No-BakeGingerbreadHousesfor

Kids

LisaTurnerAnderson

PhotographsbyZacWilliams

N

O

-B

AKE

G

INGERBREAD

H

OUSES

FOR

K

IDS

D

IGITAL

E

DITION

V

1.0

Text©2010LisaTurnerAndersonPhotographs©2010ZacWilliamsAllrightsreserved.Nopart

ofthisbookmaybereproducedbyanymeanswhatsoeverwithoutwrittenpermissionfromthe

publisher,exceptbriefportionsquotedforpurposeofreview.

GibbsSmith,PublisherPOBox667

Layton,UT84041

Orders:1.800.835.4993

www.gibbs-smith.com

LibraryofCongressCatalog-in-PublishingDataISBN-13:978-1-4236-0590-4

ISBN-10:1-4236-0590-X

1.Gingerbreadhouses.2.Cookery(Colddishes)I.Title.

TX771.A582010

745.5—dc22

2010003541

ForMattandMalcolm

No-BakeGingerbreadHousesfor
Kids

TableofContents

GettingStarted

TheHouses

MetricConversionChart

GettingStarted

Makingno-bakegingerbreadhousesiseasy,fun,andbestofall,fast!Thisbook
willshowyouhowtomakehouses,castles,cottages,andmoreusinggraham
crackers,cookies,icecreamcones,wafflebowls,andcandy.There’snoneedto
mixdough,rollitout,bakeit,andwaitforittoharden.Thehousestructuresin
thisbooktakeonlyminutestomake,meaningyoucangettothedecorating
morequickly—andthat’sthebestpart.Beforeyoubegin,youjustneedtoknow
afewtips.Thenyou’llbeonyourwaytohavingfun!

WheretoBuildtheHouse

Alargepieceofcardboard—atleast1footby1foot—isthebestbasetobuild
yourhouseon.It’ssturdyenoughtopickupsothatyoucanmoveyourhouse
easily.Besuretocoveryourcardboardwithwaxedpaperoraluminumfoilso
thefrostingdoesn’tseepthrough.

Evenifthehouseissmallanddoesn’ttakeupmuchroomonthecardboard,
you’llstillwantalargebasesothatyouhaveplentyofroomfordecorating.The
instructionsformostofthehousesinthisbooksuggestthatyouspreadicing
aroundthehouse,suchasgreenforgrassorwhiteforsnow.Coveringthewhole
cardboardbasewithicinghelpsyourhouselookniceandneat.

GrahamCrackers

Whilenotallthehousesinthisbookaremadewithgrahamcrackers,mostof
themare.Buildingstructuresoutofgrahamcrackersrequiresafewtricks.

Mosthousesinthebookrequirethatyoucutgrahamcrackersintoshapesor
smallerpieces.Insteadoftryingtobreakthemwithyourhands,haveanadult
useaserratedknife,suchasasteakknife,togentlysawthecrackeralongthe
linesuntiltheunwantedpiecebreaksoff.Ifyoutrytobreakthemwithyour
hands,thepieceswillusuallybreakoffunevenly.

Thediagramsforeachhousewillshowyouthesizesandshapesofthegraham
crackersyouneed.Thebluepartsofthediagramarethepiecesofthecrackers
thatneedtobecutoffandthrownaway.

Formanyofthehouses,youwillneedto“glue”twoormoregrahamcrackers
togetherwithicingtomakealargerfront,side,back,orroofpiece.Tohelpthe
piecesstaytogether,youwillneedto“glue”aquartergrahamcrackeracrossthe
seam,asshowninDiagram1.Thiswillhelpyoumakelargerandmore
interestinghouseswithoutworryingaboutthemfallingapart.Whenyouputthe
housetogether,makesurethequartercrackersareontheinsideofthehouse.

Diagram1

RoyalIcing

Makinggingerbreadhousesrequiresspecialicingcalledroyalicing.Itismade
witheggwhites,water,andpowderedsugar,anditisverystrong,likeglue.It
driestoahardcandy-likefinishthatwilllastformonths.Youcanuseeitherraw
eggwhitesormeringuepowder(whichhasdriedeggwhites)tomaketheicing.
Whilebothversionsmakeequallystrongicing,Ipreferusingmeringuepowder
becauseit’seasiertouseandsafertoeatthanraweggwhites.Youcanfind
meringuepowderatcraftorcakedecoratingstores.

EggWhiteRoyalIcing

3eggwhites
1/2teaspooncreamoftartar
4cupspowderedsugar

Beattheeggwhitesandcreamoftartartogetheruntilthemeringuehasformed
stiffpeaks(meaningwhenyouliftthebeatersoutofthemeringue,itstandsup
straightanddoesn’tfallover).Beatinthepowderedsugar,1cupatatime,until
mixedtogetherandsmooth.

MeringuePowderRoyalIcing

1/4cupmeringuepowder
1/2cupwater
4cupspowderedsugar

Beatthemeringuepowderandwatertogetheruntilthemeringuehasformedstiff
peaks(meaningwhenyouliftthebeatersoutofthemeringue,itstandsup
straightanddoesn’tfallover).Beatinthepowderedsugar,1cupatatime,until
mixedtogetherandsmooth.

Tintingtheicingwithfoodcoloringisafunandeasywaytoaddmorecolorto
yourhouses.Gelfoodcoloringworksthebestbecauseitissuperconcentrated
andmakesdeep,brightcolors.Youcanfindgelfoodcoloringinmostgrocery
stores,butthegelsatcraftandcakedecoratingstorescomeinmanymorecolors

stores,butthegelsatcraftandcakedecoratingstorescomeinmanymorecolors
andareevenmoreconcentrated.

Whentintingyouricing,useacraftstickortoothpicktoaddjustatinybitofgel
totheicing.Alittlebitgoesaverylongway.Youcanalwayskeepaddingmore,
butyoucan’taddless!

Theeasiestwaytousetheicingtodecorateyourhouseistospoonsomeofit
intoaquart-sizeziplockbag.Squeezetheairoutofthetop,thensealthebag.
Double-checkandmakesureitiscompletelysealedorelsetheicingwillcome
outthetopwhenyousqueezethebag.Cutoffabottomcornerofthebagand
squeezethebagtopushtheicingthroughthehole.Thesmallerthehole,the
thinnerthelinewhenyou’repipingtheicing.You’llusuallywantathinnerline
whendecorating,butyoucanuseathickerlinewhen“gluing”thehouse
together.

Anyicingthatisleftinthebowlneedstobecoveredwithplasticwrapsothat
theplasticwrapistouchingthesurfaceoftheicing.Icingthatisexposedtoair
willturnhardquicklyandyouwon’tbeabletouseit.

Youcanstoreroyalicinginthefridgeforafewdays.

Candy,Candy,Candy!

Theprojectsinthisbookhavesuggestionsofwhatcandytousesothatyour
houselooksthesameastheoneinthephoto.Butifyouhaveanideafora
differentcolororshapeofcandyforthehouseyou’remaking,goforit!Thebest
partofmakinggingerbreadhousesisusingyourimaginationandplayingwith
differentcandiestocomeupwithacooldesignthat’sallyourown.Youcanuse
anycandyyouwant,withoneexception:taffy.Aftertaffyisunwrapped,itwill
eventually“melt”andrundownthesidesofyourhouse.Trustme—itdoesn’t
lookgood!

Nowthatyouknowsometipsandtricksandimportantinformation,gohave
somefun,becreative,andbuildsomereallycoolno-bakegingerbreadhouses.

Demoversionlimitation

MetricConversionChart

VolumeMeasurements WeightMeasurements TemperatureConversion

U.S.

Metric

U.S.

Metric

U.S.

Metric

1teaspoon

5ml

1/2ounce

15g

250

120

1tablespoon

15ml

1ounce

30g

300

150

1/4cup

60ml

3ounces

90g

325

160

1/3cup

75ml

4ounces

115g

350

180

1/2cup

125ml

8ounces

225g

375

190

2/3cup

150ml

12ounces

350g

400

200

3/4cup

175ml

1pound

450g

425

220

1cup

250ml

2-1/4pounds

1kg

450

230