Recipe Description:
Making this gingerbread house has been a family tradition for us for many years. Now that our little ones have grown up, I make it with the grandchildren. I have adapted a recipe that was originally published in the Relief Society Magazine in 1967. Our tradition is to make it in early December, and then on New Year's Day, the children are allowed to divide it up and eat it! (They never seemed to mind the dust.) :)
Recipe
Instructions:
Please refer to the link above to my blog to get the pattern for cutting out the gingerbread house pieces, and also to see pictures of the assembly process.
Gingerbread
Mix all of the gingerbread ingredients thoroughly with an electric mixer. Place the dough in a covered dish and refrigerate it for 24 hours.
Use a large baking sheet (they call it a "half sheet") and either line it with a Silpat, or, grease it and then line it with aluminum foil. Grease the foil, or the Silpat, as well.
Place the chilled dough onto the pan. Grease a rolling pin and wrap it in plastic wrap. The dough is a little sticky, and this will prevent problems. If you roll in the right direction, the plastic wrap will stay on the rolling pin. Turn it around when you need to go the other way!
Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.
Roll the dough out carefully, to cover the pan. Be patient. It will take a little while to get it all rolled out evenly.
Place your parchment paper pattern onto the rolled dough, and folding it, use a small paring knife and gently score the cutting lines into the dough. There is no need to cut all the way through.
Beat an egg well, and paint the dough using a pastry brush or a piece of paper toweling dipped in the egg.
Bake at 300 degrees F. for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and cut through the pieces all the way while still warm. Allow to cool completely.
Next, carefully remove the house pieces from the baking sheet and place them on wire cooling racks. Place the racks in the oven and let the gingerbread bake for another 10 minutes.
Royal Icing
Traditionally, Royal Icing is made from powdered sugar, cream of tartar and raw egg whites. This is a little different.
First, combine the Sucanat and xanthan gum, and one half at a time, grind it to a powder in an electric blender.
In the top of a double boiler, over simmering water, place all the icing ingredients and mix with an electric mixer, while cooking, until the icing is stiff. Keep the pan of cooked icing covered with a damp dish towel at all times when working, as it dries out very hard.
Assembling the Gingerbread House
Again, please refer to my blog post on how to assemble the gingerbread house. I found that I could use a piping bag for the icing, but it was rather difficult, and I resorted to using a table knife to spread the icing where I needed it.
The decorations include popcorn, crispy pepitas, crispy almonds and raisins. (Crispy nuts and seeds are made by soaking them in salt water for at least 7 hours and then dehydrating them. This gets rid of the anti-nutrients and makes them much more digestible.)
Our family tradition has been to make a gingerbread house in early December, and then the children would divide it and eat it on New Year's Day!
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