Gumdrops on Houses and Icicles on Rooftops
Gumdrops on Houses and Icicles on Rooftops
The gingerbread house was a true team effort - as everyone in the bakery and deli helped its creation in some way. It was a pretty close replica of the gingerbread house that we made for a competition in New Hampshire early in December. The house itself weighed in at around 60 pounds, and took about 75 hours to complete from start to finish. We had originally wanted to decorate the inside as well, but the sugar that we used for the "glass" windows started to go cloudy, so you can't really see inside. We have come up with a solution to that for next year!
The process is pretty straightforward. First you come up with your design and cut all the pieces out of thin cardboard. Our house had 28 different shaped pieces to be fit together. Then you make LOTS of gingerbread and cut all pieces out - remembering to cut out windows and doorways! Once cooled, you start the assembly by "gluing" the 4 main walls together with royal icing (which dries very hard). This has to sit overnight to dry enough to glue the roof on (when I say "glue", I refer to the royal icing which is totally edible!). Once the roof is in place, this also needs to sit overnight to dry before proceeding. Next were the two additional rooms to the side of the house - again, sides glued first, dried overnight, then roof pieces attached the next day. At the same time, the chimney pieces were added to the back (which were covered with fondant pieces to resemble stone). The gazebo roof was assembled and dried, and the roof decor was attached (we used Golden Grahams cereal).
The porch base and roofs were added next followed by the gazebo. The porch railing was added last and the "lawn" was spread with royal icing to resemble snow. The tree on the lawn was also made from gingerbread, and we strung battery operated LED lights in the inside - poking the lights through holes drilled through the gingerbread! The tree was then piped in green royal icing with a leaf tip to resemble branches.
Another wonderful creation from Trapp Family Lodge's Bakery.
I was at the Inn in 1999 and thought it was heavenly. Now that the children are old enough to travel well, we will be returning. I love the gingerbread house!!!
The roof is impressive. Well done, Chef Dan and your team. Your Tuesday class was really pleasure. Tonight we ate and fed our guests the walnut tart that we made with you..oh, my was it a hit.
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