Archive | entertaining

{Hannah’s gingerbread house}

Decorating gingerbread houses is a tradition the kids look forward to every year including Bill and me.  It’s a day of unlimited sweets and encouraging the kids to eat as much candy as they like!  But often times, they are too busy decorating to take the time to eat the sweets that are in front of them.

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All the gingerbread houses were prepared a few days before the party.  Once the pieces have been glued together with icing and hardened, the houses will be strong and easy to  move around without breaking apart. I think there were about 30 houses total.

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The gingerbread houses are ready to be decorated.

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Gingerbread House

Ingredients

print gingerbread house templates, Here
{makes 3 gingerbread houses}

6       cups sifted all-purpose flour
1       teaspoon baking soda
1/2  teaspoon baking powder
1       cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1       cup dark brown sugar, packed
2      teaspoon ground ginger
1       teaspoon ground cloves
1       teaspoon salt
1       Tablespoon ground cinnamon
2       large eggs
1        cup unsulfured molasses

Instructions

1.  In a large bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder, ground ginger, ground cloves, ground cinnamon and salt. Set aside.

2.  In bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream butter and brown sugar on medium speed until fluffy.  Mix in eggs and molasses.  Reduce speed to low and add flour mixture until combined.

3.  Divide dough into thirds and wrap them in plastic.  Refrigerate at least 2 hours.

4.  Heat oven to 350° .

5.  On a floured work surface, roll out dough {about 1/8″ thick}.  Place the templates on the dough and cut around it with a knife.  Transfer to baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Refrigerate until firm {10-15 minutes}.

6.  Bake 8-10 minutes.  Cool on wire racks.

7.  Assemble the gingerbread house pieces starting with the four walls and end with the roof. Be very generous with the icing when glueing the pieces together.  The icing will also help hide any rough edges and uneven pieces.

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Royal Icing

Ingredients

{makes 4 1/2 -5 cups}

2        pounds of confectioners’ sugar
4        tablespoons meringue powder
½      teaspoon vanilla extract
¾ – 1 cup of water

Instructions

In bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a wire whisk attachment {or the paddle attachment}, combine confectioners’ sugar, meringue powder, vanilla, and ½ cup of water.  With the mixer on low speed, add the remaining water as needed a little at a time until the mixture reaches the desired thickness. Increase the mixer speed to medium-high, whisk for about 4-5 minutes until soft glossy peaks form.
* I made the icing for assembling the gingerbread pieces a little thicker than for decorating.

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Disposable Pastry Bags make it  quick and easy to decorate and eliminate  messy cleanup.  Fill a disposable pastry bag with icing and tie a knot at the top.  With a pair of scissors, cut a hole  {1/8″-1/4″ wide} at the bottom tip of the bag.  It is ready to be used.

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Decorating the Gingerbread House

Use a cardboard cake circle as the base for the gingerbread  house to stand on and to move it around easily.

Sweets and more sweets!

The party!

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posted by: Kay