lightly browned.  Place a cooling rack over surface of mold.  Flip mold and cooling rack together to unfold house pieces directly onto the rack.  Let mold cool completely before refilling and baking with the second half of the dough.  Lightly grease mold again before refilling.  

Royal Icing

This sticky icing acts as the mortar to hold the house together.  

3 c. powdered sugar

2 egg whites

1/2 tsp. cream of tartar

Place all ingredients in a non-plastic mixing bowl.  Beat on high speed with mixer until frosting is glossy and holds peaks, about 5 minutes.  This frosting dries very quickly, so cover the bowl with plastic wrap when not being used.  Frosting can be tinted with food color if desired.