Recipes

Gingerbread Construction Dough

Bread  Christmas  Dough/Crust  Fondant  Halloween  Misc. Candy  Misc. Dessert  Misc. Gifts 

• 6 C All purpose flour
• 6 C Rye flour
• 2 tsp ground ginger
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 2 tsp ground cloves
• 1 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1 tsp salt
• 2/3 C lemon juice (bottled)
• 2 beaten eggs
• 2 beaten egg yolks
• ½ C margarine or shortening
• 1 1/3 C honey
• 3 1/3 C sugar

Sift together flours, spices and salt, set aside.

Combine lemon juice, beaten eggs and yolks in a separate bowl, set aside.

On the stove top over med-low heat, combine the margarine, honey and sugar. Stir and heat only enough to melt the honey so that the sugar can be mixed in well. The sugar does not have to dissolve all the way.

Remove from heat and pour into a very large bowl. While still warm (but not too hot) stir in the egg mixture and whisk to combine.

Now switch to a heavy spoon or spatula and begin adding in the flour mixture, starting with about ¼ of the flour and mixing until just combined. Then add in a cup at a time until it becomes difficult to mix with the heavy duty spoon.

At this point, mix with your hand and knead the dough in the bowl. If it becomes to difficult, dump it onto the counter and add in almost all of the flour, kneading as you go.

You may not need all of the flour mixture, in fact, you should have a bit left over, reserve that for dusting/rolling.

When the dough ball is solid, stiff and holds it’s shape, you can divide it in half and wrap each half in plastic wrap to prevent it from drying out. Do not place this dough in the fridge, it will be stiff enough to work with right away.

As you’re rolling and cutting out the pieces, if the dough gets too stiff, place it in the microwave just for a few seconds to warm it back up and make it pliable. Be careful, the sugars can heat up pretty quick, I usually only do 10 seconds at a time.

When ready to roll out, it’s easier if you only do a few cut pieces at a time. It’s best to use bands on your rolling pin so that you roll the pieces evenly. You can roll it out directly onto a floured surface, cut your pieces using a pattern, then transfer to the baking sheet….or, the method I prefer, is to roll out onto parchment paper, cut out the pieces, transfer to the baking sheet and then remove the scraps around the piece. That way, there is less disturbance of the piece and it will less likely be distorted.

Another tip is if you have smaller delicate pieces, cut out the piece, but leave about ½ inch scrap around the piece. While baking, the scrap will prevent the piece from spreading, also, it will prevent darker edges and allow it to bake more evenly. When you remove the baked piece from the oven, immediately re-score the lines and remove the excess scrap piece.

Bake pieces in a preheated 350F oven, preferably in the middle rack. Bake for about 15 min for ¼” (decorative) pieces, 25 min for 3/8” (wall or structural) pieces. You may have to adjust times and temps for your oven.

Allow to completely cool before removing from the baking sheets. If any pieces are still too soft, then you can bake them longer (even after they’ve cooled)

Lay all of your pieces out and allow to “air dry” overnight before assembly. This helps to insure that the pieces are rock solid. And trust me, they’ll be like “plywood”, which is optimal for construction.

To make window panes: let the baked piece dry overnight. Lay the piece on a clean piece of parchment paper or aluminum foil. Sprinkle crushed suckers into the “window”. Place back into the oven just until candy melts. You can use a toothpick to spread out the melted candy, being sure to touch all sides and get into the corners. Remove from oven and let dry and harden completely, then gently peel away foil or parchment.

Use royal icing as a glue to hold your house together. (I have 2 royal icing recipes in my files)

Then you can use royal icing to glue on candy or lightweight fondant pieces.

Most importantly….have fun!

This is a much stiffer dough than the traditional gingerbread cookie dough, specifically designed for construction of gingerbread houses. Meaning, although edible, it's not exactly palatable. ;) It spreads less while baking, so it will maintain its shape. Due to the addition of rye flour, it bakes and dries rock hard for more durable and easier assembly. This recipe makes quite a bit so it’s great for larger houses. You could cut it in half, but if going through the trouble, it’s better to have too much than not enough. If you’re wanting to save your masterpiece, you can spray the finished piece with a polyurethane type spray, doing several coats and allowing it to dry completely between coats. The Haunted gingerbread house in the picture was decorated mostly with royal icing (for the “glue”), gumpaste and MMF (marshmallow fondant). I used a mixture of graham cracker and cookie crumbs for the “dirt” and I used crushed suckers for the window panes. I also used a carved out styrofoam base in order to dig the graves. Note: this dough is extremely stiff and a bit difficult to mix. However, I would NOT use my Kitchen Aid stand mixer, instead, mix what you can with a spoon, then knead in the rest of the flour mixture by hand. For more info on working with gingerbread and fondant, please visit my blog: http://ddpiesslice.blogspot.com

Author: Deni

Website Credit: http://ultimategingerbread.com