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Beautiful Gingerbread Houses

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Make Your Own Gingerbread House - Fun for the whole family

Edible gingerbread houses are a holiday favorite.  They can be made in all shapes and sizes and decorated with pretty much anything you have in the pantry.  They can be homemade with fresh gingerbread or assembled right out of a kit.  They are enjoyed by kids and seniors... women and men... there are designs that will please anyone.  This lens contains everything you need to create a gingerbread house at home.  There are also a few tips and great pictures along the way.



Gingerbread houses are a popular fall recipe, and especillay from Thanksgiving through to Christmas but they make a perfect treat throughout the winter - and the summer too!

Beautiful Gingerbread Houses

Gingerbread House Competition Pictures

Click for more info & photos on the National Gingerbread House Competition

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Easy Gingerbread Recipe

Basic Gingerbread House Ingredients

These are the ingredients to make the basic gingerbread shell of your edible gingerbread house. The real fun then comes in decorating it ...

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1/4 cup light molasses or dark corn syrup
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon ground ginger
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cloves
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons water



This is enough gingerbread to make a basic 3X5 inch gingerbread house. You will need more to make a bigger house.

This recipe and the remaining instructions can be found at FoodNetwork.com.

Do you have food allergies? Try this Gluten-Free Gingerbread recipe.

Making Great Gingerbread Houses

Delicious Designs from Cabins to Castles, from Lighthouses to Tree Houses

There are many companies which sell gingerbread house kits. They offer convenience but most people should be able to make gingerbread houses themselves. It's cheaper and much more fun. But it can be useful to have some ideas of what houses can look like, and some tips. That's where a recipe book may come in. A gingerbread house recipe book also makes a great gift.
Making Great Gingerbread Houses: Delicious Designs from Cabins to Castles, from Lighthouses to Tree Houses

Making Great Gingerbread Houses: Delicious Designs from Cabins to Castles, from Lighthouses to Tree Houses

by: Aaron Morgan, Paige Gilchrist

Amazon Price: $6.82 (as of 02/14/2012)Buy Now

This is part pastry art and part architecture modelling, but making gingerbread houses is all winter-holiday and Christmas-time fun! These forty scrumptious-looking projects are perfect for anyone of any age with an urge to bake & decorate. Complete easy-to-follow instructions from an experienced pastry chef, illustrated step-by-photographic-step in full colour. Amazon product description

Amazon Customer Review (luv2crop)

"We learned a lot and got lots of great ideas. It will be a part of our Christmas traditions. I loved this book and recommend this book for any gingerbread nuts on your list."

How to Make Royal Icing

Beautify your house

To decorate your gingerbread house you will need icing of various colors. Here is how to make it. There are more tips on the separate icing pages if you need them



Ingredients♨ 1 pound (3-3/4 cups) confectionery sugar

♨ 4 teaspoons packaged egg whites

♨ ¼ cup of water

♨ 1 -2 teaspons lemon or vanilla juice

♨ Coloring if required

Method➀Mix egg whites, sugar and water together using an electric hand mixer
➁When smooth, add lemon/vanilla juice to taste.
➂Add coloring if required.
➃Mix until smooth. If too thick add more water; add more sugar if too runny.

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Quick Tip

Keep your icing covered. It will dry out quickly. Store in a metal or glass container.

Gingerbreadhouse Templates

If you are looking for detailed instructions and templates for gingerbread houses, this is another book that can be very useful.
The Gingerbread Architect: Recipes and Blueprints for Twelve Classic American Homes

The Gingerbread Architect: Recipes and Blueprints for Twelve Classic American Homes

by: Susan Matheson, Lauren Chattman

Amazon Price: $11.68 (as of 02/14/2012)Buy Now

Usually ships in 1-2 business days

Easy Gingerbread Houses

A Video Tutorial

In this video. Tanya Wenman Steel and her two young sons build some beauiful ginderbread houses. Making a gingerbread house can be easy and Tanya has some great tips. To watch this video in HQ on YouTube, click here.

 

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Easy Gingerbread Houses

If you want an easy method of cutting out gingerbread houses, please see the instructions on my gingerbead men cookies lens or
find your ideal gingerbread cutter.

Christmas Gingerbread House


Free Gingerbread House Templates

Here is a quick list of free templates that you can utilize.

Gingerbread Lighthouse Template

Assemble a Gingerbread Lighthouse

Gingerbread LighthouseOne of the most common requests I get is for a gingerbread lighthouse template. I've not managed to find one online, alhough the Gingerbreadhouses book featured above includes instructions on how to make a gingerbread lighthouse. The next best thing though is insrtuctions from CoastalLiving on how to make the gingerbread lighthouse shown - Whale Back Light at the entrance to Portsmouth Harbor. (I think the image is © Amy Bissinger.) Just click on the photo to see the article. There is a recipe for gingerbread there as well as guidance on how to assemble your gingerbread lighthouse.

Quick Tip

Shredded wheat cereal makes a great roof.

Gingerbread is yummy! 

Decorating the house

A few more tips to get you started

Adding extras to the basic gingerbread house is my favorite part. You can add landscaping with Christmas trees and grass. You can make windows look warm and cozy by melting butterscotch candies. Give churches a unique look with stained glass windows. Use royal icing to make icicles that hang from the roof. Add gingerbread people or Santa's sleigh. With a little imagination, the possibilities are endless.

Making Gingerbread

A few supplies you may need

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This picture courtesy of uriel on Creative Commons.

Quick Tip

Pour corn syrup on your base and cover with a mix of shredded coconut and sugar to make realistic looking snow.

Pre-made Gingerbread Houses

Sometimes, you just don't have time to make the beautiful gingerbread house that you would wish - so why not buy one? (Please remember to check what, if anything, you need to do to finish off the gingerbread house that you choose.)
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Gingerbread House Blogs

On Google

Md. man charged with destroying gingerbread house with fireworks
By AP ROCK HALL, Md. ? A Maryland man is accused of using fireworks to destroy a gingerbread house on his front porch. Jerry Lee Heinefield, of Rock Hall, faces charges of reckless endangerment and illegal fireworks possession.
Md. Man Accused In Gingerbread House Explosion
ROCK HALL, Md. (AP) ? A Maryland man is accused of using fireworks to destroy a gingerbread house on his front porch. Jerry Lee Heinefield, of Rock Hall, faces charges of reckless endangerment and illegal fireworks possession.
Man faces charges after allegedly trying to blow up gingerbread house
ROCK HALL A Rock Hall man faces charges after allegedly using fireworks to blow up a gingerbread house. Jerry Lee Heinefield, 36, of 21830 Sunnyside Ave., faces one count each of reckless endangerment, possession of illegal fireworks and discharge of ...
Beyond the gingerbread House
An evil Queen murdering her father, Jimmy Cricket as a child psychologist and Snow White running around bailing pretty blondes out of prison ? welcome to Storybrooke, home of TV2's new Once Upon a Time. Dreamed up by the guys behind Lost ? meaning yes, ...
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Picture courtesy of yumiang on Creative Commons.

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Wilton Ultimate Gingerbread House

If you are hopeless in the kitchen or just don't have time to bake, a gingerbread house kit is the perfect solution for you.
Wilton Ultimate Gingerbread House

Wilton Ultimate Gingerbread House

Amazon Price: (as of 02/14/2012)Buy Now

This house includes pre-baked house pieces and trees, 3 packages of icing mix, decorating bags, 2 tips, icing decorations, candy, and complete instructions.

Gingerbread Cottage 

National Gingerbread House Competition

(Almost) too good to eat!

The ambitious might be tempted to enter the National Gingerbread House Competition. The competition is held annualy at the Grove Park Inn Resort and Spa in Ashville North Carolina. There are separate categories for adults, teens, youths and children so something for all the family to enjoy. The competition usually attracts over 300 amazing entries. Apart from the base, all of the gingerbread house must be edible. The inset photo shows the 2007 grand prize winning gingerbread house, an amazing gingerbread castle by Patricia Howard of Winter Springs, Florida. (Photo credit, © Grove Park Inn Resort and Spa)

For more photos of beaufiul gingerbread houses, check out these photos of gingerbread houses which have won prizes in the National Gingerbread House Competition. If you are not feeling that ambitious, there are local competions as well.

Photo of gingerbread cottage by photojc123 via Flickr under a creative commons licence.

This picture courtesy of sociotard on Creative Commons.

I hope you were inspired to make your own gingerbread house

Leave your comments, tips, and suggestions below.

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Even more about Gingerbread Houses

There are loads of ideas out there for decorating gingerbread houses. Here is a selection for you.
Md. man charged with destroying gingerbread house with fireworks
By AP ROCK HALL, Md. ? A Maryland man is accused of using fireworks to destroy a gingerbread house on his front porch. Jerry Lee Heinefield, of Rock Hall, faces charges of reckless endangerment and illegal fireworks possession.
Md. Man Accused In Gingerbread House Explosion
ROCK HALL, Md. (AP) ? A Maryland man is accused of using fireworks to destroy a gingerbread house on his front porch. Jerry Lee Heinefield, of Rock Hall, faces charges of reckless endangerment and illegal fireworks possession.
Man faces charges after allegedly trying to blow up gingerbread house
ROCK HALL A Rock Hall man faces charges after allegedly using fireworks to blow up a gingerbread house. Jerry Lee Heinefield, 36, of 21830 Sunnyside Ave., faces one count each of reckless endangerment, possession of illegal fireworks and discharge of ...
Who Loves You, Muskego ?
The Gingerbread House has been decked out for weeks, and owner Tracy Bohrer says they will have a "variety of beautiful cakes, confections, chocolate desserts, cookies and pastries that can only truly be appreciated by coming in and enjoying.
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by: Joanna Farrow

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Help with your Gingerbread House 

How to Build a Gingerbread House: A Step-by-Step Guide to Sweet Results

How to Build a Gingerbread House: A Step-by-Step Guide to Sweet Results

by: Christina Banner

Amazon Price: $12.65 (as of 02/14/2012)Buy Now

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