How to make a Gingerbread House...

In response to redblaze's lament over a gingerbread house kit last week, here's the recipe I've been successfully using for years.

The gingerbread in this is different to the sort you get in shops. This is much heavier. I suspect this is in fact real gingerbread. Fresh out of the oven it goes rock hard, but softens in the air over a few days. So it's best made a few days before Christmas. Plus then the wonderful smell permeates the house and makes it smell really christmassy!

The recipe says to let it cool a bit before cutting it, but I have found even waiting that long makes the edges too hard to cut. I always lightly scribe the pattern into the gingerbread with a sharp knife just before I put the tray into the oven. Then I cut to those lines as soon as I take it out.

You can NOT use frosting to 'glue' these houses together. You have to use Royal Icing, which goes rock hard and holds it all together very nicely. I have found (depending on the size of the house; little ones are not as much of a problem) that when you stick the roof panels on, they need to be chocked up from the bottom edge until the icing sets, or their own weight makes them slide off. I tend to use gingerbread scraps for this as the distance between the 'ground' and the roof edge can vary. I also like to leave the roof to set overnight. That way I can be sure it won't suddenly slide off when I glue the chimney on and put the finishing touches of icing and lollies along the ridge.

Here are some of the cakes I've made over the years-

( and more under the cut... )

Celtic Harry/Ginny

Remember that Celtic Ron/Hermione pic I did a while back? *is too lazy busy to post link*
Well I was commissioned to make a Harry/Ginny version and this is the result! :~)



( Celtic Harry/Ginny )