How to host a gingerbread house party
To host a gingerbread house party you will need
Gingerbread. You can buy kits from the supermarket, or a bakery or make your own (recipe and templates below). Homemade will taste the best but does take more time.
Extra gingerbread pieces to aid in creativity (optional)
Gingerbread men for the school aged kids to decorate. I have prizes for the best primary school and best high school.
Lollies (candy if you are in the US). Place these in sealed containers so that each family has their own. That way it doesn’t matter if a child licks frosting off their fingers and then puts their hand into the lollies.
Royal icing (recipe below), make fresh on the day and store in the fridge. Seal each bag with an elastic band.
If you are doing gingerbread men then a mini bag of icing for each of the kids too.
scissors to cut the top of the icing bags.
A cake board each to build the house on.
Large sheets of cellophane to wrap the houses, florists have these.
ribbon to tie the cellophane.
Supplies for the games, this will vary depending on which games you choose to play, watch the video for some ideas.
Prizes for the games – we use extra edible things that can be used to make the house unique. Winners get to choose something from the prize table.
Tokens and boxes for voting.
A prize for the category winners. We had a prize for best story, prettiest and most creative.
Table cloths – This makes it much easier to clean up, it can get pretty sticky.
A vacuum cleaner – I vacuum and mop twice after this party. Definitely not one to do on carpet.
The 5 simple house templates
To make your own houses you could make them all the same or make a different of shapes. One batch of gingerbread dough will make 2 houses with some left over for gingerbread men.
Gingerbread Recipe
430g (15.17 ounces) or 2 cups butter or margarine, melted (note margarine has more water than butter so reduce the milk slightly)
430g (15.17 ounces) or 2 cups caster (super fine) sugar
250g (8.82 ounces) or 2/3 cup glucose syrup
260g (9.17 ounces) or 3/4 cup molasses (note you can swap glucose and molasses for other syrups that you like. However if the one you use has more water in, as some syrups do, then you will end up with a very runny dough and therefore will either need to add a lot more flour or reduce the milk).
180 mL (6.09 fluid ounces) or 2/3 cup milk (4%)
1195g (42.15 ounces) or 7 1/2 cups plain flour
12g (0.42 ounces) or 2 tsp bicarb soda
SPICES (these are totally optional you can adjust the quantity of spices to make it taste how you want)
20g (0.71 ounces) or 3 Tbsp cinnamon
12g (0.42 ounces) or 2 Tbsp ground cloves
30g (1.06 ounces) or 5 Tbsp ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground nigella seeds (gives it a slight peppery kick, like spicy ginger)
Combine all the ingredients in a mixing bowl and mix until just combined. Cover and put the bowl in the fridge for 2 hours to make the dough thicker and easier to cut out.
Preheat the oven to 180°C (356 degrees Fahrenheit).
Roll out the dough on a sheet of baking paper. Sprinkle the dough with flour and add the template on top. Cut around the template. See the video for demonstration. Double check which pieces say cut 2.
Baking time will depend on your oven I like to check after 15 minutes, redo the cuts, remove the borders and windows and then bake for a further 10 minutes if needed. Then for any pieces that are not firm i flip them oven so the moisture can evaporate and pop them back into the oven for a little longer.
Royal icing
1kg (2.2 pounds) or 7 ¾ cups icing (powdered) sugar
50g (1.76 ounces) powdered egg white or 114g (4.02 ounces) pavlova magic mix
125mL (4.23 fluid ounces) or 1/2 cup water
1 teaspoon vanilla or other flavouring essence of your choice (vanilla will make it slightly cream coloured).
Have fun
My Cookbook
Stores that sell my book listed by country:
http://bit.ly/ARcookbook
All recipe quantities in the book are in grams, ounces and cups.
Lovely video, Ann.
Quick question, if you have time. In one of your videos, you mentioned a method for cutting a cake in half horizontally. I watched all of your cake rescue videos, and I couldn’t find the method in there (and have forgotten what it was!).
Do you remember the method/can you tell me what it was? Thanks so much ❤️
Dear Ann,
I enjoy your show so much. I love that you combine proven science and food. You are such a genuine and kind person. I saw your interview with the Christian fellow. I listened when you stated that if all of your fame and success vanished, you would try something else. I lost my Acupuncture Clinic during COVID. I have been working through depression and sadness to get back where I was. Your words gave me encouragement and hope.
You always make me feel normal in a sense. You are logical and creative and you love your family. I’ve watched you over the years. You probably won’t ever read this, but please know in Atlanta Georgia you are held in the highest esteem and honored greatly with much due respect.
My country will soon be run by a criminal and a convicted sexual offender. Nothing makes sense anymore. Nothing is logical and orderly. I guess what I get from your videos is a calm quite order as well as a dose of common sense, creativity, and finding beauty in nature and people. Through your videos, you create a culture of rationality, kindness, honesty and faith. You always inspire me to be a better person. You always remind me to be kind. Thank you for all you do. To me, you are a beacon of light, reason, logic and hope shouting out from a dark and snarled miasma. You remind us all that there is a world full of decent and kind people who care for their neighbors and do not always put their own selfish interests first. I am so glad you and Dave do what you do. I could go on, but I won’t. Please just know you are making more than chocolate desserts, you are inspiring people to be better, kinder human beings. Thank you, Tim Armstrong, Atlanta, Georgia
Super excited to try this for our family this year, and especially keen to try your royal icing recipe as I don’t have a good one. Are there any steps for mixing up the royal icing, or does it all just get beaten in one bowl?