House Construction

Dough
1. Mix and rest the dough. You will need two batches.

Oven
2. Preheat your oven to 200F

Test Window Construction with Candy
3. Form a 1/4 inch piece of dough on parchment paper, cut a hole, and place your selected candy in the hole (even to the dough). Lift the parchment paper with the dough and candy and place it on a baking sheet. Bake for 15-20 minutes and see how the candy melts/forms to create a glass window look.

Cutting Out the Templates
4. Print the templates. Measure them and compare them to the measurements to be sure that they are correct.
5. With accuracy, cutout the templates or create your own using the measurements provided. Use clean cardboard to create the templates. The more accurate you are here, the better your final outcome will be later.
6. Test the accuracy of your cutouts by placing them together to review the fit.
7. Cut a piece of parchment paper to roughly fit your baking pan(s).
8. Roll-out the dough to a about a 1/4 of an inch thick on parchment paper. It needs to be even and thick enough to take the weight of the roof and to hold the windows. Be sure that is consistanly about 1/4 of an inch.
9. Place the cardboard template gently on top of dough. Gently cut straight lines with a sharp knife tracing the cardboard templates. Do not tear through the dough. Again. The more accurate that you are here, the more accurate that you are here, the better your final outcome will be later. 
10. Gently pickup the cutout on the parchment paper and place it the baking pan (baking pan should be a minimum of H=12 inches; W=17 inches. See About Getting Started).Repeat with each panel and other decorations. Use remaining dough for additional decorations.

Windows
11. Crush your candy (pineapple or orange flavored Lifesavers. Or you can also use hard butterscotch candy. You can choose) using a sandwich bag and a mallot or rolling pin an fill each window (even with the dough, not over).

Baking
12. Bake each panel and other decorations for 15-20 minutes. Be watchful to be sure that each items does not burn. Remember that you can reuse the parchment paper several times so reuse it!

 

Testing Your Panels

13. Gently test your panels and decorations to see if they are correct and fit decently together. They do not need to be perfect. If you find that there are major imperfections, try sand paper to make edges smooth or remember that icing can cover a lot of mistakes! Also, review them. Make sure that they are consistantly 1/4 of an inch so that they are strong.

Drying Out Each Panel
14. Rebake each panel and place in a 200 degree oven for about 30-45 minutes. Take a careful look to be sure that each panel does not burn. Let the panels cool for several hours or until cold.

Royal Icing
I found this fantastic recipe from Gingerbread House and More Baubles from Your Kitchen By Dorothy Sibole. Remember, this is the glue that will be used to hold everything together. Take care in making it. One tip that I found helpful is to whip the eggwhites until they are pretty stiff and then slowy add the sugar. Also, placing it in the refridgerator really does work. Its amamzing and is really fantastic way to keep your royal icing.

15. Follow this recipe and instructions located under the Royal Icing section.

Piping Windows and Other Fine Decorations
16. With a small tip or sandwich bag with a tiny hole cut in one of the corners, pipe royal icing on windows and on other sites on the house as needed. Glue window shutters and door frames to the panels. You can finish the other decorations when the house is standing. Let all piping dry thoroughly. About 20 to 30 minutes.

Side Panels

17. Cover a large block of wood, cutting board, or other large surface with heavy duty tin foil. Tape the tin foil to the surface that you are covering.

Besure that this surface is large enough to accoommodate a house that is 11 inches wide, 16 inches long, and allows you to add other gingerbread landscaping. 

 

18. Start with a side panel and the front panel. Line one outside edge, the bottom of side panel, and the bottom of the front panel with royal icing and place it on the tin foil surface. Press the front panel on the lined edge to form a 90 degree angle. You can use a book, brick, wood block, or any object that forms a 90 degree angel that you don’t mind getting some icing on. The icing should only take a few minutes to set. Use glasses, jars, stacked book, or anything that will stand on its own, with a straight side to support the sides while they stand. Make sure that they are straight and let them set fully. About 20 minutes.

 

 

 

19. Glue the second side and the back panel to the first side and front panel. Make sure that the side panels reside between the front and back panels. Be patient.

 

20. Let the sides set for about 1 hour.

 

Roof Panels
21. Place a thin layer of icing on the Top Roof Panel. Glue the Top Roof Panel to the house.
22. Place a thin layer of icing on the Side Roof Panel. Glue the Side Roof Panels to the house. You will have to hold the side panel in place to set. You can hold it, use a glass, or anything that can be used as a rest for the panel. while it sets. Repeat for the second panel.