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Christmas: Gingerbread House 2

Source of Recipe

Selena McDevitt


List of Ingredients

1 cup light corn syrup
½ cup firmly packed brown sugar
½ cup vegetable shortening
4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon ground ginger
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
½ teaspoon cream of tartar
1 egg white
1/3 cup boiling water
assorted hard candies
red mini- and regular-size candy-coated chocolates
log-shaped peppermints
bite-size frosted wheat cereal
spearmint leaves
starlight mints
assorted colored sugars
assorted candy sticks
shredded coconut



Recipe

Making the House:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a small saucepan, cook corn syrup, brown sugar, and shortening over medium heat, stirring until smooth. In a large bowl, combine flour, ginger, and cinnamon. Add corn syrup mixture, stirring until dough forms.

On a lightly floured surface, roll dough into a ½” thick rectangle. Cut out 2 roofs (4 ¼ x 5 ½ “), a front (5 ¾ x 5” with 2 windows and a door), a back (5 ¾ x 5”), and two sides (3 ¼ x 4 ¼ “ with two windows). Save cutouts from the windows and cut in half lengthwise for the shutters. Place shapes, including the cutout pieces for the windows and door, 1” apart on baking sheets. Bake 10-15 minutes. Place sheets on wire racks; cool slightly. Trim cookies; cool completely.

For the icing glue, in a medium bowl, combine confectioners’ sugar, cream of tartar, and egg white; add boiling water. Using an electric mixer set on medium-high speed, beat mixture until icing holds stiff peaks. Place icing in a large pastry bag fitted with a fine tip; set aside until ready to use.


Decorating the House

Keep oven at 350 degrees. Line a large baking sheet with foil. Transfer gingerbread pieces with window openings to prepared sheet. Place assorted color hard candies in a large resealable plastic bag. Using a kitchen mallet or a rolling pin, crush candies. Spoon crushed candies into the window openings on the gingerbread pieces. Bake until candy has melted, about 2 minutes. Using a toothpick, swirl colors together. Let cool completely.

Pipe icing onto shutters and sprinkle with green colored sugar; let dry. Pipe design onto windows with icing. Attach shutters with icing; attach regular-size candy-coated chocolates behind shutters for propping. Let set until dry.

Beneath the window, attach log-shaped peppermints with icing for window boxes. Let set until dry. Pipe icing onto door shape; sprinkle with red colored sugar. Pipe more icing for door trim, knob, and wreath. Attach a mini candy-coated chocolate for the knob and a starlight mint for the wreath.

To assemble the house, generously apply the icing along the adjoining sides. Hold walls upright so their edges touch; let icing harden. Pipe more icing along the edges and attach candy sticks.

For the roof, apply icing to the top edges of the side, front, and back walls and along the peak of the roof. Gently press the pieces in place; allow the icing to harden. Spread the roof with icing; place a candy stick on top and attach wheat cereal. Using icing, pipe icicles along edges of the roof. Attach the door and spearmint leaves with icing; sprinkle the base with coconut.

To make sure that the sides of the house remain in place while drying, go and pull out the canned veggies. The weight of the cans will help support the walls until the glue is completely dried.

To make pine trees, all you need is sugar ice-cream cones, icing glue, and green colored sugar. Holding the cone from the open end, pipe icing in a zigzag motion around the cone. Sprinkle green sugar onto the icing. Let cones set until dry.