I had a little look into the history of gingerbread houses and found that gingerbread has been baked as far back as the Middle Ages, when ladies presented gingerbread as a favor to dashing knights going into tournament battle, but that in the 1900s the making of gingerbread houses (or Lebkuchen as it's known in German) became popular after the Grimm Brother's fairytale Hansel & Gretel in which the children come across a house made totally of gingerbread and covered in lollies.
For me, making a gingerbread house involves 4 different steps;
Step #1 Planning I plan what I want the house to look like, and then draw up a pattern to make the pieces of gingerbread to 'build' the house.
Step #2 Baking
This usually takes one whole day, making up a lot of gingerbread, cutting out all the pieces and baking it all.
Step # 3 Assembly
I make a lot of royal icing, and stick it all together - it becomes surprisingly strong and able to withstand lots of pressure.
Step # 4 Decorating
Lots & lots & lots of lollies needed :)
I just decorate to my hearts content, making garlands out of icing, snowmen out of marshmallow and icing details everywhere.
Oh, and making gingerbread houses insures I'm in my families bad books for all of the 4 days it takes to for me to make one.. from telling me to remove precious pieces of gingerbread from the table where it's waiting for the tray so I can bake it... to putting up with the being kitchen 'snowed' under in icing, or hearing me say 'no, you can't move it now, this is where it has to set'.
Photos in this blog post are.. (from top to bottom)
2004 Gingerbread house, prize winner
2001 My first gingerbread house
2002 Second gingerbread house side view
2004 Gingerbread church
2004 Detail view, snowman and hand-piped trees
8 comments:
Beasutiful houses there! The snowman is especially cute. Are those marshmellows or chunks of icing?
Brewtus - They are marshmellows.. yum! :) and thanks for the comment!
Awesome, can you courier some to my place?:-)
My nephews and niences would die for this:-)
Minal - :D Thanks! What a pity they don't let people send food out of Australia hey? :(
This is the first year my lil 4yr old brother is old enough to appreciate gingerbread houses, so he's going crazy watching me and my sister make them :)
Hey, they look delicious! I call for change of law in Australia..."Allow Mary's ginger bread export law".
Dinesh - :) hahaha! that's a good one!
Just came across your blog. Interesting! Put up some pictures of the Gingerbread you made this year...
Wonder if you know of some nice places to visit (non touristy) in Sydney and Melbourne. We are travelling there for a holiday.
... - Thanks :) I will put up some pics of this years gingerbread just as soon as I finish it.. stressing out at the moment getting it done!
I can't really think of any places in Sydney or Melbourne to visit, sorry :( 'cause for one, I've never been there myself, and they are further away from where I live in Australia than any city in India!..
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