HOW TO: Bake and Build a Gingerbread House

By Hannah Kent

It’s nearly that time again! Mariah Carey is defrosting, Halloween candy has gone on sale, and Christmas carols are finally starting to hit the radio. However, the best marker of the holidays is the gingerbread houses. I have spent the last 4 Christmases baking gingerbread houses from scratch, and I have unfortunately learnt how to build and decorate a gingerbread house properly the hard way. This guide contains my top tips for both baking, building, and decorating a gingerbread house. 

For reference, this was my one last year: 

Baking Tips: 

1. Have the right recipe and follow it well. 

If you are baking a gingerbread house, please make sure you are using dough for a gingerbread house. Looking up ‘gingerbread recipes’ will normally give you a lot of cookie recipes that are not built for strength or endurance. Instead, you should use a construction gingerbread dough recipe. These are made specifically for gingerbread houses and will last a lot longer. Furthermore, make sure you cool your dough before baking - this prevents spreading in the oven and will ensure the stencil you cut will remain more exact. Ensure you don’t overbake or underbake it; you want the dough to be neither too brittle nor too soft. You can make sure of this by following the timing and temperature instructions. If you think the dough is a little bit too soft after the timer goes off, it’s best to pull it out of the oven; the dough will continue to bake a little longer after which will normally harden it a bit more. 

1. Roll the dough out in smaller portions; it’s easier to handle and cut smaller discs and to keep the thickness even.

2. Either make your own template or copy someone else’s 

Making the stencil is probably the hardest part of the baking process. There are so many cool designs, and they normally have little to no info on the actual dimensions. A lot of baking websites have stencils; it’s just a matter of converting the units and drawing them out if you don’t have a printer. For actually cutting the shapes out, I would recommend refrigerating (not freezing) the dough for 10 minutes before and 10 minutes after. Then you should liberally dust your rolling surface with plain flour to further avoid stickiness. If possible, keep the tray you are baking on close by; you want to aim to manoeuvre the dough around as little as possible. 

Building Tips: 

3. Make your own royal icing. The packaged stuff sucks. 

Whether you are baking from scratch or assembling from a box, please make your own royal icing. I promise you it is always going to be ten times better than anything from a box. I know it is intimidating working with egg whites to make the icing, but once you get the hang of it, it is so easy and so effective. To test if your royal icing is ready, you flip the bowl upside down, and if it stays in the bowl, you have succeeded!

4. Get an extra set of hands to help if you can!

I cannot stress this enough - it is so helpful to have someone who can help you hold the walls together as you ice them and

wait for the icing to set. I would recommend waiting at least 45 seconds for the walls to set and 1 minute and 20 seconds for

the roof. It’s best to really pack the icing on the inside so the outside stays clean. Obviously, this isn’t applicable for the roof, so I would recommend adding a lot and trying to smooth it out after the icing has set. 

Decoration Tips: 

5. Easy decoration hacks: 

Decorating the house is arguably the most important part of this whole process. 

1. Keep your heaviest sweets at the bottom of your house. 

One of the biggest trends I've seen regarding gingerbread house decoration is roofs filled with peppermints, icing, chocolates, and hard candies. While this is possible and gorgeous, it poses tons of problems. Your roof is more likely to cave in, and your icing isn’t as likely to hold. Keep the heavier add-ons to the bottom, where they are less likely to succumb to gravity. Some lighter roof decals could be: nuts, buttercream icing (not royal icing), M&M's, etc.

Here are just some decoration ideas that are easy and impactful: 

2. Using ice cream cones to make trees

3. Butter cream icing (not royal icing) to make it snow on the plate around it

4. Icing sugar to dust over the roof 

5. Gelatin sheets to make window panes (please make sure no one eats it.)

6. KEEP IT IN THE FRIDGE WHEN NOT DISPLAYING!!

This is such a rookie error, but it happens. I know it is hard to find space in a fridge, especially around Christmas time, but keeping the house in the fridge as long as possible is the best thing possible for it. It helps keep it fresh and edible for longer, and refrigeration also helps maintain the structure and build. The longer the house can be kept in the fridge, the better!