How to Make a Gingerbread House Ideas and Pictures

This recipe makes enough dough for one cottage, plus leftovers to make decorative pieces like doors, shutters, window ledges and and flower ornaments.

Decide what kind of Gingerbread house you want to build. Cut your patterns from cardboard - Make 2 roof pieces, 2 front and back pieces, 2 side pieces. Grease and flour 2 large cookie sheets 17 x 14. See some pictures of Gingerbread House Winners

Also see cake decorating tips

Gingerbread House Recipe

1 1/2 cups dark corn syrup
1 1/3 cups packed dark brown sugar
1 cup butter - no substitutes
7 cups all-purpose flour
1 Tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 1/2 tsps ground ginger
1 tsp. ground cloves
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp. salt

In a large saucepan, combine the corn syrup, sugar and butter; cook and stir over medium heat until butter is melted. Pour in a large mixing bowl. Combine dry ingredients; gradually beat into sugar mixture (dough will be stiff). Chill for at least one hour. Roll dough to 1/8 inch thickness on a greased baking sheet. Cut into desired shapes using your patterns. Leave at least an inch space between pieces, because the dough will spread during baking. Remove dough scraps. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. While the pieces are warm, retrim if necessary. Cool for 5 minutes; remove from pan to wire racks to cool. Yields one small gingerbread house approximately 8 in. x 10 in.

Get ready to decorate. You really don't need a special icing. Just one that is thick enough to act as glue.

This picture is our first gingerbread house we ever made. Nothing special about it, but it was a good first tr.

The problem was, when do we get to eat it? We wound up waiting till after christmas, and then it was hard as a rock. All we salvaged was some of the candies.

Make the Icing

1 1/2 cups butter or margarine - soft
1 1/2 cups shortening
3/4 cup water
3 Tablespoons vanilla
12 cups powdered sugar

In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and shortening. Add water and vanilla; beat until smooth. Gradually beat in sugar; mix well. Place a damp paper towel over bowl and cover tightly between uses.

Make the Roof - To make the roof of the gingerbread house cut out pieces to fit on top of the gingerbread house from cardboard. Squeeze icing on the upper edges of the front and back of the gingerbread house.

Carefully place your cardboard pieces on the front and back slants of the gingerbread house. You can make roof shingles from Triscuit crackers cut in half. Using icing attach the Triscuits to the roof in rows beginning with a bottom row then slightly overlap each row after that. If you prefer, you can put hard candy, gumdrops, licorice or chocolate chips to on top of the roof to decorate it instead. Like in this picture with NECCO candy wafers.

Decorate the Windows - If you cut out windows on your gingerbread house you can decorate them this way. Use a #5 tip to outline the windows and doors with white icing. If you would like to make shutters on your windows you can use the pieces of a Hershey’s candy bar.

Make Some Scenery - You could also get a little creative and decorate scenery around the gingerbread house like making a fence with pretzels. To make trees use a serrated knife and carefully score and cut sugar ice cream cones to desired heights. Then tint a portion of icing with green and use the leaf tip to decorate the trees. You can also make shrubs by using spearmint candies or decorating marshmellows with green icing using a leaf tip. When the frosting dries you can arrange the trees and shrubs around the house where you want by attaching it to the base with icing.

Make some Grass - If you want to make a path in front of the gingerbread house you could do this by cutting jellybeans in half lengthwise. Then arrange them cut side down in front of the door of the gingerbread house. To make grass tint coconut with green.

Suggested Decorations for a Ginger Bread house

1 pkg Triscuit crackers
Decorative candies and sugars
Pretzels
Sugar ice cream cones - for bushes
Spearmint or peppermint candies
Colored minature marshmellows
Jellybeans

Items Needed to Build it

17-inch x 22-inch display base - heavy duty cardboard or
cutting board or piece of plywood - covered with aluminum foil
Serrated knife or emery board - for filing
Food coloring
Small paintbrush
Pastry bags or heavy-duty resealable plastic bags
Pastry tips-#10 round, #5 round and #67 leaf
Spice bottles or other small bottles
Heavy-duty cardboard

To assemble the frame of the gingerbread house you will first test the cookie pieces to make sure they fit snugly together. If they don't you will need to file the pieces carefully with a serrated knife or an emery board to make the pieces fit.

To color the gingerbread house you will need to combine four tsp. of water and 1/2 tsp. of the food coloring that you would like the color of the gingerbread house to be. Carefully brush the icing onto the front, back and sides of the gingerbread house with a small paintbrush. Let it dry overnight.

Insert a #10 pastry tip into a pastry bag. Fill it two-thirds full with icing. Beginning with the back piece of the gingerbread house squeeze a wide strip of icing onto the bottom edge of the back piece. Postion the gingerbread house on a display base. Prop the gingerbread house up with spice bottles until the icing is firm about 3-4 hours.

To add the sides and front of the gingerbread house squeeze icing on the over edge of one of the side pieces and on the side edge of a back piece. Then align the pieces at a right angle making sure they are as tight as possible. Prop up these pieces also with spice bottles. Continue to repeat this step with the other side. For added stability, squeeze icing along the inside edge of all the pieces and on all of the corners.

Squeeze icing onto the bottom and side edges of the front piece and then position it with the other assembled pieces. Prop it up with more spice bottles and let it dry completely.

Roast Beef

How to Prepare a Traditional Roast Beef

- video recipe

Preparing roast beef may seem intimidating at first, but really there's little more to it than putting the roast in the oven and pulling it out when it's done. The roast in this recipe, depending on the exact size you choose, feeds 8-12. Roast beef makes a great centerpiece for a holiday or other special meal.

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Dauphinoise potatoes

Dauphinoise potatoes

By Mike Robinson

This creamy and garlicky side dish goes perfectly well with all kind of roast meat such as lamb, roastbeeff, chicken...

Recipe

Serves: 6

Cooking and preparation

• Preparations time: 20 minutes
• Cooking time: 45-60 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 kg/2lb 4oz baking potatoes, peeled and placed in a bowl of cold water to prevent them from browning (use floury potatoes such as Russet, King Edward, Maris Piper or Desiree)
• 3-4 cloves garlic
• 500ml/17½fl oz double cream (you may need a bit extra)
• salt and freshly ground black pepper
• You will need a large gratin dish
  

  Method

  1. Preheat the oven to 160C/320F/Gas 2.

  2. Slice the potatoes into thin slices, about 2mm-3mm/0.13in thick. Place the slices into a bowl as you cut them.

  3. Trim the ends off the garlic cloves but don't peel. Grate the cloves on a grater. The flesh will go through the fine holes and the skins will be left behind. Scrape the grated garlic flesh into the bowl with the potatoes.

  4. Season the potatoes, to taste, with salt and freshly ground black pepper and mix well.

  5. Pour the cream over the potatoes and mix well again.

  6. Place the potato slices into the gratin dish. They should come to just below the top of the dish. Press the potato down with the back of a spoon or your hands so it forms a solid layer. The cream should come to just below the top layer of potato (top up with more double cream if necessary).

  7. Place the potatoes in the oven and bake for 45-60 minutes, then check it. If the cream looks like it's splitting, your oven is too hot, so turn it down a bit. When cooked, the gratin should be golden on top and the potatoes tender. If necessary, give it another 15-20 minutes.

  8. Serve the dauphinoise as a side dish to roasted meat or poultry.

PANCAKE DAY

Shrove Tuesday 2010 (Pancake Day)
In the UK, Shrove Tuesday is also known as Pancake Day (or Pancake Tuesday to some people) because it is the one day of the year when almost everyone eats a pancake.
Pancake Recipe

Ingredients For the pancake mixture: 220g/8oz plain flour, sifted pinch of salt 2 eggs 1 pint of milk 50g/2oz butter Makes about 8 pancakes Method for making the batter Sift the flour and salt into a large mixing bowl with a sieve held high above the bowl so the flour gets a airing. Make a well in the centre of the flour and break the eggs into it. Whisk the eggs making sure any bits of flour from around the edge of the bowl are mixed in with the egg. Gradually add small quantities of the milk, still whisking Continue whisking until the batter is smooth, with the consistency of thin cream. Melt the 50g/2oz of butter in a non-stick frying pan. Spoon 2 tbsp of the melted butter into the batter and whisk it in. Let the pancake mix stand for at least 30 minutes before cooking. Pour any left over butter into a dish. This will be used later to grease the frying pan after each pancake has been made. Make sure the non-stick frying pan is really hot before adding about 2 tbsp of the batter mixture. As soon as the batter hits the hot pan, tip the pan around from side to side to get the base evenly coated with batter. Carefully lift the edge of the cooked pancake with a palette knife to see if it's tinged gold as it should be. Flip the pancake over with a pan slice or palette knife to cook the other side Slide it out of the pan onto a plate. Stack the pancakes as you make them between sheets of greaseproof paper on a plate.

To serve

Traditionally pancakes are sprinkled with caster sugar and freshly squeezed lemon juice .......

IF YOU WANT TO KNOW MORE ABOUT THIS FESTIVITY JUST CLICK HERE

HOW TO MAKE A DELICIOUS APPLE CRUMBLE

THIS IS A DELICIOUS AND TYPICAL BRITSH DESSERT.

THE RECIPE IS REALLY EASY, YOU ONLY NEED SOME APPLES, FLOUR, BUTTER, BROWN SUGAR, SOME DROPS OF LEMON JUICE & SOME CINNAMON. THAT´S ALL!!! SIMPLE BUT MMMMMMM.......... YAMMY!!! JUST TRY IT! (the custard powder and the oats that the girl adds at the end are not necessary)