Making a gingerbread house is not wholesome family fun...

[TellMeDinosaurFacts]

...because of the amount of bastard swearing that ensues.

A dear friend has sent a Baked In Gingerbread House kit as "family festive fun" for us to make before Christmas. I have a very enthusiastic 5yo and we've tried our absolute best but MY GOD rolling out dough between slippery sheets of baking paper and trying to help her cut round paper templates only to have the dough crumble as we attempt to transfer it to the baking tray has driven me to madness already. We managed a rough assemblage of a pre-baked IKEA job last year, but that only worked because we used wooden bricks for structural integrity on the inside.

I would upload a photo but we've barely made a start and already I am wondering how I'm ever going to forgive my friend for sending it.

Please send hints & tips, photos for me to rage at with jealousy, etc etc

YABU = my 3 year old and I knocked up a scale replica of Blenheim Palace before breakfast this morning. I don't know what you're talking about.

YANBU = they are the devil's work, and the perfect ones you're seeing on Facebook only turn out that way because the maker has sold their soul.

Next time but the ready assembled one from Aldi. You only need to decorate it.

buy

I used to enjoy making gingerbread houses with DS2. It was always reasonably good fun. I had a reasonable tolerance for him wandering off and leaving me to the boring bits though. It’s really all about the assembly and decorating.

Also, expect it to look shit. Thick royal icing hides a lot.

YANBU - I had to shout at DH to make me a
VERY large G&T whilst assembling ours 2 years ago. DS1 buggered off and left me to it. I swore never again.

Also don’t look on social media about this shit. No one is posting the truth of the process on Instagram.

Ready assembled sounds like the answer! I might crack out the Baileys actually. That could help.

Ha! I bought one where you just had to assemble the pieces and decorate it, and my kids loved it, but the ones you make from scratch (ie baking the dough etc) are a nightmare.

I learned to make the house by myself and then leave the room and let DC do their worst with the decorating.

I learnt yesterday that making treacle to stick the nuts together is better than trying to pipe icing.

Always buy the actual gingerbread ready made.

Buts not nuts ffs

Bits!!

Aldi is your friend - I just left the kids (3 and 2) to it, it looks wonderful!

let the DC do their worst [ponders...]

They never fit, dont glue together and are too hard to eat (not sure if people eat them but I do - or try to!)

They are the work of the devil... And no one ever ate the bastarding things..
I used melted sugar one Yr to glue it together.. I still have scars to remind myself that that stuff is hot..

We made and assembled one to take to grannies once.
Took an eternity and lots of angst to put the bloody thing together. Looked pretty shit but the dc were happy.

Predictably it collapsed in the back of the car, resulting in wailing dc and one very happy doggy.

Social media is full of lies about these evil things!!!

Here is ours! We got a ready done one from M&S and just 'glued' it with the icing! Needed holding together for a bit til it started to set but it worked quite well!

I think you definitely need baileys!

I love this old article which nails the reasons why gingerbread houses are torture

www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2014/dec/20/how-not-to-do-christmas-children-christmas

Oh my picture didn't work...

Haha. I made the dough on Saturday and will bake the pieces later today. Assembly tomorrow. Wooden brick inside sounds like a good idea if you roll it on baking paper, don't lift the pieces. Just take away the extra dough and pop the sheet in the oven.

What kind of a gift is that? A gingerbread house were you have to roll out the dough? That's not a gift, it's a job.

We were once sent one and it arrived as crumbs... :(

@IamChipmunk that is the stuff my dreams are made of.

We did one from a kit where you assemble the ready made pieces together for years until I had the bright idea last year (no doubt lockdown boredom induced) of making one from scratch with a template I printed off the internet. NEVER EVER again. I have returned to my lake land faithful this time and in fact bought a gingerbread camper van kit.

Did one last year. Lots and lots of swearing. The recipe said to smear royal icing over the board so that it attaches at the base and then ice the rest of the pieces together while they're standing up. What it didn't say Is that the sides will constantly fall over and so be coated in royal bloody icing from the bloody base and will look crap before you even start decorating.

Did the stained glass window thing with boiled sweets but if your recipe says to crush them up beforehand, ignore it. It doesn't spread as you'd think and looks shite.