I know, I have to get a move on too!

I just checked out that www.ultimategingerbread.com site -- and I'm now struggling with "I want to do that one and that one and that one and that one..." but I have yet to do anything Gingerbread yet!

Janetbme- oh yeah i definitely think she should charge for her patterns! I found out this weekend just how much goes into making just one! and mine is kinda basic.

well here is my behemoth of a template. i think i may have bit off more than i can chew. i guess we'll see. i still need to decide on the shape of the windows and door to cut out of the front but its going to be like a doll house with different christmas scenes in each room.

I'm gonna start baking this week so hopefully this works out. its my first time using my own pattern.

oh and there will be a bottom i just ran out of foam board

Jewels, are you trying to make the world's largest gingerbread house?

why yes i am , do i get a prize if i do?

now i just have to figure out how to bake the big pieces

Can't believe I just stumbled on this thread! I love gingerbread and make it from scratch each year. I've never gotten big and fancy, double-storied, or magnificant like some of the others posted (and that I SOOO admire,) but I love the way I get lost in my creations. Last year, I bought the Williams Sonoma small house cutters and made many, many as gifts. They are small enough to mass produce yet individualize. A few of them are in my pix. My favorite is this one:

http://www.cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=gallery&file=displayimage&pid=1168419

It has a place in my heart because it so reminds me of my favorite place on earth, Montana.

My goal is to convince my State Fair Board that Gingerbread is a valid medium in the culinary world and that we should have a slot for it on the competition realm.

Wow Jewels! that is going to be a huge one! maybe you can use a 12x18 cake pan. I know all my cookie sheets are too warped to bake gingerbread in.

Bob, This is the patterson house pattern- that I did last year. I had a hard time with the porch and turret- but it was my first time ever making gingerbread. This year I hopefully won't have "do overs"!

Janet,
That house is incredible!!!


I'm so glad I discovered this thread. Up till now my daughters and I have just made pre=baked ones, the kind from Wilton. We did do our own mini ones with a little cutter set, but that's it. We're ready to move on to bigger and better things now!

Time to go back and start reading this thread from the beginning.

Here's the gingerbread house I made over the weekend for a local publisher. Everyone at the bakery thought it looked like a "Who" house (Dr. Seuss). Now I'm thinking that instead of doing a cathedral like I'd planned for this year's local gingerbread contest, I should do "Whoville" and make all the wonky houses and bent trees...maybe even the Grinch and his sled....and the dog...and Cindy Lou Who....now I'm getting way too ambitious!!!!!!

http://www.cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=gallery&file=displayimage&pid=1286387

hello
I love your GB houses.... and i wouls love to do one this year... has anyone perhaps a recipe for GB in german please?

Ohhh I love Gingerbread Houses!!! I'm in the process of making my template for the one I'm making this year. It will be challenging but I think I will be able to manage it. I'm attaching the one I did last year for our Newspaper contest that I entered. I got 2nd place for it.

lottchen- here is the recipe i use. i used a computer translator so it probably isn't the greatest and i switched it into weight measurements hopefully it will work out for you. if you have any other questions about it, i do have someone who could help me translate better but she is out of town for a few days, but i can ask when she gets back. hope this helps.

Lebkuchen Dough

650 g Mehl
20 g Salz
2 Teelöffel Ingwer
2 Teelöffel Zimt
1 Teelöffel Muskatnuss
1 Teelöffel Nelken
240g Verkürzung (Markenname von Backfett /Palmin Soft)
160 g Zucker
450 g Melasse
2 Eier, geschlagen

In groÃen Topf, schmelzen die Verkürzung auf Herd über niedrige Hitze. Während die Verkürzung schmilzt, in einer separaten Schüssel zusammen rühren Mehl, Salz und Gewürze. Bei der Verkürzung ist die Hälfte geschmolzen, entfernen Sie aus Hitze und weiter rühren, bis vollständig geschmolzen. Hinzufügen von Zucker, Melasse und geschlagen Eier. Gut mischen und schnell (um zu verhindern, dass Eier aus Kochen). Add Melasse-Mischung zu Mehl-Gemisch. Gut mischen. Teig wird weich. Cover und im Kühlschrank aufbewahren, bis genug Firma zu handhaben.

Bei der Teig ist fest genug sind, entfernen Sie aus dem Kühlschrank und lassen Sie sitzen, bis Raumtemperatur (etwa eine Stunde).
Ofen vorheizen auf 180 Celsius.

legen Cookie Blatt in Ofen. Ãberprüfen Sie häufig um zu verhindern, dass das Brennen. Backen, bis goldbraun. GroÃe Stücke Mai backen, so lange 14 Minuten. Kleinere Stücke könnte 6 bis 7 Minuten. Ungenutzte Teig Mai werden in Plastik verpackt und tiefgekühlt für bis zu 2 Wochen (die auf Raumtemperatur und kneten kurz wieder zu verwenden). Um zu verhindern, dass aus Hängebrüsten, Ich backe mein Dach Abschnitte bis dunkelbraun, fast verbrannt.

Jewels I can't read it -- what language is that?

lottchen asked if anyone had a recipe in german so i "tried" to translate mine for her, lol. if you'd like it i can post it in english too

Here it is and let me rephrase that it isn't my recipe, its just the recipe that i use, hehe.

Loretaâs Favorite Gingerbread Dough

5 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ginger
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon cloves
1 cup shortening
1 cup sugar
1 ¼ cups molasses
2 eggs, beaten

In large saucepan, melt shortening on stove over low heat. While shortening is melting, in a separate bowl stir together flour, salt and spices (if using for cookies, add 1 tsp. baking soda). When shortening is half melted, remove from heat and continue to stir until completely melted. Add sugar, molasses and beaten eggs. Mix well and quickly (to prevent eggs from cooking). Add molasses mixture to flour mixture. Mix well. Dough will be soft. Cover and refrigerate until firm enough to handle.

When dough is firm enough to handle, remove from refrigerator and let sit until room temperature (about an hour). Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

To prevent aluminum foil from slipping, wipe counter with wet sponge then smooth aluminum foil over damp counter. This will prevent the foil from slipping while dough is being rolled out.

Working with a small handful of dough (about the size of a baseball), roll dough onto aluminum foil that has been sprinkled with flour. Sprinkle dough with flour to prevent dough from sticking to rolling-pin.

IF DOUGH IS TOO STIFF, MICROWAVE FOR 10-15 SECONDS TO SOFTEN THE DOUGH.

Roll dough to about 1/8â thickness. Place gingerbread house pattern pieces onto dough and cut-out dough pieces (don't forget to cut out windows). A pizza cutter works great for cutting out walls and roof sections. Remove excess dough pieces. Lift entire piece of foil and place on large cookie sheet.

Place cookie sheet in oven. Check frequently to prevent burning. Bake until golden brown. Large pieces may bake as long as 14 minutes. Smaller pieces might take 6 â 7 minutes. Unused dough may be wrapped in plastic and refrigerated for up to 2 weeks (bring to room temperature and knead briefly to use again). To prevent from sagging, I bake my roof sections until dark brown, almost burnt.

When dough pieces are done baking, remove baking sheet from oven. Quickly lift foil from baking sheet and place on a flat area for gingerbread pieces to cool. If pieces have distorted while baking, while still warm, run knife or pizza cutter along sides of walls/roof sections to create a straight edge. If pieces have curled up during baking, while still warm, gently push edges down to lay flat.

With gingerbread pieces still on the foil, let cool overnight. Next day â gently peel foil off of gingerbread pieces. You are now ready to assemble, or add windows!

Awesome!! Thank you!!

I tried to make the circus tent using Kelly's template but I think I had the gingerbread to thick. I couldn't get the top of the tent to stay together. I finely gave up and just ended up eating the dang thing.

I did find the Wilton Haunted House kit on sale at Kmart last night for $2.50, so I got one and tried to turn it into a church today. It turned out ok. My hands were hot and it's mostly made with candy melts so it was kind of messy. Anyway here is the link. http://www.cakecentral.com/cake-photo_1286948.html
Sherri

no its the gingerbread recipe that i use that i attempted to translate into german. i probably should have left it to someone who had a tested one in german

so anyone out there working on the gingerbread house yet? just finished baking the house. it took 4 1/2 batches for this monstrosity. i sure hope its worth it. i think next year i'm going to scale back quite a bit.

I'm planning on doing 15 gingerbread houses for the kids in my class at school (4-6th graders) I'm the classroom supervisor and also teach a home-ec class. Myself and another teacher decided to offer it to our students, the school doesn't pay for anything but we use their kitchen when necessary. So I thought it would be cool to make 15 little kinda simple gingerbread houses and assemble them and bring them to school and let the kids decorate them for home-ec class and then take them home for their families to enjoy! The other teacher has offered to purchase all the candies if I give her a list of what we need if I do the gb houses. I've made them ONCE before with my 3 kids and they were ugly little things. Does anyone have a cute little house template by any chance?? I'm thinking my best bet would be to make cookie cutters for all the shapes so I don't have to spend as much time cutting around a template since I do have to make 15 of them.
I hope I can do this!!

yeah I've seen that but it gets mixed reviews and it looks simple enough to make don't ya think?