A lot of free time during Holidays? A lot of candies in your pantry? Do you wanna give to your home a typical Christmas ambiance and fragrance? Well, a Gingerbread House is what you must to do!

You must have or buy some candies, even that you don't like, but cute!
Is a project for FUN, eat or for a present.
Requires a lot of time: 1 day really fast, from early morning to the evening, or 2 days with more calm.
Requires 4 HAND! You need a partner.
Requires PATIENCE.

INGREDIENTS (FOR HOUSE AND STANDING):

flour for bakery 700g
butter 220g
sugar 320g
2 eggs
sodium bicarbonate 1/4 of a spoon
ginger powder 10g
nutmeg powder (a pinch)
cinnamon 10g
honey 100g
150g of icing sugar
yes, NO CLOVES ...we don't like it and we want a little tasteless gingerbread: the decoration makes it too much sweet even if removed.
gelatin sheets
candies (colored, funny)

HERE I'VE USED:

rolled licorice
licorice bar with filling
gummy bear
small smarties
colored sugar gems
small ball of sugar
sugar beads

INSTRUMENTS:

kitchen robot
decoration pen
bowls
cardboard plate
chopping board
small knives
balance
paper
printer
PC

OPTIONAL:

candles.
smalls led lights.
mold for funny cookies (little Santas, bears...what do you have?).
mold for bricks texture.

Step 1: The Gingerbread Part 1

TIPS: divide all the recipes and make the gingerbread in 2 round if your mixer or bowl is too much small

Take your cook mixer or a bowl and all the recipes
Add flour
Add ginger powder
Add cinnamon and nutmeg
Add the sodium bicarbonate
Add the sugar
Honey
Butter in small pieces

Now power on your mixer until you will obtain a kinda of brown flour. Repeat double the procedure if your mixer or bowl is too much small.

Step 2: The Gingerbread Part 2

Put your brown compost in a bigger bowl.
Add the egg. (1 if is half recipe or 2 for the full recipe)
Star to mix with a spoon or fork and continue by hand.
Obtain a small ball.
Roll out the dough.
Cover it with cooking film.
Put it in the Fridge for 20-30 minutes.

EVEN IF YOU MADE A SINGLE DOUGH i suggest to split it: one for the house and one for the basement.

Step 3: Print and Cut

Download the files
Print them (full page-no resize-no border)
Cut them

Step 4: Edit the Pieces

Now take the dough and prepare the pieces. It's important to have an uniform thickness of dough and for this I've used an adjustable rolling pin (look the picture) thanks to it I can choice the thickness.

Mine is this one, but in the USA is 12 time expensive than here in Italy:

Amazon USA: Rolling Pin Tescoma

Amazon IT: Mattarello Tescoma

But I've found it one more cheaper for USA:
Amazon USA: Rolling Pin Joseph

Amazon UK: Rolling Pin Joseph

Anyway, if you don't have it or don't want buy it, use a normal rolling pin and skill.

Take the dough from the fridge
Roll out the dough with the rolling pin.
Make a uniform thickness, i suggest no more than 5mm for the HOUSE. When you roll ot the dough for the Tree and the basement, use also 8mm.
If you have the mold for the bricks texture, use it now. Same thing if you are doing the roof or the basement with different textures.
Now take the prints, put them on the dough. Optimize the spaces and refuses.
With a knife cut the shape of the paper.
Take the baking tin and cover it with baking paper.
Use a spatula or some knife for lift off the dough pieces and put them in the baking tin.

Step 5: The Three

If you want , print my pdf or make your own.

For have a 3D structure you must cut a slot in every piece in order to obtain a kinda of "dove tail". (look the picture)

REMEMBER:

If you roll out the dough @ 8mm, the slot must be larger than 8mm because during baking the dough will enlarge.
Even if the slot is not perfect, after baked it, you can edit with a knife, scratching it.

Step 6: The Base

Take the second part of the dough
Roll it out on the table, more round possible.
Now take the plate that you will use for expose the house, take the shape with the cooking paper.
Put the shape over the dough, cut it.
Put the dough over the plate and define the edge.

I SUGGEST to use the same cooking plate for expose the house.

Step 7: Cooking

Static bake

15-20min

@ 180° C

TIPS:

The pieces of the house turn it at middle cooking.
DON'T WAIT that the dough become more dark...
After cooked make it rest until the gingerbread will be cold.
even if some pieces like the tree will be broken (look the picture), you can fix it later with the royal icing.
The basement if is 8mm requires a longer cooking time, make it a little browned.

Step 8: Royal Icing... a TON

Take the albumen of 1 egg.
Put it in the cooking mixer.
Add 150g of icing sugar.
Power on the mixer, until the cream will be white and dense.

NOTICE

You will obtain a really dense Royal Icing...if you want it more fluid, add less icing sugar. I've prefered dense because is easier merge the pieces and the "snow effect" is more flexible.

Now you can put your royal icing inside a sacca a poche or a decoring pen (mine is always Tescoma).

Amazon USA: Decoring Pen

TIPS:

Conserve the cream closing the container OUT OF THE FRIDGE.

Step 9: Decor Time

Prepare the candies.
Cut the licuorice bar
Unroll the licuorice: ATTENTION: use only the first part and unroll it on your finger. If you don't, the licuorice will come back on is original shape.
Put the piece you wanna decorate on a dish, start with the Icing.
Candy after candy use the icing like a glue.
The snow effect is better if you fake the gravity from the top to the base of the house: the snow increase in some part of the wall an decoration...falling down.
With the icing you can underline or fake a bricks texture or roof texture.
Use the gelatine sheets to make the windows's glass. Use the icing to glue the glass with the gingerbread
Use the icing for glue the basement to the final plate.

TIPS:

be repetitive with the decoration
use the rolled licuorice for do a base to every wall
use Smarties for the roof
use small meringues for fake puffing snow.

Step 10: Dry Time

Wait 1 hour for be sure that the icing is solid until the INSIDE: it fake to be dried but inside is still wet.

Step 11: The Three

Even if broken during the baking, how you can see in picture, you can merge the pieces with the icing. If the slots are not right, scratch them with a knife like the first picture.

Step 12: Mounting Pieces

Now you need some support for the pieces.

Even if the icing is really dense don't try to merge more then 2 pieces at time...at least 3, if you have a lot of "owl supports" like mines ;D

IS REALLY IMPORTANT REALIZE THE RIGHT MOUNTING ORDER: some pieces are smaller because they must be INSIDE the front piece, in this way you will not see the border out the house, from the front view. So, the floor must be inside, the lateral wall inside... The roof is bigger because is nice to see that effect.

Step 13: Mount All and Last Decor

Put the house where you think to glue it
Start to decor the basement with main element (decor pen, edible colours, licorice, cookie bears, gummy bears, gummy mushrooms) but don't glue!
Look the aspect...if you like it, start to glue every decor.
You can do a small alleyway: put the icing, crystal of sugar and sugar's heart instead of stones. I've used small hearts, but you can use M&M's, smarties...small meringues.
If you have small led lights put them inside the house and glue it in the basement.Otherwise go on.
Glue the Tree at the END. like last elements.
Decor the Tree with the icing and small meringues, like snow.
When you think to have finished, if necessary, take some meringues and pulverize them over the House...
Glue the House and Bake on the basement.
Now put the candles inside the house, near the tree and front of the house if you want.
If your icing is starting to be really hard and dense, you can give now the last end of falling snow in the roof and fake some stalactite.