I'm going to make a ginger bread house tomorrow

[MrsPiddlewink]

For the first time.

Any tips/recipes?

Are you doing it with younger DCs? If you are, involve them only in the decorating part once you have built the house and the icing has dried!! Nothing worse than trying to commit a feat of gingerbread engineering with small children poking it and asking if it is dry yet every 30 seconds

Flaked almonds make pretty roof tiles.

Thanks Werewolf - great idea!

I am whispers - and that is fab idea. I'm child free in the AM so will construct then!

I'm going to try this on Tuesday. Last time we tried , I had getting the house to stay together. Has anyone got any tips about this aspect?

Cocktail sticks, cut them up and poke into the wall edges to hold the sides together while the icing dries. Also for holding the roof in place.

Thanks Lucky. I'm feeling more and more confident :)

Any fool proof gingerbread recipes? I'm a crap cook

Cool - made two today! (Then a party to decorate them.)

Let the houses "set" on a flat surface after they've been in the oven. (Trouble in previous years from warped pieces.)

If it breaks don't panic, you can ice it back together.

Make sure the icing is quite thick (egg white in mix helps with this.)

Use what ever tins you have in the cupboard to support it while you build it - first walls and then to stop the roof pieces sliding off.

Get some cardboard and cover it with tin foil for a base. Make the base bigger than you think you need. (The children here like to make gardens too to go with the houses.)

Probably a bit late for you, but we save the trick or treating sweets for an eclectic mix of stuff to use to decorate them.

We use lakeland recipe (on pdf download from their mould page)

Sorry to hijack Mrs P's thread but what's the best icing to use to stick together?

I use this one, although don't do all the fancy bits such as the chimney!

My tip would be to bake it slightly longer than you would normally, as if it is soft it is more likely to buckle.

I set mine upside down by making a triangle holder out of books held up with tins of beans.

For icing I just use icing sugar and egg white - make it really thick.

Don't let the children near it...they'll eat it

I used the same recipe as TheHappyCamper and it came out really well.

I use caramel to stick it together. Sounds scarier than icing but sets quickly and very securely. Makes the whole assembly much quicker. Then DC just help with the icing.

If the pieces grow in the oven, you can trim them back to straight edges as soon as they come out of the oven.

Smashed boiled sweets make beautiful stained glass windows. I think you just put the sweets in for the last 5 mins or so but can't quite remember. But boiled sweets are surprisingly difficult to smash!

I made a biscuit house last year which worked out well, the icing did it's job well.

www.goodhousekeeping.co.uk/food/recipes/snowy-biscuit-lodge

Put the house together and let it dry properly before you attempt to stick the roof on.