I let my son down! I am a failure!! His gingerbread house that he waited so patiently for is a pile of rubble! What consistancy does the royal frosting have to be to hold it together? Does it need to be really stiff? Also we used a recipe for gingerbread men and it turned out to be a soft cookie so the roof broke right in half. Any good recipes out there? We are trying again.....

Bake the gingerbread longer than it needs to be baked, (but don't burn it!) and set the templates on it again as soon as it comes out of the oven and re-trim

I then let mine cool overnight before putting it together. The royal icing does need to be on the stiff side to hold it together, and you need to "prop" the sides and the roof up with something kind of heavy to hold it in place until the royal dries hard. (I use different size cans of food to do that - usually a soup can is just about the right size to "hold" the roof in place until it is dry)

Here is a website with a lot of good recipes and tips:

Gingerbread site

I put my walls up first, prop as suggested and let them dry. I then add the roof and let dry before decorating.

Thank you for the tips. I tried to prop it up but the cookie was too soft. We bought a kit (shame on me) so he could get it done but will try a different recipe later. That was the biggest problem was the roof caving in and breaking in half.

You have to be careful about humidity too. If it is raining I use a dehumidifier so that it will dry better.

My chef in culinary school told us to roll our roof tops thinner than other pieces. (Don't go too thin!) What happens is by the time you add frosting and decorations it gets top heavy and breaks. The house walls can't support it either. Also, always let the gingerbread dry out for a week with no humidity.