How to Make the Perfect Gingerbread House: 7 Tips to Help You

Do you want your house to be perfect? Then these tips from professional pastry chef Nicole Salazar will come in handy!

There are many types of icing, but royal icing is best for a gingerbread house. As Nicole explains, it’s easy to work with and dries to a hard consistency, giving the silhouette some stability.

Many people think that royal icing is boring when it comes to decorating and that you just have to settle for dull straight lines. That’s not the case, Salazar says: She recommends beating air into the frosting “as long as possible” so it gets a fluffy consistency and you can create the same designs with it as you would with cream. with butter.

Royal icing is just plain sweet and boring. That’s why Nicole adds almond extract to it – it has a strong taste and you only need a small amount to add an interesting and unusual accent. Vanilla Salazar recommends to those who prefer refinement; the orange extract, according to the pastry chef, contrasts perfectly with the spices of the gingerbread.

There are many ingredients that can be used to enhance gingerbread, but according to Nicole, the most important is corn syrup. “Its consistency makes the dough easier to work with, making it soft and supple. At the same time, the syrup will prevent the gingerbread from swelling like eggs or milk and will make the finished baked goods tough, which is very important for subsequent “construction”, explains the pastry chef.

Designing a gingerbread house is not the easiest task. However, there is a great way to simplify it – there are now many forms on sale that will completely save you from calculations and “cutting” the dough.

According to Nicole, this takes at least three hours, but it’s best to place the gingerbread on a rack to allow air to circulate to both sides of the baked goods. If you need to save time, place the house pieces in the freezer 15 to 20 minutes after removing them from the oven.

If you don’t mind careful work, consider using almond petals for decoration. Apply a layer of royal icing to the roof then arrange the petals on top to make them look like tiles. Square-shaped breakfast cereals are a great alternative to almonds.

“Look at the candy aisle for inspiration: there are plenty of brightly colored pieces to brighten up your little home. For example, line the path to the door with M&Ms, create a pile of cut-up Twix or Kit Kat bars, or place white cotton candy instead of snow, Salazar says.

LEDs will help add life to your home – those with warm light should be placed indoors, bulbs with cold light should be placed under the “snow”. You can even make a small fire by sticking a cone of red and orange M&Ms and placing one of the little lights inside.

Also read how to make a Christmas tree from meat delicacies and what dishes you should eat for the New Year to attract good luck.

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