Frosty Palace is what Cambrie named this sweet, Valentine’s Day gingerbread house. It was at the top of their to-do list while spending the week with us as their Mommy and Daddy were away at a conference!
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Telling Pop-Pop their plans to decorate the Palace
❤
Carefully placing each piece onto the gingerbread house.
Sweet toddler hands.
Teamwork
Finishing touches.
I didn’t use my usual recipe because I was more interested in a dough that would produce a strong cookie to avoid breakage (and much disappointment). This dough worked so well. It isn’t very sweet all by itself, but with the addition of frosting, it tastes great!
Valentine’s Day Gingerbread House TEMPLATE:
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Here is a link (BBC Food Recipes) to the gingerbread house template I used, but there are many free patterns found on the web if you are looking for something different. We did not include the chimney, for simplicity sake and changed the stars to hearts for this occasion.
INGREDIENTS:
- 3/4 cup buttermilk
- 6 tablespoons butter or margarine (I used shortening)
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup molasses
- one large egg
- 5 cups King Arthur unbleached all-purpose flour (I used regular all-purpose flour)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ginger
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon salt.
Following directions from King Arthur Flour.
To make the dough:
- In a large saucepan, heat the buttermilk and butter until the butter is just melted; remove from the heat.
- Add the brown sugar and molasses, then beat in the egg.
- Whisk the baking soda, spices, and salt with 1 cup of the flour.
- Add this to the wet mixture and mix until incorporated.
- Add flour 1 cup at a time until you have a smooth, stiff dough. It should be stiff enough to be flexible, and neither crumbly nor sticky.
- Divide the dough in half, flatten each half, and wrap in plastic. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Using a quarter of the dough at a time (return the unused portion to the refrigerator), roll the dough 1/4″ thick on a piece of parchment.
- Cut your construction pieces as needed, pulling away the scraps to be re-rolled. Transfer the dough, parchment and all, to a baking sheet.
- Bake the dough for 15 to 18 minutes, until set and very lightly browned at the edges.
- Remove from the oven and trim any rough edges while the pieces are still warm. Cool completely before using for construction.
- Yield: enough dough for a 10″ x 7″ house (approx.), plus decorations.
Royal Icing Recipe
INGREDIENTS:
- 3 egg whites (or 1/4 cup meringue powder combined with 1/2 cup of cold water in place of the egg whites) I use meringue powder instead of the egg whites and do not need cream of tartar.
- 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
- 4 cups (1 pound) unsifted confectioner sugar
- food coloring, if desired
DIRECTIONS:
- In a large bowl, whip the egg whites with the cream of tartar until foamy.
- Sprinkle in the sugar gradually, whipping all the while. The more you whip the icing, the stiffer it’ll be and the faster it’ll harden up.
- Cover the bowl of icing, taking out only as much as you’ll need immediately. The easiest way to store the icing for long periods of time is in a plastic pastry bag, or zip-top food storage bag.
The Royal Icing is also from the King Arthur Site. I use meringue power and water instead of egg whites and cream of tartar. It makes a large batch of easy-to-pipe frosting that is smooth, white and dries hard and strong.
Gingerbread House construction
We made the dough one morning, wrapped well and placed it in the refrigerator. The following day, we rolled out the dough, cut into house pieces, baked, cooled and wrapped the cookies in plastic wrap. On the morning of the third day, we “glued” the sections together and allowed to dry and harden, undisturbed. By early afternoon, the gingerbread house was ready to be decorated. The little girls worked on it for a while, took a break and came back a couple of times until it was completed to their liking.
With leftover dough, we made some heart-shaped cookies.
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What a memory maker of their time at your house. And a sweet idea (no pun intended.)
So adorable!! (The girls and the Valentine house!) What a fabulous idea for a Valentine treat/project!
The house turned out great, I love the heart shaped windows:@)
What a gorgeous little house. We make one at Christmas but for valentines is a great idea. Looks like the girls are having a wonderful time! X