When you put on a show like we do at Celebrations Catering, the holidays are always a busy time of year. We start gearing up for a crazy holiday around mid-September and go all out crazy until the beginning of the next year! The team and I get together and have a blast feeding the masses and spreading holiday cheer.
Personally, I love to make gingerbread houses. I’ve made a few in my career and just love it. A good-sized one can take about a week to make and, depending on those lucky enough to eat it, can take mere moments to demolish!
I’ve come up with a pretty simple way to create one and would like to share my findings with you, my fine reader.
First of all, I like to make a replica of a real building. The building below is an athletic center from a private school in South Hamilton Massachusetts that hadn’t even been built yet! I took a picture of the blue prints and gave it a whirl.
Then, I made a huge batch of my favorite gingerbread cookie recipe and let it rest in the cooler overnight.
Then I took an old card-board box and created a stencil.
Then, the stencil makes it a bit easier to create the walls and roof. Just roll out your dough, place the stencil on top and cut around it with a sharp knife. Bake, cool and start building! Of course, if you are making something a bit more complex, make sure you write what you are baking near the item. This will make it easier to remember what goes where when it’s time to build.
Royal icing is the magic glue that holds the house all together. What you decorate your house with is completely up to you! Jelly beans, rice crispy treats, Rolo’s, you name it. You can even crush up some hard candies and make stained-glass windows!
If you get really good at it, you can come in first place at a local competition! (I didn’t make this one, just thought it looked awesome).
