We have been creating gingerbread houses every year since our own kids were small. When they were teens, we would make it a competition and have family vote on the best. Now that they are grown and have their own kids, we continue the tradition with all of them, minus the competitiveness. I used to give them away to family and friends as our Christmas gifts. Now they mostly stay with their creators as they become very attached to them.
We set a date in December, and I will send out an invite to the kids as a hype strategy. This gets them thinking about their designs in advance. I set up the table before their arrival with a house at every seat and all the candy in the middle. I have several plastic dishes that have 3 sections each, so I divide the candy among those so accessible to all areas of the table. Anything else I just scatter around the table. Because I know the kids are going to eat as much, if not more of the candy that they use, I cover the houses and candy with a big tablecloth – out of sight, out of mind. I won’t let them see the candy or houses until they have eaten so real food (sort of – we had pizza).
Then comes the reveal. They get so excited! Once they take a peek and see what they have to work with, they dig in. Honestly, they each get so into it and sit until finished. The adults help the kids as they work on their own. They were all so polite and were complimenting each other’s work. We had a wonderful time!
Everyone built their own unique house. We had a Victorian Mansion, an alien and UFO invasion, a candy land dream, a house being attacked by a sandworm, a house that was completely sided and had flower boxes, a house with a jeep inside the garage in back, a doghouse, some rainbow/mermaid houses and some very colorful ones. We add icicles for anyone who wants them, then the houses stay here over night to harden. We bring them their rightful owners over the next few days.
As if they didn’t have enough sugar, we followed up the houses with a fire and s’mores. This can be challenging with so many kids to watch near the fire, but all was good. I ended up making a s’mores board so that the chocolate, graham crackers and marshmallows were out of packaging, making it much easier to build all those s’mores. The smiles tell the story =)
Gingerbread House Tips
I used to bake the gingerbread house parts, then moved to buying the kits, and now I buy them all put together ready to decorate. With 14 of us, the thought of baking and piecing together is too much now. A word to the wise – the pre-built ones sell out fast. As soon as I see some, I buy them. Target is usually a good spot or sometimes supermarkets carry them. I also start early buying candy as I have found some of our favorites are hard to find closer to the holiday, such as Christmas M&Ms, tree peeps (never saw them this year), and Necco Wafers. So, I start buying these candies in early November and every time I shop, I grab something else. Staples for us are shredded wheat, Necco Wafers, Andes Mints, nonpareils, snow caps, Starbursts, Reese’s cups, Rolos and Hershey’s Kisses. We always add additional items such as Santas, snowmen, reindeer pretzels and anything rainbow. We always have candy left over. This year we had one house that didn’t get decorated as the two-year-old had no interest. I packaged that back up with some of the candy and a bag of frosting and gave it to our 8-year-old neighbor. The rest of the candy that was either unopened or still in an out package, I gifted via our local Facebook forum to anyone who wanted it.
I never use the frosting that comes with the prebuilt or house kits. It never seems to harden like my own, so I make royal icing. For 14 pre-built houses I made 3 batches of the recipe I am sharing, which comes out to 6 lbs of confectioner’s sugar.
Royal Icing
6 Level TBS meringue powder
¾ Cup lukewarm water
2 LB bag confectioner’s sugar
Using a stand mixer with the whip attachment, mis water and meringue powder until foamy. Add in confectioner’s sugar a little at a time. Once incorporated and sides are scraped, whip on high for 7-10 minutes until fairly stiff. If too thin, add more sugar, if too stiff add a little water – humidity can affect this. Keep in airtight container or cover with damp paper towels. Make just before use or rewhip before use.
We use both pastry bags and cups for the kids to use.
Know that the kids are going to make a mess. I now use a disposable tablecloth and after removing anything I want to keep, I just wrap it all up and away it goes. A big sweep, a vacuum and a wet vac does the trick. The icing hardens like cement but does come out of clothes.
Enjoy and Merry Christmas!!
Patti and Jim
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