Building a house can be a frustrating endeavor, particularly if the house is made of gingerbread. But a well-decorated gingerbread house is a perfect holiday touch sitting on a table or counter.
And it can be fun. No, really. Here are a few tips:
Use royal icing
There is no shame in using a kit, but the icing that comes with most kits doesn’t cut it for building a gingerbread house that doesn’t collapse. The first key to a house that won’t fall down is having royal icing because it dries quickly and hard.
Royal icing recipe
* 4 cups powdered sugar
* 3 tablespoons meringue powder
* 1/2 cup warm water
* 1/2 teaspoon clear vanilla or almond extract.
In the bowl of an electric mixer combine powdered sugar and meringue powder. Add the water and extract slowly. Beat at medium-high speed until stiff peaks form, which is roughly 6 minutes. This makes about 4 cups of icing. Adding the vanilla or almond extract might thin it a bit, so mix in some powdered sugar. Keep it covered when not in use. You can replace the meringue with 3 large egg whites and skip the water, but eating raw eggs is not a good practice. Or skip everything, type in “royal icing” on Amazon and hit “buy now.”
Decorate the pieces first
Decorate the separate pieces of the house and let them dry before putting the house together. This is easier than doing it while on the house. (Picture gumdrops dropping off the slanted roof, for example.)
Be patient
The second, and most important, key to creating a beautiful, stable gingerbread house is patience. Each wall and roof piece need at least a couple of hours to dry before being handled.
After the individual pieces dry, put the walls together and let them dry for a couple of hours. If you really want to be careful, build an “L” and let it dry a bit and add the other two walls. Finally add the roof pieces and don’t move, touch or breathe on the masterpiece for a few more hours.
