Welcome to how to cook that dot net I'm Ann Reardon and today I am going to show you how to make a gingerbread house
from scratch
first thing you need to do is either design your own
or print out a template for a gingerbread house and cut it out of paper.
Checking that the largest piece that you have will fit onto your baking tray.
once you've done that you need to sticky tape all the pieces together to make the actual house
so you can see
what it is all going to look like and is it all going to fit together.
it is quite easy to make adjustments like
here I have had to make and adjustment in the paper
but in a gingerbread house once you've baked it you can't
adjust it very easily at all.
so make any adjustments like
that
this one wasn't going to fit together because of the way the roof was so I just adjusted it.
and then you know your template is
correct and it will fit together.
things to remember when you are doing your
adjustments are you actually
do need to cut the windows out so you can cut them out
when you're doing it. This piece here is going to have windows
and if I want lights which I do to
shine through those windows
then I'm going to have to cut a hole in this piece behind it
to allow that light to come through
so remember those sort of things. Also think about it not in terms of not thin paper but
one centimeter thick gingerbread
so thinking OK
these sides are going to go
inside and those ones sandwich on the
outside will they still fit together
like that. That is particularly important when you put the smaller pieces
allowing for that all to work together. If you are not confident pick a template which, you can get some online, but pick one which has got a picture
of a finished gingerbread house not just a drawing because otherwise they have probably never made it out of gingerbread. And it might not
fit together which was the case with this one. OK so once you've done that also make sure it's going to
fit onto your cake board that you
are going to put it on at the end and if that's all going to
fit then
you're ready to start baking. Next
you're going to need to make your dough.
There's a printable copy of the recipe on the website
just follow the link in the description below the video
you are going to need butter
castor sugar, now I'm trippllng the recipe that's on the website because I am making a very big
house.
ahh so
don't be suprised by the quantities, so we've got butter, caster sugar, glucose syrup
molasses, milk,
plain flour and then all the spices. We've got ground cloves, cinnamon,
nutmeg and some bicarb soda in there as well. So first of all you need to do is
pop you butter in a saucepan and melt your butter.
Once your butter is completely melted we're going to add in our sugar and our syrups
just a tip when you are weighing out your syrups
if you get your bowl
put a little bit of the butter at the bottom
and swirl it round first.
it just makes the syrup not stick to the bottom of the bowl.
and then it's easier to get out. Then add the molasses
you can use all glucose syrup
if you want
a lighter coloured gingerbread
but I think the molasses adds a nice
rich flavour to it as well.
OK once you've added all of that stir it together
and heat it long enough for the
sugar to dissolve, so it shouldn't feel grainy at all it should be completely smooth. So once you've done that once you've heated that
it should look like a giant pot of melted chocolate.
The reason I like making my own gingerbread
dough is it just tastes so much better than the bought kits
and you can customize it and make your own house.
next you're going to add your milk, stir that in and then we are going to add our flour and our spices.
I find it easiest to whisk some of the flour in and then add some more and add some more until you've added it all.
once you've mixed in your flour and your spices
it should look like this a
sticky, gooey mixture
continue to stir it over a low heat until it forms a thick paste like this.
you need to stir it right to the bottom when it's over the heat so that it.
doesn't cook at the bottom or burn at the bottom. You don't want to completely cook it you are not trying to
do that. You'll do that in the oven
You just want to thicken it up a little bit.
ok once you've once that we're going to tip in onto some plastic wrap
I'm going to leave that on the bench to cool and once it is
not warm to the touch I will pop it in the fridge to cool down properly.
once your gingerbread dough has rested in the fridge it
goes from being sticky goo that you had yesterday
to a nice firm dough. If it's too firm just leave it out of
the fridge
for about ten minutes to soften up.
I like to split my dough into the number of trays
that i will be baking
so get your trays out
get your pattern for your gingerbread house and see how many trays it is
going to take you to bake it
and then cut your dough up into that many pieces so that you are not going to
use it all up and then
still have a roof to bake or
a side of the house that you have missed
once you have kneaded it
get some baking paper
roughly make it into the shape that you are going to be rolling it into, then roll it out
You need to make sure it's an even thickness
the whole way
It does rise a tiny bit in the oven but not much at all.
so you don't want to make it too thin because you don't want your pieces to crack.
but then also if it is too thick it is hard to get it dry enough in the oven.
and then
if you have it not dry
it's going to be
too soft and it will bend
place your template over the top
and using a pizza cutter cut along the edges.
Now very importantly don't just take ll of those edges off.
Leave about a centimetre of them on.
the reason you do that is two fold, one
it helps
keep the gingerbread in shape if you don't have that there it tends to bow out in the middle
a bit.
It also helps stop the edges burning.
Once you've had them in the oven for a little while the edges tend to go quite brown and
crisp
before it's ready in the middle
This way
they are the edges that go brown and crisp and you discard those.
with your windows
cut them but leave them in place for now
again the reason you leave them in place
is so that it doesn't go out of shape.
Remember to take a template off
before you put it in the oven.
The great thing about it being on the baking paper is that you can now just slide that onto your
baking sheet when you've got one free.
And pop it into the oven.
repeat that
and roll out all of your trays.
Half way through cooking pull your tray out of the oven and just
reaffirm those lines.
Ans at this stage take the windows out.
and pop that back in the oven
for the reminder of the time.
tOnce each of your pieces is baked and cooled
just turn it over put it flat and
gently feel, does it still feels soft
or is it firm, see this one feels firm on the edges but still a bit soft in the middle
to build a gingerbread house this size it needs ot be firm the whole way through so what I will do is
leave this one upside down like that and I'll put it back in the
oven for about three or four minutes just to allow this side to dry out here.
So that we don't have any bending once the weight of the roof goes on.
decide if you want any pattern on the inside of the gingerbread house. Because
now is the time to do that.
On this particular house it is actually a wedding cake and we are having a white
chocolate filigree pattern piped on the inside of all of the pieces.
to make the
royal icing which glues the house together you will need 3 egg whites and three and
a half cups of
icing sugar or icing mixture either one and one and a half teaspoons of cream of tartar
which helps
to aerate it
and then just put the
electric mixer on for about three minutes until it's really
whipped right up and dry
and that's it simple as that.
That will dry like glue once you put it together on the house.
Take it from there
and put it into a
piping bag
you can colour this or add different flavourings
mint essence or a little bit of lemon juice
or you can just leave it plain
and make sure you twist the top so that it doesn't come out the top.
Then lay is out
as if the walls have been opened up
so how it is going to be. So you've got your two ends
and then it's laid flat
because this is a large house
there is also an internal support piece
which is going in the middle so I am going to do that half of it first
OK so once you have laid out your house you need
you need to decide right at the beginining before you start
do you want lights in your house?
If you do then place them int he middle
with enough spare cord so that you can lift it up from the bottom. This house is going to have chocolates inside it
You don't want those
light bulbs right at the bottom because then they are going to melt your chocolates or start a fire.
So give yourself enough spare room inside. You need to tape that to the cake board. Take your icing and because you have it laid out you know where your lines are going to be. Move it out a little bit and just along where the bottom is going to be
just pipe some icing. It does not amtter if it is not all that pretty
it is going to be inside the house anyway
You need a generous amount because you need
these walls to stay strong in the position where they have been put.
I ma going to start by doing half the house, as I said this is a large gingerbread house. So it has a support wall down the middle. We are going to do a line down this side of the house. My side walls are going inside the front and back ones. And the same on the other side. Put the internal ones up first and then the external ones. Now we have had a little piece break off there, that is not a problem. Put a little bit more icing across. This dries like glue so it will hold it in place no worries. Now for this side. Make sure they are straight. Once you've done that just take some extra icing and put it right down in the corners to make it very strong. Next we are going to do the second half of the house.
And then note how the
centre support piece has a hole through it
and as does this
front piece of the house
That is so that
the light can shine through
my bay windows at the front
and so I can get the lights through the whole house
in the middle.
Also notice how on this piece
the window on the actual particular
bay window
piece
looks like it was to one side
but then once we actually put it on the house because that piece is sitting behind that one it
it then makes it look like it is in the centre. So that's where when you are designing it you need to think about which piece is sitting behind.
Some houses
need a bit more support while they are
setting. Just grab a cup and place it like that against the wall.
So that the handle is giving the all some support.
The reason you use a cup with a handle is so that the base of it is not sitting in the icing glue, but it will support the walls while they are drying.
Now this gingerbread house
the entire
walls are going to be completely white.
If you are decorating your with lollies then I would suggest doing the
roof step, which I will show you in a minute, first.
and then
going for it with decorating with lollies. But if you want a
smooth
look on the walls or you are going to do fondant on the walls, do that first before you put the roof on.
To make your window frames
Take a piece of fondant and wet it on the back with a little bit of water.
and starting at one corner press
it into place around the edge of your window. Then trim it to size.
And using the flat part of your knife push it to flatten it off.
Then take aclear sheet of gelatine and
place a cross of fondant across the middle of it
and a small wet
ball of fondant in each corner
and then place it on the
inside of the house and push it up against the window into place.
Then take some more fondant
place it across each side trimming it on a forty five degree angle.
around to make the outside
frame of your window
then using your knife straighten up your window frame. Decide if you want
chocolates or lollies inside your house
to put the roof on the gingerbread house
what we are going to do is pipe some more royal icing along here
up both sides of the triangle
and put one side of the roof on and then repeat that on the other side.
Because the roof sits at an angle you need to support it while it is drying.
Just stack up different tin cans to the right height so that it just sits underneath the roof to hold
it in place. Also remember if you want that white rendered look on your house
remember to render the underneath.
To make the rook tiles, I have drawn a template sot hat I can get them all exactly the same
size, then
then I will put another sheet of baking paper over the top.
Get your white chocolate, this chocolate is
colored slightly green
to fit in with the theme of the wedding. Spread that out
over your template
using a spoon to do it roughly and then you can use a platte knife to smooth it off
a little more
Then
wait for it to set but not set hard, it should be still a little bit soft
and then using a ruler
and a knife score out
where those tiles are using the guidelines that you drew on the paper first
now if you are going to make enough for a big house you are going to have to repeat that several times.
Then glue them on your house using your royal icing starting with the bottom row
and working your way up.
Then because this is a wedding cake I will add the fondant details that I made earlier
such as the bride and the groom,
the white picket fence, little garden bed with fondant flowers and leaves, some grass
which is just coconut coloured using green food colouring and the soil in the
garden beds is crushed oreo biscuits. Turn the lights on, look in the windows
see the chocolates and the piping work which is on the inside
of the house
and you have a finished gingerbread house.