Gingerbread House How-To Coming Soon!

I have had a request from a fellow blogger for a tutorial on gingerbread house making-of course! Why didn't I think to share the process with everyone!?! Thank you Ashley and yes, those are meringue mushrooms, colored with cocoa powder and piped out of a frosting bag, same recipe as for assembling and decorating the houses!

I am assembling my wares, recipes and making some new, legible and not- covered -in -flour templates to scan in so folks can get a pattern too. I found the math for this a bit daunting at first and have made so many mistakes by miscalculating. I would rather everyone be able to make something they are happy with than leave details out and have people's hard work be wasted on disappointment!

If you are interested in making your own house, you can get ready by :

1. Getting a small (4 oz.)can (if you are making only 1 house) of Wilton's Meringue Powder (usually sold with the bridal items at craft stores, such as A.C. Moore, Michael's-Wal-Mart or your local grocery likely has it too)

2. Make sure you have the following ingredients on hand:

1 twelve ounce jar of dark molasses

1/3 cup of shortening (Crisco)

1 Cup brown sugar

6 cups of flour (plus a half cup or so for rolling process)

Baking soda

Allspice

salt

Ground Ginger

Ground Cloves

Ground Cinnamon

Parchment paper

Assorted candies that you love to decorate with. Mini candy canes, gum drops, chocolate non- pariels, jelly beans, Skittles and mini Tootsie Rolls work well. Use your imagination here too. (I once did a whole house in pink and black to go in our bedroom. (Think pink Canada mints and black licorice!)

For the base: a piece of stiff cardboard and tin foil for wrapping, or you can use a piece of plywood, wrapped in fabric or wrapping paper too-use your imagination, but it should be able to be disposed of later, not precious and stiff enough to hold the house and be mobile. The base can be as big as you want, to allow you space to decorate the "yard" if you like. I like mine pretty snug so I can fit them on the shelves of a hutch I have. The templates I will be sharing will produce a 8" high x 7" wide x 5" deep house (approximately!!) A base that is 10" wide x 8" long should suffice.

I will try to have this up this week so you can make a house and enjoy the scent and sight of it for a few weeks before Christmas. (or you can leave it up until Valentine's Day too!)