Name: Gingerbread House
Prep time: 1440 min
Yield: 1 gingerbread house
Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients: 3 cups all-purpose flour; 3/4 cup sugar; 7 tbsp butter; 2.5 tsp ground ginger; 1/2 tsp baking soda; 1 pinch salt; 1 pinch nutmeg; 6 ground cloves; 2 tsp ground cinnamon; 2 eggs; 3/4 cup powdered sugar; 3 tsp lemon juice; 1 tsp water; 4 tsp lemon juice; as needed powdered sugar (weigh the package, except for a teaspoon used to sprinkle the roof); 21 meringues; as needed colored sprinkles (or colored balls); 15 hard candies (mimosa); 4 chocolate chips; as needed food coloring (blue gel); as needed food coloring (yellow liquid in vial); as needed powdered sugar; 3 colored meringues

I’ve always loved the Gingerbread House since I was a child and couldn’t wait to make one of our own, together with my daughter. We had a lot of fun, and we loved the result.

Difficulty: Medium
Cost: Cheap
Rest time: 5 Hours
Preparation time: 1 Day
Portions: 1 gingerbread house
Cooking methods: Oven
Cuisine: Italian

Ingredients

3 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
7 tbsp butter
2.5 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 pinch salt
1 pinch nutmeg
6 ground cloves
2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 eggs
3/4 cup powdered sugar
3 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp water
4 tsp lemon juice
as needed powdered sugar (weigh the package, except for a teaspoon used to sprinkle the roof)
21 meringues
as needed colored sprinkles (or colored balls)
15 hard candies (mimosa)
4 chocolate chips
as needed food coloring (blue gel)
as needed food coloring (yellow liquid in vial)
as needed powdered sugar
3 colored meringues

Steps

Place the flour, sugar, softened butter, baking soda, and ginger on a work surface.
Add the ground cloves (I put them in a bag and rolled them with a rolling pin to turn them into powder), nutmeg, cinnamon, salt, and eggs.
Knead the ingredients until you get a smooth, uniform dough that is no longer sticky.
Divide the dough into two parts, roll them both out to a thickness of about 1/5 inch.
These are the dimensions of my house.
Place the molds on the rolled-out dough and cut them out with a sharp knife.
With a knife, make shallow cuts to simulate wooden planks.
Place the pieces on the baking sheet covered with parchment paper.
From the remaining dough, I cut out cookie shapes to place around the house as a landscape. Place the cookies on the baking sheet covered with parchment paper.
Bake at 356°F, making sure to cook the larger parts for about 12/13 minutes and the smaller ones for about 8/9 minutes. Let them dry for at least overnight.
Put the powdered sugar in a bowl, add the lemon juice and water gradually, and mix until you achieve a fairly thick and sticky consistency.
Start assembling the house by spreading the sugar glaze on the edges with your fingers or a knife. Hold for a few seconds to let it start solidifying.
Sprinkle the roof with powdered sugar, decorate it with meringues (you can use glaze or glucose syrup to attach them). Decorate some cookie trees with green dye, others with glaze, and sprinkle them with colored balls. Decorate the reindeer with glaze and colored balls, the snowman with glaze, chocolate chips, and mimosa candies. Finally, decorate the door with mimosa candies and a chocolate chip.
Create your Christmas scene with your gingerbread house.