Gingerbread House

Winter break is officially here, and although I should be sleeping in late, kicking my feet up, and watching tons of holiday movies (how else would you relax after an insanely busy semester?), I find myself getting ready for another burst of merry productivity.  Saturday, I was all too happy to sleep in late, go for a run around the LSU lakes with Captain Planet, and do some holiday baking.  One of CP’s favorite cookies is the Jewish Purim Hamantaschen, and I experimented in the kitchen with much success (recipe coming soon!).  The rest of the evening was spent baking sheets of gingerbread and watching the Miss Gay George’s Beauty Pageant in downtown Baton Rouge to support one of my students.But Sunday, oh but Sunday, what a day.  Captain Planet and I made it a point to build his first ever Gingerbread House with the kind of intense zeal that would make Santa–or Hannakuh Harry–very jealous.  With innovative vision and aggressively hard work, Captain Planet outlined a personalized blue print for the house, carved the cookies, and I prepared the icing.

Since the next few weeks will be spent finishing up my doctoral exam study lists, working on my cookbook manuscript, and catching up on my favorite cardio activity–running, a Sunday entirely dedicated to eating too much sugar and taking luxurious naps in between gingerbread construction was exactly what I needed.  I’m slowly learning the perks of having a boyfriend, and it turns out the good ones keep working on your holiday project even when you’re sleeping.  I’m a lucky girl.

I wanted to share the below recipe for a delicious Gingerbread House with Clearly Delicious readers.  The activity is a fabulous way to spend a long afternoon–especially if you get really into it, like Captain Planet and me.  There are about as many ways to make gingerbread houses as there are homes to imagine, so I’ll suggest a few helpful tips:

Pick fabulous extra touches that add a certain za za zoo to your project: pictured here, an adorable 99-cent white chocolate polar bear complete with Swedish Fish…. 

Get creative with your extra bits: even if those fabulous touches are silly looking homemade snowmen like Stan the Snowman:

Get your dog in the Holiday Spirit

And, of course, have a wonderful boyfriend to help.

As for baking and dough tips, I find that the dough works best when rolled to 1/4 inch thick and is allowed to sit at room temperature overnight covered.  This way, the gingerbread really truly hardens for the house construction the next day.

Gingerbread House

This recipe is adapted from my favorite food and cooking blog Simply Recipes and can be found here and here.  My gingerbread cookie mostly follows the former, but I took a cue from Elise’s royal Icing recipe in the latter link.

Ingredients:

–Gingerbread–

*6 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

*1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

*3 sticks salted butter, softened

*1 cup dark brown sugar, packed

*2 tablespoons ginger

*2 tablespoons cinnamon

*1 teaspoon cloves

*1 teaspoon nutmeg

*1 teaspoon salt

*2 large eggs

*1 cup molasses

*1 tablespoon vanilla extract

–Frosting–

*5 cups powdered sugar

*2 egg whites

*1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1.) In a large bowl, whisk together dry ingredients—flour, baking soda, salt, and spices (ginger, cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg).  Reserve while preparing wet mixture.

2.) In a standing mixer, cream together brown sugar and butter until light and fluffy.  Add in eggs one at a time, vanilla extract, and 1 cup molasses.  Scrape down sides of bowl and continue mixing.

3.) slowly combine dry ingredients with wet mixture: about ½ cup at a time until mixture is fully integrated.  After adding the last of the dry ingredients, stop mixer, scrape down bowl sides, and mix one last time.

4.) Divide dough into three equal parts and wrap in plastic wrap.  Normally, I’d suggest putting dough into circular rounds, but since you’re going from brick-like walls here, shape plastic-wrapped gingerbread into rectangular pads.  Refrigerate for at least an hour or over night.

5.) Preheat oven to 350F.  On a well-floured surface, roll out one brick of gingerbread until it’s ¼ inch thick.  Transfer brick to a baking sheet lined with wax paper and bake for exactly 10 minutes.*

*Cook’s Note: 10 minutes—for my oven—really is the “sweet spot.”  It cooks the gingerbread all the way through without burning, darkening, or crisping the edges.  This time may not be true for all ovens, but 10 minutes worked great for me.

6.) Remove from oven and cool completely.  Wrap in plastic and allow to cool overnight.

7.) Before preparing the gingerbread house, outline your dimensions and house shape.  Elise suggests her own blue print here.

8.) Slowly and evenly carve out pieces and reserve.  Make sure to keep extra gingerbread as you may want to construct doors, windows, stairs, and any other pieces.

9.) Prepare icing by mixing powdered sugar, vanilla extract, and egg whites in a standing mixer.  Scrape into a large freezer bag.  Seal bag air tight making sure that the opening is completely closed.  Cut the tip of the bag to create a frosting dispenser.

10.) Frost cardboard where you’ll be attaching the first wall of your house.  Frost sides of wall and repeat until all four walls are frosted on all four sides.  At this point, I’ll pause to allow readers to make frost, decorate, and construct as they see fit.  Construct and enjoy!Makes 1 Gingerbread House.

–Helana Brigman