Gingerbread houses are made with thin gingerbread walls that are held together by royal icing. The houses are then decorated with candies and icing, and tend to resemble the witch's house found in the woods by Hansel and Gretel in Grimm's Fairy Tales.
World's Largest Gingerbread House
In November 2006, Roger Pelcher built the world's largest gingerbread house inside the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota. The gingerbread house project took nine days for Pelcher and his team to complete. The final result stood 67 feet tall and took up 1,496 square feet.delish.com: Largest Gingerbread House
How to Preserve a Gingerbread House
Spray your completed house with a water-soluble polyurethane spray to preserve it.Gingerbread Lane: Preservation
You can wrap your finished house in layers of plastic after the holidays and store it in a dry basement. Check on your house occasionally to make sure mice haven't chewed through the plastic and eaten away at your masterpiece.Gingerbread Lane: Preservation
Construct parts of your frame from cardboard to create a sturdier base and foundation.Gingerbread Lane: Preservation
Mahalo Suggests
Featured Video
How to Make Gingerbread
Chef Danielle Bernabe demonstrates how to make gingerbread in this Mahalo food tutorial. The gingerbread begins with creamed butter and sugar. Dry ingredients are sifted together before mixing with the wet ingredients. Ground ginger is used as a seasoning along with cinnamon, ground cloves, and ground nutmeg. The recipe includes a stout beer and molasses.
References
Fast Facts
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Fact:
It is considered tradition to wait until New Year's Day to eat a gingerbread house
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Gingerbread houses are a White House tradition
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Gingerbread house kits can be found in craft supply stores
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Gingerbread haunted houses are a fun Halloween project
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Other molded gingerbread favorites
the Gingerbread Man and gingerbread cookies
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Medieval explorers introduced ginger into cooking after exploring MalaysiaJournal of Antiques: A Gingerbread Tradition
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Houses often decorated bakery shop windows during the Christmas holiday in Colonial AmericaJournal of Antiques: A Gingerbread Tradition
