I know that Christmas is technically over – but who says that gingerbread houses are reserved for Christmas? Besides, this snack (along with a steamy mug of hot chocolate) is the perfect treat for exam break. Take about 15-30 minutes out of your day for this festive treat.
Begin with your run-of-the-mill gingerbread recipe. You can use any recipe you’d like, but here is a generic one to get you started from Martha Stewart (Yes, yes I know. Trust me on this one).
Ingredients:
- 2 cups of all purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons ground ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup butter (salted or unsalted – there isn’t too much of a difference in the result)
- 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
- 1/3 cup molasses
- 1 egg (large is recommended – but honestly, as long as you’re not using a quail egg you’ll be fine)
Anywho, despite the plethora of ingredients the steps are pretty straight forward and simple – it’s gingerbread therefore it has to have a few spices. In a medium bowl, whisk your dry ingredients (brown sugar is NOT dry!). With an electric mixer beat the butter and brown sugar until smooth. Beat the molasses into the butter-sugar mixture and thoroughly mix one egg in at a time, followed by the dry mixture.
Roll the dough into a ball, and place it onto a floured piece of saran-wrap (wrap it tightly so it is air tight). You’ll want to refrigerate this for at least 1-2 hours, though overnight is preferred.
You’ll want to preheat the oven to 350ËšF. As the oven warms, use a rolling pin to roll your dough until it is approximately 1/2 a cm thick – or slightly less in all areas.
The above image is an example of the template you’ll want to create – it’s pretty straightforward. Heck, if you can find a way to print off this image so that it’s to scale  – the more to ‘ya! Anywho, this template is designed for the average mug, so if you plan on using a large mug, you may have to change the measurements accordingly. Once you have the template, cut it out, and use a pairing knife or fillet knife to cut out the shapes. I’ve heard of individuals who have used clean screwdrivers to get the details along the doorway of the house.
Once you have your pieces cut out, slip them onto parchment paper and into the oven (assuming it’s ready by now). Keep an eye on the cookies, but they should only take about 10 minutes.
In order to make a gingerbread house, you need icing! For all intensive purposes, I’m going to recommend just using confectioners sugar and water for the strongest bond (not necessarily the best taste), but if you were looking for something other than your run-of-the-mill royal icing, I recommend using an electric mixer to mix two egg whites (remove the yolks to keep the icing looking white), and 2 tsp of lemon juice. Once these two ingredients have been blended, you can begin to add the icing sugar. Just continue adding it until the ribbon of icing that falls from your mixer leaves a slight impression in the rest of the icing for a several seconds.
At this point, I really can’t give you much more advice – you’re essentially constructing a gingerbread house, but smaller. Gather some candies to decorate your roof etc. and make sure you let the houses sit for a few minutes to let them harden. (And finally, if you’re at loss for what to do because you don’t own icing bags, try cutting a small corner off of a ziploc bag. It’s essentially the same thing as an icing bag).
