The gingerbread house is small. Gingerbread house. Recipes with step-by-step photos

The tradition of making houses from ginger dough originated in Germany in 1812. Then the Brothers Grimm fairy tale “Hansel and Gretel” was published. Readers loved the delicious gingerbread house that lost children stumbled upon. Therefore, its analogues soon became an invariable attribute of Christmas and New Year fairs.

The beauty of this holiday treat is that, thanks to the spices, it can be stored for several weeks. And it is the spices that give it a special New Year’s aroma.

Ground ginger and cinnamon are required ingredients. But you can use other seasonings. For example, celebrity chef Jamie Oliver sometimes adds a little nutmeg and ground cloves to the dough.

Although the dough can be stored for a long time, over time the house will begin to get stale, so you shouldn’t delay tasting it too much. Moreover, it will be quite difficult to resist.

Ingredients

• 220 g butter;
• 250 g sugar;
• 2 large eggs;
• 400 g liquid honey;
• 700 g flour;
• 1 teaspoon of soda;
• ½ teaspoon baking powder;
• 4 teaspoons ground ginger;
• 4 teaspoons ground cinnamon;
• 1 ½ teaspoons salt.

Preparation

In one bowl, mix butter and sugar. Then add the eggs one at a time and beat until smooth. Pour in honey and mix well.

In another bowl, mix all the dry ingredients and place the mixture in the first bowl. Knead the dough, wrap it in cling film and put it in the refrigerator for a couple of hours.

Shutterfly.com

This amount of dough is enough for an average house 20 × 10 × 20 cm.

How to build a gingerbread house

This is the most difficult, but at the same time the most interesting part. It is best to build and decorate a house together with loved ones. This will give you a great opportunity to spend time together and develop your creativity.

First you need to make a house template. You can draw it yourself or choose from ready-made ones. For example, download , or .

Roll out the dough into a large layer 0.5–0.7 cm thick, place templates on it and cut out the necessary parts. It is best to roll out the dough between two sheets of parchment. So it definitely won’t stick to anything.

At this stage, if desired, you can cut out additional windows and a door in the dough. And from the leftovers you can make Christmas trees that “grow” next to the house, build a chimney or bake.

Carefully transfer the parchment with the parts onto a baking sheet and place in an oven preheated to 180°C for 12–15 minutes. The dough is baked when it has hardened and turned dark brown around the edges. Allow the parts to cool before building the house.

At this time, prepare the protein glaze: it is needed to hold the walls and roof together and for decoration. Beat 3 egg whites with a mixer until foamy. Then, without stopping whisking, gradually add 500 g of powdered sugar to the whites. You should end up with a thick white glaze of uniform consistency.

Prepare a beautiful stand on which the gingerbread house will stand. Once glued, it can no longer be moved.

Then use icing to glue the pieces to the stand and to each other. The easiest way to do this is to place the icing in a pastry bag, a pastry syringe, or a regular plastic bag with a small hole in the corner. When building a house, the walls need to be supported with some available means so that they stand level.

The remaining glaze will be useful for decoration.

The pieces can be decorated before you put them together. Especially if you decide to build a large or non-standard house. But if you make it according to the templates presented above, you can decorate the finished product.

Christmas and New Year are the most fabulous and magical time, and not only children, but even adults believe in this! Well, what could be the best personification of fairy tales and magic on a holiday, if not a gingerbread house?

But you can create it with your whole family, and then look into the windows on long winter evenings, come up with the most incredible adventures about its inhabitants and break off tidbits and sweet pieces from the roof?

Does it really seem like the fairy tale has already begun? Then let's quickly get inspired by charming ideas and make your own gingerbread house according to the best recipe!

Well, let's stock up on a huge portion of spices (it's a gingerbread house!), delicious decorations and a good mood!

Gingerbread house dough

Let's start by preparing the dough, for which we will need:

• flour (1 kg);
• egg (3 pcs);
• sugar (200 g);
• honey (250 g);
• butter (200 g);
• soda (1/2 teaspoon);
• and exactly ¼ teaspoon of each spice (cinnamon, ginger, cloves, allspice and cardamom).

The first step is to mix all the spices into a spicy mix, beating them in a mortar. We mix flour and soda separately! Then we take another container in which we combine our crushed spices, honey, sugar, eggs and butter. Add flour combined with soda to this container. Knead the dough and refrigerate it for 3 hours.

And we have time to choose the shape of the house and make templates!

For the first test, it is best to choose a simple option - two side parts of the house with windows, a back part, a front part with a doorway and two identical parts of the roof. By the way, it’s worth drawing them on paper, so that you can simply attach them to the dough and cut them on it.

And if you have completed this task, then it’s time to take the dough out of the refrigerator, give it a couple of minutes to adapt in the warmth and don’t forget to knead it again! But the gingerbread house can no longer wait to give a holiday to your family, so we begin to roll out the dough on parchment paper about 0.5 cm thick, apply the prepared stencils of parts to it and cut out parts of the house.

The final stage is to bake the spicy parts for 10-15 minutes at a temperature of 170-180 degrees.

Caramel icing for gluing a gingerbread house

Are you already dreaming about the moment when you will decorate the gingerbread house? But it must first be glued together. And caramel icing works best with this. Combine 100 g of sugar and 2 tbsp in a metal bowl. spoons of water. Bring the syrup to a boil, reduce heat and cook until light brown and viscous.

Well, that's it, if the baked parts have already cooled down, you can start doing the magic - assembling your gingerbread house!

Gingerbread house decorations

The main component of the magic of all gingerbread houses is the patterns of sweet protein glaze. And it’s very simple to prepare - just beat in one egg white, 2 drops of lemon juice and 180 g of powdered sugar until soft but thick foam. You can apply it using a pastry syringe or a bag.

And most importantly, to decorate the house, don’t forget to stock up on chocolates, nuts, M&M’s, marshmallows, Oreo cookies, coconut flakes, confectionery powder and gummies!

Let's take a look at the most fabulous gingerbread houses for inspiration?

1. Isn't it magic?

2. And Metelitsa herself probably lives here!

3. That's it, I'm going to live in London!

4. Well, a cupcake house is also an option!

5. This is a whole gingerbread village!

6. Gingerbread bakery?

7. I wish I could stay in something like this...

8. Great - a hut for the tropics!

9. But it turns out that it’s not at all difficult to do.

10. Also a gingerbread yurt?

11. Wow - even a gingerbread lamp!

12. And icicles made from glaze!

14. And how much M&M’s juice!

15. Wow size...

16. A whole gingerbread carousel!

18. Gingerbread street.

19. I wish I could look through the window...

20. There are also steps!

21. And we will make this ourselves!

22. This is cool!

23. Do you know what these babies are for?

25. Isn’t that great?

26. How do you like the idea of ​​decorating a whole cake with gingerbread house details?

27. How bright!

28. And a sea of ​​jelly beans...

30. All that’s left is to wait for the holiday!

Despite all the apparent complexity, preparing such a house is quite simple. In addition, to save time when preparing the holiday, it can and even should be prepared in advance. It stores very well and only becomes tastier over time.

And also, a gingerbread house is not only a decoration for the New Year's table, but also an excellent sweet gift.

Place butter, honey, sugar and spices for gingerbread in a separate pan with a thick bottom. Place over low heat to heat, stirring the contents from time to time - the mass should become homogeneous. Heat until the sugar is completely dissolved, but under no circumstances let the mixture boil!

Note: You can prepare a mixture of seasonings for gingerbread (if you can’t buy ready-made ones) yourself - just mix 1 teaspoon each of ground ginger, cinnamon, allspice, cloves, nutmeg, cardamom... Use the specified amount in the recipe, use the rest in other recipes .

Once the sugar has dissolved, remove the pan from the heat and stir in the grated lemon zest and fresh ginger.

Now you can measure the required amount of flour and mix it with baking powder and cocoa powder.

During this time, the mass will cool down a little and you can first stir in the eggs, one at a time, until smooth. And then add the sifted flour mixture with cocoa.

Knead the dough, adding additional flour to the work surface if necessary. The dough turns out to be very plastic, practically not sticking to your hands. And even if it seems to you that it is still sticky, I would not recommend “weighting” this dough with a large amount of flour - just knead it until smooth.

Then put it in some kind of sealable, airtight container (a bowl with a lid or just a food bag) and put it in the refrigerator for 10-12 hours (very convenient for the night).

Before you start working with the dough, take it out half an hour beforehand - let it warm up and soften a little, it will be easier to roll it out.

During this time, you need to decide on the size and type of house. You will have to draw and cut out patterns of parts from paper - the roof, front and sides.

After rolling out the dough, attach paper templates and cut out the required number of pieces from the dough.

2 pieces from each template.

From the remaining dough you can cut out decorative details at your discretion - a pipe, a fence, a Christmas tree... Whatever your imagination is enough for.

After all the decor, I still had dough left and from it I simply baked the base for the house.

Bake the house parts for about 10-12 minutes in an oven preheated to 180 degrees, until a beautiful golden color. We must remember that for smaller parts the time may be shorter, otherwise they may burn.

Allow all baked parts to cool completely on a flat surface to avoid deformation.

Now it’s time to prepare the sugar-lemon glaze - this is both a decoration and a means of “gluing” the parts of the house together.

You need to squeeze out the lemon juice, strain it through a strainer to remove the seeds and any pulp.

Making a gingerbread house is not an easy task. The whole process includes making the dough, creating the details of the figure and then decorating it. It is advisable for several people to do this, distributing the work among themselves. Below is a recipe with a photo of a gingerbread house that can be made at home.

How to start cooking?

If you have pets at home, keep them away from the product at all stages of its preparation. Adults and children who are not involved in preparing the figure should be informed that the workpiece should not be touched. For the dough you will need the following ingredients:

• 6 cups whole flour;
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder;
• 4 teaspoons ground ginger;
• 4 teaspoons ground cinnamon;
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves;
• 1/2 spoon of tea salt;
• 150 grams (12 tablespoons) butter, softened;
• 1 1/2 cups light brown sugar;
• 2 large eggs;
• 1 cup dark molasses (molasses);
• 1 tablespoon of water.

How to make the dough?

In order to make a gingerbread house, you need to make dough pieces. To prepare it you need to follow the following steps.

Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl; set aside.

Using an electric mixer, beat butter and brown sugar on medium speed until creamy and smooth. Add the eggs and molasses and beat until everything comes together.

Place half of the flour mixture into the above mixture, continue mixing with a mixer until smooth. Add the remaining dry part. Knead the dough until it becomes elastic and dense. This can be done either manually or with a mixer at low speed.

Wrap the finished dough in plastic wrap and chill for at least two hours, preferably overnight. You can leave it in the refrigerator for up to three days. After this, let the dough warm slightly at room temperature (at least 10 minutes).

Creating and cutting shapes

Create a layout for your gingerbread house by cutting out pieces from stiff paper (such as drawing paper) or cardboard. You must be guided by the correct proportions. In other words, you should end up with a house made of paper or cardboard, which should be exactly repeated in the dough product. Use a ruler and other measuring tools when creating your layout. If you don't know where to start, look at various photos of gingerbread houses. You must do the following details:

• roof;
• side, front and rear walls.

How to make blanks?

Prepare the oven: preheat it to 180 degrees and place a rack in the middle. Take large flat baking sheets. This is important because the dough sheets should not become deformed during baking.

Divide the dough into two parts. Place parchment paper on a large flat surface to roll out shapes. Dust the paper with flour.

Working with one portion of dough at a time, use a rolling pin to make a sheet about 1/2 inch thick. If it sticks to the rolling pin or work surface, add a small amount of flour. If the dough you roll out is very soft, you can put it in the freezer for an hour before you start cutting out the dough.

Sprinkle a little flour onto the prepared rolled out sheets. Place the cut out stencils on the dough, pressing them tightly. Use a small, sharp knife to cut out shapes, wiping the blade frequently. Depending on how soft the dough is, you may need to use large scissors.

You can cut out the shapes together with parchment paper, and then transfer the blanks to a baking sheet with it. If you are not using one, you may need a large metal spatula to transfer the dough pieces.

How to bake?

Place the figures on a baking sheet at a distance of approximately 3 cm from each other. If the dough pieces stretch during the transfer process, lightly scrunch them back to their original size. You can cut out the door and windows on the wall pieces at this point, or wait until baking and do it soon after you take the pieces out while they are still warm.

Bake the product at 180 degrees until the edges begin to darken. This will take 11-15 minutes for large pieces and 6-8 minutes for small ones. Halfway through the specified time, unfold the baking sheet for more even baking.

Remove the finished figures from the oven and leave them to cool for 15 minutes. Trim the pieces while they are still warm. Place the stencils on them and use a large, sharp knife to trim off any parts of the pieces that extend beyond the design. Then leave the dough to cool completely. Next, the gingerbread house recipe includes making the glaze.

How to do it?

Sweet icing is used not only for decoration, but also as a component that holds the gingerbread pieces together, allowing them to form a house. The following proportions should provide sufficient amounts of this ingredient for both purposes:

• 2 large egg whites;
• 2 2/3 cups powdered sugar.

First, beat the egg whites and 1 1/3 cups of powdered sugar until smooth.

If you are concerned about the safety of raw eggs, you can microwave this mixture for 30-40 seconds. You can also use pasteurized dried or liquid egg whites.

Add the remaining 1 1/3 cups powdered sugar to the mixture. Using an electric mixer, beat on high speed until the frosting begins to form stiff peaks. If this consistency does not work, add more powdered sugar.

Place a damp, clean towel over the bowl of frosting. Keep it constantly to avoid the mixture drying out.

When you are ready to create your gingerbread house, fill a piping bag with frosting. If you do not have such a device, you can take a regular thick plastic bag and cut a corner in it with scissors.

How to fold a figure?

Assembling the pieces into a gingerbread house is a process in which it is best to involve two people. If you're working on this alone, use glass jars to support the dough pieces until the frosting sets.

To assemble your own gingerbread house, choose a solid base for it. This can be either a flat baking sheet or a thick and durable piece of cardboard. If desired, you can line it with aluminum foil or wax paper.

Spread a thick layer of frosting along the edge of one of the side pieces. Apply the second piece and hold tightly for a few minutes until the glaze partially dries and the dough sticks together. Repeat the same with the other side piece. If necessary, position the jars to support the sides of your gingerbread house.

Apply glaze to the inside and outside of the piece to fill any gaps and add extra strength. Especially a lot of it will be needed at the edges of the house, where the joints of the workpieces are located. Leave to set for at least an hour.

Once the glaze is dry enough to feel hard to the touch, you can begin creating the roof. Lubricate all top edges of the structure, as well as the roof blanks on the front and back on both sides. These figures are rectangular in shape. Place the roof pieces so that the long ends of the rectangle lie along the top of the house.

This work of creating a gingerbread house is best done together. At the same time, it is more convenient to place the roof elements so that they fit easily together at the top center and form a slope at each end. Gently hold the installed workpieces in place for several minutes until they stop sliding. Cover the roof of the house with an additional layer of glaze.

Then let the piece set for at least an hour, preferably 8 hours, before decorating.

Final Steps

Cover the pipe blank completely with glaze. Its size and shape can be challenging due to the resulting angle of the roof. You may need to use a sharp knife to trim it and adjust it to the desired angle. In addition, make the bottom of the figure perfectly flat. Then glue it to the roof of the gingerbread house using icing. You can do this immediately after you assemble the product (1 hour after assembly) or later during the decorating process.

Decoration

This step requires the implementation of creative ideas. You can decorate your gingerbread house with any candies. Multi-colored jelly figures are very practical, as are small dragees or candy canes. Chocolate truffles can be used to create a stone wall around a gingerbread house, and square or diamond patterned wafers can be used for roof tiles.

Use glaze to apply decorative elements around the walls and roof of the piece. With its help you can glue pieces of sweets and waffles to the house.