How to make a gingerbread house, of which you dreamed as a child

The tradition of making houses out of gingerbread dough was born in Germany in 1812. Then he came out of the Brothers Grimm fairy tale "Hansel and Gretel." Readers liked the delicious gingerbread house, which come across stray children. And because of his counterparts soon became a fixture in the Christmas and New Year fairs.

How to cook the dough for the gingerbread house

The beauty of this festive goodies that, thanks to the spices, it can be stored for several weeks. And it is the spices give it a special Christmas flavor.

Ground ginger and cinnamon - required ingredients. But you can use other seasonings. For example, the famous chef Jamie Oliver is sometimes added to the dough a little nutmeg and ground cloves.

While the dough is stored for a long time, yet over time it will begin to grow stale house, so you should not greatly delay the tasting. The more that will be hard to resist.

Ingredients

• 220 g butter;
• 250 g of sugar;
• 2 large eggs;
• 400 g of liquid honey;
• 700 g flour;
• 1 teaspoon baking soda;
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• ½ teaspoon baking powder;
• 4 teaspoons ground ginger;
• 4 teaspoons ground cinnamon;
• 1 ½ teaspoon salt.

preparation

In a bowl, stir the butter and sugar. Then add the eggs one at a time and beat until smooth. Pour honey and mix well.

In another bowl, mix all the dry ingredients and place the mixture in the first bowl. Knead the dough, wrap it in plastic wrap and place in the fridge for a couple of hours.

Such amount will suffice for the test medium house 20 × 10 × 20 cm.

How to Build a Gingerbread House

This is the hardest, but at the same time the most interesting part. It is best to build and decorate the house together with loved ones. So you will have a great opportunity to spend time together and develop creative abilities.

To start, you need to make the house template. You can draw your own or choose from ready. For example, download template from Jamie Oliver, nice house with a herringbone pattern or gingerbread houses with carved windows.

Roll out the dough into a large layer thickness 0.5-0.7 cm, put on his patterns and cut out the necessary details. Roll out the dough is best between two sheets of parchment. So it is precisely to nothing will stick.

At this stage it is possible to cut the test an additional window and door if desired. And the rest can be done herringbone "growing" next to the house, or to build a chimney bake biscuit.

Gently Transfer parchment with the items on the tray and put into a preheated 180 ° C oven for 12-15 minutes. Propeklos dough if it is hard, and the edges become dark brown. Before the construction of the house allow parts to cool.

At this time, prepare the glaze protein: it is necessary to secure the walls and roof and for decoration. Whisk egg whites mixer 3 to a foam. Then, without stopping whisking, gradually add to the proteins 500 g of powdered sugar. You should get a thick white glaze is smooth.

Prepare a nice stand, which will be a gingerbread house. After bonding, it will be impossible to endure.

Then, using glaze paste items to the stand and each other. It is easiest to do this by putting the frosting in a pastry bag, cooking syringe or a conventional plastic bag with a small hole in the corner. During the construction of the walls of the house to back what some improvised means that they were exactly.

The rest of the icing will come in handy for decorating.

How to decorate a gingerbread house

Items can decorate and before you connect them. Especially if you decide to build a big house or a non-standard. But if you do it on the patterns shown above, you can decorate a ready-made product.

First, make a snow-covered roof, spreading the icing on it protein. While the glaze is not withered away, you can cover the roof "tiles": Jelly candy, jelly beans, cookies, almonds and other delicacies of your choice.

Then go to the decoration of the walls. They can leave or brown with white or colored glaze (add a few drops of any food coloring).

With culinary syringe and protein glaze paint the windows and door. If you cut out the holes for them before baking house, the circle of icing, so they stand out from the walls. They also can be decorated with all sorts of delicacies.

Wreath on the door or other decorations, glued to the glaze, the lodge will give even more festive look.

If, after the registration of windows and door walls will seem a bit empty, draw on them any patterns all the same protein frosting, add candy.

Decorated house is beautiful in itself. But having built around a winter patio, you do still fabulous. Yard can pave thin marmalade, sprinkled with powdered sugar or cover the remaining glaze, simulating snow drifts.

Put a snowman in the yard of the marshmallow, Raffaello chocolates or analogs. Plant decorated Christmas trees, ispechonnye dough residues or made, for example, ice cream cones.

Of sugar tubes, salt stick, or other types of cookies Construct a fence.

Do not be afraid to give free rein to their imagination when decorating the house. In an extreme case, can get help from all sorts of workshops:

If all this sounds too easy, go for inspiration in the National Competition gingerbread houses (National Gingerbread House Competition), which is held in the United States. That's what beauty was represented there this year:

see also

• 10 New Year's costume for a child, you can do with your hands →
• How to make a Christmas garland with their hands: 11 cool ideas →
• 10 ways to make cool Christmas toys with their own hands →