Gingerbread House 2019: Candy Cane Cottage

Gingerbread House 2019: Candy Cane Cottage- This years house stands approximately 18" tall x 15" wide x 15" deep and comes complete with an actual flickering fireplace seen thru the front door (the fireplace is made of gingerbread & royal icing, the logs are cinnamon sticks and the "fire" is a tiny flickering nightlight bulb all designed by my dad!) as well as two lighted Christmas Trees behind each front window. Each tree is made of sugar ice cream cones covered in piped royal icing then decked out with strings of real working lights. This years theme is "Candy Cane" and the sweet treats are used throughout the house from the roof to the pillars to the tiny green, red and white candy canes used to support the royal icing fencing. Tiny gumpaste presents are stacked up at the front door. The giant wreath is made of royal icing and various holly & berry shaped candies and dragees. The red ribbon is made of fondant. 

 

Gingerbread House 2019: Candy Cane Cottage- The opaque golden windows are crushed butterscotch candies that have been melted right into the circular opening in the gingerbread. I usually add the crushed candies during the last 5-10 minutes of baking, just enough to melt the candies smoothly and finish baking off the gingerbread. I let each finished gingerbread piece cool under a layer of parchment paper topped with a heavy book. I find that this process helps the pieces become more compact and straight which is much better for building.

Gingerbread House 2019: Candy Cane Cottage- The "clear windowpanes" are actually pieces of German gelatin sheets. Each sheet has that pretty diamond effect that mimics old windowpanes perfectly! They are attached to the back of the windows with royal icing.

Gingerbread House 2019: Candy Cane Cottage- The windowboxes are made of piped royal icing and piped leaves and tiny red royal icing poinsettia flowers.

Gingerbread House 2019: Candy Cane Cottage

 

And Here Are A Few Photos Of The Construction Process:

This is the paper template of the house that my dad designed using poster board. 

 

Here are a few template pieces laid out on the rolled gingerbread. I try to cut out as pieces onto one slab of rolled gingerbread as possible! The rolling, cutting and baking is a long process and usually will take a full day or two!

 

Here is a selection of some baked pieces waiting to be iced together. I bake the candy windowpanes directly into the piece! To do this I bake the cut out piece and in the last 5-10 minutes of baking, remove piece from oven and fill the window opening with crushed butterscotch candies then bake for the remaining 5-10 minutes. This is usually long enough to melt the candy into a nice smooth opaque surface.

 

This photo shows some of the framing of the house. My dad uses wooden dowels to create support for the larger pieces, like the roof, so they don't break under their weight.

 

 

This was a pretty rainy December here in Northern California and the moisture was causing some of the gingerbread pieces to warp and pull apart. My dad came up with the brilliant idea of using clamps to secure the pieces together until they were completely dried (usually around 48 hours with royal icing). This process really helped keep the pieces secure and in place.

 

Here we are checking the lighting and adding some candy cane details. In a large house its a good idea to check the lighting as you go along, making sure that everything is well illuminated. The lighting is such an import aspect of the house and really gives it warmth and helps it to come alive!

 

Here we have added some dormer window & small roofs,  as well as more decorative details. 

 

Various spice jars help to support the delicate sugar fences as they dry in place. Each fence in piped out with royal icing on a template and when dry, carefully glued with more royal icing to the structure. Tiny green and red candy canes make excellent fence posts when topped with white candy balls. Round peppermint candies support the front porch and also serve as bases for the candy canes. The flower boxes are made of piped royal icing and filled with more royal icing leaves and flowers.

 

Comments

[Goodies By Anna]

Thanks for the compliments!! You can find all info and links to recipes at this post on my blog, good luck and let me know if I can help you with anything else:

https://goodiesbyanna.typepad.com/blog/2009/12/gingerbread-house-how-tos.html

Gingerbread House How-Tos

CIMG4259 What better way to get into the Holiday Spirit than to make and decorate a real gingerbread house? With a few basic ingredients and some imagination you can make a house as simple or as elaborate as you like! This is my second gingerbread house (you
can see last...

goodiesbyanna.typepad.com

[goodies by anna]

You can find instruction on how I make Gingerbread Houses as well as links to dough and icing recipes in this post: https://goodiesbyanna.typepad.com/blog/2009/12/gingerbread-house-how-tos.html

[Alia]

Hello! I was wondering what recipe you use for your royal icing? All of your gingerbread houses are amazing, they have inspired me to design my own but I want to use as many similar materials as you use.

Thank you for all your beautiful work!