Gingerbread Dough and Royal Icing
Laura and I started making gingerbread houses each Christmas when she was in kindergarten. Some of our more memorable creations were a 2-story house that had stained-glass windows (we lit it up each night, which was quite spectacular), a cottage with a thatched roof (wheaties), a couple of bird and squirrel friendly concoctions made out of suet instead of gingerbread, and finally in Laura’s senior year of high school, we made our triumph: a replica of our house on Stanmore Drive. It was a beauty and even better, we spent a wonderful day together creating it. Here is the recipe for gingerbread dough and royal icing that worked best for us. – Terry
Ingredients
- 5 cups all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 tablespoon ground ginger
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- ¾ cup vegetable shortening
- ½ cup molasses
- ½ cup light corn syrup
- 1½ tablespoons warm water
Royal Icing:
- 4 cups sifted confectioners sugar
- 3 level tablespoons meringue powder (find in craft stores and with cake decorating supplies)
- 6 tablespoons water
- Food coloring
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325°F degrees.
- Sift together dry ingredients in a large bowl, set aside.
- Whip shortening and sugar until light and fluffy. Add light corn syrup and molasses to sugar mixture, slowly, until thoroughly mixed. Add warm water.
- You can add dry ingredients to mixer and knead with a dough hook or transfer wet ingredients to large bowl of dry ingredients and knead for 10 minutes.
- Pat dough into a disk shape and put in a large plastic bag for 1 hour to rest. Although it is best when used same day, the dough will keep for a week at room temperature or a month in the refrigerator.
- Roll dough evenly onto a piece of tin foil (big enough to fit onto a cookie sheet) 1/8 – 1/4 inch thickness.
- Use copper cutters (or a knife) to make cottage shapes and peel up unused dough.
- Place foil on cookie sheet being careful not to disturb cut pieces and bake 15-20 min. until edges are golden brown. Remove from oven and let cool on a flat surface.
- Once baked, the cottage will last for years if stored in a plastic bag. Makes 2-3 cottages.
- Royal Icing: Combine meringue powder and water, beat with an electric mixer on medium speed until soft peaks form. Add sugar and continue to beat for 7 minutes. Add food coloring to tint. Keep covered when not using, since royal frosting will begin to harden when exposed to air.
- Decorate the gingerbread pieces while lying flat. Gravity will work to your advantage, and you’ll have more control.
- Assemble the house with heavy frosting by adding more powdered sugar. Use various size tips to create the degree of detail you are looking for.
