Gingerbread Facade Recipes

GINGERBREAD FACADE

Steps:

• Make template. (See our tips for an architectural treat here.)
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Roll out gingerbread dough on a Silpat to about 1/4 inch thick. Chill until firm, about 1 hour. Lightly dust top of dough with flour. Place templates on top and cut out shapes. Place Silpat with house pieces on a baking sheet. Bake, rotating sheet halfway through, until just beginning to brown, about 18 minutes. Let cool completely.
• Place template over baked gingerbread. Using a utility knife, lightly score along roof lines, shingles, and door (to serve as guides when piping). Gingerbread can be stored on baking sheets, covered with plastic wrap, up to 1 week at room temperature.
• Decorate facade. Decorate shutters as desired.
• Make windowpane molds: Roll out molding clay 1/4 inch thick on a Silpat. Measure windows of house; add 1/2 inch all around. With a utility knife, cut out molds from clay using measurements. Make the caramel syrup, and pour into molds. Let set, then use royal icing to glue onto back of facade.
• Lightly brush some un-iced areas of gingerbread with egg wash; liberally sprinkle nonpareils or sanding sugar over top. (Work quickly, as egg white dries rapidly.) Let sit 20 minutes, then brush off any excess.
• Attach the shutters. Once the shutters are set, attach supports for the house to either end: Pipe icing along the angled edge of support, using a small plain tip (#3). Hold support, narrow end up, flush against one side of the house until set. Repeat on the other side of the house.

GINGERBREAD CAKE

Steps:

• Lightly butter a 9 by 13 by 2-inch cake pan and line the bottom with a piece of parchment or wax paper. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
• In a large bowl, whisk together the oil, sugar, molasses, and crystallized ginger. Add the eggs and whisk until smooth.
• In another large bowl, whisk together the flour, ground ginger, cinnamon, salt, and cloves. Whisk the molasses mixture into the flour mixture until evenly combined.
• In a small saucepan, bring the water to a boil. Remove from the heat and stir in the baking soda. Whisk the hot water into the batter until just combined. Transfer the batter into the prepared pan. Bake the cake in the center of the oven, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 45 minutes. Cool the cake in the pan on a rack. Cut into squares and serve with whipped cream or ice cream.

FAVORITE OLD FASHIONED GINGERBREAD

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9-inch square pan.
• In a large bowl, cream together the sugar and butter. Beat in the egg, and mix in the molasses.
• In a bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves. Blend into the creamed mixture. Stir in the hot water. Pour into the prepared pan.
• Bake 1 hour in the preheated oven, until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool in pan before serving.

GINGERBREAD RANCH HOUSE

Steps:

• In a large bowl, cream butter and brown sugar. Beat in corn syrup and eggs. Combine the next five ingredients; gradually add to creamed mixture. Divide into three portions. With a lightly floured rolling pin, roll out one portion of dough directly onto a greased baking sheet to 1/4-in. thickness., With a sharp knife, cut out four 6-1/4x4-in. rectangles for ranch house sides and roof pieces. On two pieces, score two 2-1/2-in. high by 1-1/2-in. wide window outlines., Roll out second portion of dough. Position front and back wall patterns on dough; cut out. Score windows and door window on front. Cut out one 6-1/2-in. x 2-1/2-in. rectangle for porch awning., Bake at 400° for 10-12 minutes or until lightly browned. While still warm, place patterns over baked dough; trim. Cut out windows completely; cool. (Save cutouts for another use.), Place front and side walls on a foil-lined baking sheet. Spoon 2 teaspoons crushed hard candies into each window cutout. Bake at 400° for 3-4 minutes or until candy is melted. Cool completely on baking sheet before removing., For icing and assemble: In a bowl, beat egg whites, confectioners' sugar and cream of tartar on low for 1 minute. Beat on medium for 6-8 minutes or until stiff. Tint 3/4 cup icing green. Cover; refrigerate until ready to use., Cut a small hole in the corner of a pastry or plastic bag; insert #5 tip. Add some of the white icing. (Press plastic wrap over surface of unused icing and refrigerate between uses.) Pipe icing along base and sides of front wall and one side wall. Position at right angles to each other and place on covered board;prop with small cans. Repeat with second side section and back. Let dry; remove cans. Trim edges of windows, door window and door frame with icing. For doorknob, attach a red M&M with icing., For roof: Pipe icing along top edge of house. Position roof pieces; let dry. For roof tiles, cut 50 sticks of gum into thirds widthwise. Pipe and icing line 1/2 in. from bottom of one side of roof. Curve gum pieces and press along icing; repeat until one horizontal row is finished. Repeat six times, slightly overlapping each row until one roof piece is covered., Repeat on other side. Pipe a thick line of icing along top roof seam. Using the same technique, place final row of gum pieces at right angle to direction of roof tiles; let dry., For porch and awning: On covered board in front of ranch house, spread white icing into a 7-1/4x3-1/4-in. rectangle. Press cheese crackers 1/8 in. apart into icing; let dry. Pipe two mounds of icing 1 in. from the front of porch corners. Position peppermint sticks upright in mounds; let dry, propping if necessary. Pipe additional icing on peppermint stick tops and along one long edge of awning piece., Press long frosted edge against facade and over peppermint sticks; let dry. Pipe icing over top of awning. Press nine whole sticks of gum side by side lengthwise into icing; curve ends down., For antlers: Secure malted milk ball to a small piece of waxed paper with a dab of icing; pipe two antlers. Let dry; carefully peel away waxed paper. Center antlers above awning; attach holly berry and leaf sprinkles with icing., For cacti: Break a third off each pretzel rod; discard. For the arms (branches), break curved sides off pretzel twists and attach to sides of rods with icing; let dry. Using green icing and #16 tip, pipe small stars to completely cover one side of each cactus., Add white sprinkles; let dry. Turn over and repeat. Pipe white icing mouths; add remaining red M&M's for tongues. Attach brown M&M's for eyes; let dry., For hats, place caramel-filled chocolate candies inside curved center of two chocolate slices; pipe a hatband of icing to secure. Attach holly berry and leaf sprinkles; let dry., For rocking chair: Break pretzel sticks in half for chair legs. Attach with icing to the bottom of one chocolate slice; let dry. For rockers, cut remaining stick of gum in half lengthwise. Pipe a small amount of icing on tips of chair legs; attach gum strips and curve slightly. Let dry; invert. Pipe icing along back short side of chair seat; press remaining chocolate slice into icing for chair back. Let dry., For finishing touches: Carefully pipe swags of icing along tops of side windows, along edge of awning and around awning posts. Add light bulb sprinkles. Position cacti on board next to house and secure with icing; prop with small cans. Place hats on cacti. Place rocking chair in front of porch.

GINGERBREAD HOUSES RECIPE BY TASTY

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350ºF (180ºC). Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
• In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, ginger, nutmeg, cinnamon, and salt. Set aside.
• Grease the bottom and sides of a heavy-bottomed pot (such as a Dutch oven) with nonstick spray. This will ensure the dough doesn't stick to the pot as you turn it out.
• Melt the shortening in the greased pot over medium heat. Add the molasses and sugar, bring to a boil, then turn off the heat.
• Gradually stir in 4 cups (500 grams) of the flour mixture, 1 cup (125 grams) at a time, making sure to fully incorporate each addition before adding more. You'll have some of the flour mixture left over.
• Dust a work surface with some of the remaining flour mixture. Carefully turn the dough out onto the floured surface and work in the flour mixture. (You don't want the dough to be too crumbly. You may have some flour mixture left over, which can be used for rolling out the dough.)
• Once the flour is incorporated, shape the dough into a 12-inch (30.5 cm) log and cut into 3 portions, 1 piece slightly larger than the others for the roof.
• Set aside the smaller pieces of dough in the pot (it still should be warm, but not hot), cover with plastic wrap, and put the lid on. You'll want to work with the dough while it's warm as it tends to harden at room temperature. If it hardens, simply microwave for about 30 seconds.
• On the floured surface, roll out the larger piece of dough to a rectangle about ½-inch (1 ¼ cm) thick. Using a house template, cut the 2 pieces of the roof and set on a prepared baking sheet, spacing about 1 inch apart as the dough will expand while baking.
• Roll out the rest of the dough and cut out the front, back, and sides of the house using the templates. Place on a baking sheet.
• Wrap the leftover dough in plastic wrap and store at room temperature for up to 1 day. Microwave to soften and roll out to make decorations for the house or another gingerbread creation.
• Bake the gingerbread house pieces for 12-15 minutes, until they have hardened and baked through. Let cool completely.
• Make the royal icing: In a large bowl, beat the egg whites and cream of tartar with an electric hand mixer until frothy. Gradually add the powdered sugar, 1 cup (120 grams) at a time, until the icing is smooth and thick. NOTE: The icing is used for gluing the house together. It's very thick. To use the icing for decorating, add about 1 teaspoon of water at a time to thin the icing to your desired consistency.
• Assemble the gingerbread house with the royal icing. TIP: Put the roof pieces side by side with the underside up (and the eventual exposed part of the roof down). "Glue" a cut piece of a paper shopping bag across these two pieces with royal icing. Place two small glass bowls on either side of this upside-down roof to prop the pieces up into a "V" shape. Let dry completely. When assembling, this will help ensure that your roof doesn't slip down the sides of the house.
• Decorate the house with more royal icing and your desired decorations.
• Enjoy!

CLASSIC GINGERBREAD CUTOUTS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• In a large bowl, cream together the butter and brown sugar until smooth. Stir in the molasses and eggs. Combine 1 1/2 cups of the flour, baking soda, salt, allspice, cloves, cinnamon, and ginger; beat into the molasses mixture. Gradually stir in the remaining flour by hand to form a stiff dough.
• Divide dough into 2 pieces. On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough to 1/8 inch thickness. Cut into desired shapes using cookie cutters. Place cookies 1 inch apart onto ungreased cookie sheets.
• Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.
• In a medium bowl, sift together confectioners' sugar and cream of tartar. Blend in egg whites. Using an electric mixer on high speed, beat for about 5 minutes, or until mixture is thick and stiff. Keep covered with a moist cloth until ready to frost cookies.