The Christmas gingerbread house originates from Germany, a country that lives the Advent holidays in a very traditional way. This idea came from the story Hansel and Gretel by the Brothers Grimm. The story tells the story of two little brothers who were abandoned in the forest, where they discovered a sweet house, made of gingerbread.
Since then, the traditional gingerbread house has spread to many countries, so much so that many people tend to think that the origin of this sweet is in North America. Either way, making a gingerbread house with the kids is a wonderful and delicious idea to welcome Christmas. Although you can find kits where the house is already prepared just to be assembled, today we are going to show you how this delicious house is made from scratch.
The structure of the house is made with the traditional cookie recipe of ginger, you can find various recipes with some modifications. We bring you this recipe that is very easy to prepare, so, we get down to business and we started with the gingerbread cookie recipe.
Gingerbread Cookie Recipe
Ingredients:
- 250 gr flour
- 100 grams of brown sugar
- A spoonful of baking soda
- 150 grams of butter
- 1 teaspoon of ground ginger
- egg
- 1 teaspoon of cinnamon powdered
- a pinch of salt
Preparation:
In a large container we put the previously sifted flour, the bicarbonate, the brown sugar, the cinnamon, the pinch of salt and the ginger. We mix without beating so that the ingredients are well integrated. Now, we beat the egg and add it to the dough, mix again. The butter has to be on the verge of pomade, to achieve this, you just have to take it out of the refrigerator in time and beat with a fork. We add to the dough and mix with our hands, until we obtain a homogeneous dough.
Now, we prepare the work surface, clean and dry it well and sprinkle with flour. We put the dough and we spread it with a roller, it should be about half a centimeter thick. Prepare a tray with a sheet of parchment paper, place the dough and put in the fridge for at least an hour. After that time, we take out the dough and cut the necessary pieces for the construction of the house.
While we cut the dough, we are preheating the oven to about 180 degrees. Once the pieces are ready, we place on a tray with waxed paper and we bake for about 15 or 20 minutes. When they are ready, we remove the cookies and let them cool on a rack.
Royal icing to join the pieces of the gingerbread house
One of the most important and delicate parts is the union of the cookies to build the house. To do this, you use a meringue-like dough called royal icing. You can buy this glaze already made, you only need to mix it with water following the manufacturer's instructions, and it gives very good results. But if you want to continue with the homemade, we explain the recipe.
- 400 gr icing sugar
- 70 gr of pasteurized egg white
- 1/2 tablespoon of juice lemon
Preparation is as follows, first we have to mount the clearings to the point of snow. To achieve the desired point you will need some electric rods. When the whites begin to whiten and thicken, add the lemon juice and continue beating. Finally, we are adding the sugar little by little without stopping beating, until the desired point is obtained.
Use a pastry bag to distribute the icing on the cookies, if someone much better can help you so that the house holds well. Once the icing dries, it is quite hard and consistent. If you wish, you can add food coloring in paste to give it color to the icing, but it is important that it is not liquid or it will soften.
As you can see, the preparation is simple but it is important to use the correct ingredients. The icing sugar has to be industrial, no matter how hard you try to crush sugar at home, you will not get the desired fineness. As for the egg whites, it is important that they do not have any yolk or they will not mount, so it is more advisable to use industrial pasteurized whites.
The gingerbread house decoration
Finally, once the house is assembled and the icing is well dried, the funniest moment arrives, that of decorating. You can use all the sweets you want, chocolate sprinkles, gummies, colored fondant, chocolates or any candy you want. Here are some ideas that can serve as inspiration:
