The fun, quaint Gingerbread house has been a staple of holiday traditions throughout Europe and North America for hundreds of years.
Gingerbread has been a delectable treat enjoyed for centuries, but the sweet Gingerbread House of holiday tradition has its origin in Hans Christian Andersen’s terrible tale of Hansel and Gretel and the hungry witch in an edible cottage.
Thankfully, the less macabre tradition has been passed on, delighting children and exhausting adults every winter. The recipe below is sure to bring joy to those who make it, and is wonderfully simple and easy.
How to Make a Gingerbread House
Ingredients
- 8 1/2 oz/250g unsalted butter
- 7 oz/200g dark brown sugar
- 7 tbsps molasses OR 5 tbsps golden syrup + 2 tbsps black treacle
- 21 oz/600g plain flour
- 2 tsp baking soda/bicarbonate of soda
- 4 tsp ground cinnamon
- pinch mixed spice
- 4 tsp ground Ginger
- baking or parchment paper
Paste For Decorating
- 2 egg whites
- 17 oz/500 grams icing sugar/powdered sugar
Method
The best way to ensure the Gingerbread house will be sturdy is to cut out a mock up of it in cardboard first.
Cut out the following pieces:
- 4 side walls, 4 1/2 x 8 in
- 2 end walls, 4 1/2 x 5 in
- 2 triangular roof pieces, 4 1/2 x 3 x 3 in
- 2 roof rectangles, 4 1/2 x 9 in
Tape all four walls together, then tape roof pieces to each other and place on top of walls.
Now Onto the Baking
- Put sugar, syrup/molasses and butter into a saucepan and melt on low heat, while stirring.
- Combine flour, spices and baking soda in a large bowl.
- Pour melted mixture from saucepan into the dry ingredients and mix well. The mix should be stiff.
- Cover in parchment paper and refrigerate for one hour. This isn’t a necessary step, but will make rolling and handling the dough easier.
- Lay a sheet of baking paper out, place dough on it and roll the dough with a rolling pin until it is about 1/2 cm in thickness.
- Place the cardboard template on top of the dough and, using a knife, cut the dough into the desired shape.
- Carefully lift the remaining dough from around the shape, and place the shape on a baking tray covered in parchment paper.
- Bake for 12 minutes or until darker around the edges.
- Repeat steps 4 - 7 until all shapes are baked.
- Leave to cool completely (about one hour).
Assembling the House
- Stir egg whites and icing sugar in a bowl until smooth.
- Fill an icing bag with the paste and pipe along the edges of the side and end walls. Press the side walls firmly into the end walls.
- For extra sturdiness, spread some icing on the outside of the edges of the walls.
- Place some bowls on the outside and inside of the “house”, gently supporting it.
- Allow to dry for 2-3 hours.
- Repeat process with the roof pieces, holding the pieces in place for a few minutes to ensure the paste is hardening.
- Leave to dry overnight.
The picturesque Gingerbread cottage is now done! Use the remaining icing to stick candy and sweets to the house for decoration. Licorice sticks or chocolate fingers can be used to create a log cabin affect, and just about any light candy bar can be used for a chimney.
Some Fun Gingerbread History
- Ginger, originating in Asia, probably traveled back to Europe around the 11th century by explorers who had visited China and India. By the 13th century, it was a popular item in most of Western Europe, featuring in markets and fairs.
- In the chivalric era, the tradition of Gingerbread men came from women eating a "Gingerbread" husband to make themselves more likely to find a human one soon.
- One of the few sweets to grace the Bard’s work, Gingerbread makes an appearance in Love's Labours Lost: “And I had but one penny in the world, thou should'st have it to buy Gingerbread.”
- Lebkuchen is the German name for any Ginger-based sweet cakes, covered in chocolate, icing sugar, frosting or filled with jam and nuts. In Germany, Gingerbread carries sweet messages to its recipients.
- Gingerbread traveled to North America with early Dutch, German and English settlers. Once the first President of the United States’ mother shared her recipe with friends, the rest, as they say, was history, with Gingerbread “shapes” (Mrs. Washington favoured miniature Eagles) made around Christmas time for the last 240 years.
Sources: Steven Swellingerf, The Gingerbread Book, BBC Good Food
Sarah Viollet - Sarah is an American from Los Angeles permanently settled in the UK. She really appreciates a good joke about her countrymen. In summer ...
