A friend of mine at work is a genius with gingerbread and icing. She makes the most amazing gingerbread houses! This week she was sweet enough to share her recipes with me!
Gingerbread
Recipes
Gingerbread Dough I
6 ½ cups flour
2 tab ginger
2 tab cinnamon
1 tsp salt
Stir together, set aside
In bowl of mixer, add:
1 ¼ cups vegetable shortening
4 cups powdered sugar
3 tab lemon juice
2 tab molasses
2/3 cup light corn syrup
Mix until smooth.
Add flour
mixture all at once. When crumbly, add ½ cup water plus 3-6 more tablespoons of
water to form a firm, evenly moist dough.
You don’t want the dough to be too wet, so add extra water sparingly.
I take the
dough out of the mixer before it’s fully combined and give it a few turns on
the countertop to even it out. Cover and chill for 2 hours before rolling.
Allow to sit for 15 mins on counter before rolling.
Bake 375 for
15 minutes (give or take)
Makes enough
dough for 1 large gingerbread house or many small ones.
*Adapted
from Christina Banner’s book, How to
Build a Gingerbread House
Gingerbread Dough II
6 ¾ cups flour
1 tab cinnamon
1 ½ tsps. Ginger
½ tsp salt
Stir
together in large bowl, set aside
1 ½ cups light corn syrup
1 ¼ cups packed brown sugar
1 cup margarine
Stir
together dry ingredients in a large bowl.
Combine corn syrup, brown sugar, and margarine in a 2 quart
saucepan. Stir over medium heat until
margarine is melted. (No need to boil) Pour the syrup mixture into the flour
mixture. Mix well. Child the dough for 1 hour or until it is
room temp.
**If you
need red or green dough, add the food coloring to the wet ingredients before
mixing. This dough bakes well in colors.
Bake at 350
for 12-15 minutes (give or take)
Tips for
rolling gingerbread: If you have a
silpat mat, place it on the counter. Cover with a sheet of parchment paper and
roll the gingerbread atop it all. The silpat will keep the parchment from
sliding around the you can easily move the sheets of parchment to baking trays.
Royal
Icing
Royal Icing I (Meringue Powder)
3 TAB
Meringue Powder
1 lb (4
cups) powdered sugar
5 TAB warm
water
Beat all
ingredients until icing forms peaks (7-10 minutes at low speed with a heavy
duty mixer or 10-12 minutes at high speed with a hand-held mixer) Recipe makes 3 cups
Royal Icing II (eggs)
1 lb (4
cups) powdered sugar
3 large egg
whites at room temp
1/8 tsp
cream of tartar
Mix all
together as above.
Note: Keep all utensils completely grease-free for
proper icing consistency. The icing will
be stiff. Add water by teaspoons to
obtain the consistency you want. Cover icing tightly with plastic wrap, as it
dries very quickly.