Making A Gingerbread House-Begin The Decorating

 I'm ready to start decorating.

I decided exactly where I wanted

to place my house, little out building

 and trees.

I marked them with a magic marker.

 

I am going to make a candy cane

fence that goes all around the

outer edge.  I calculated

 it would take about 50. 

These are very easy to cut with my

kitchen scissors.

I do it while they are still in the

package.  The kids loved to do this.

It took me a long time!

These will be ready when I need them.

I put the little end pieces in a

plastic bag

and pounded them till crushed.

Helpers might squabble over

who gets to do the smashing! 

 These will be tasty sprinkled

 on cupcakes or cookies.

I have my 3 trees ready to decorate.

I put each one in a shallow pan lined

 with a circle of tin foil.  They will turn

easily and the nonpareils will be

caught in the pan.

 Construction Royal Icing

3 egg whites

3 teaspoons (slightly heaping) cream of tartar

Enough powdered sugar to make a very stiff frosting

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This frosting can be made in any

combination.  1 egg white, 1 tsp.

 cream of tartar and enough powdered

sugar to make a stiff frosting, etc.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Cream of tartar is a byproduct of the

wine making process.  The powder

forms inside wine barrels during

 fermentation.  It's generally used

in non-acidic food like egg whites

as a stabilizer.  In candy it creates a 

creamy texture because it keeps sugar

crystals from forming.  Used in frosting

it hardens faster, so your gingerbread

walls will hold together better and your

frosting will dry hard.  Used in this quantity

it makes the frosting bitter.  So, like

 the gingerbread, the frosting doesn't taste

 very good either.  That never seemed to

keep my helpers from trying it anyway!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Beat the egg whites to stiff peaks. 

Add the cream of tartar.

Continue beating and adding

powdered sugar until it's

very stiff.  This is not stiff.

Continue adding powdered sugar

and beating.

 Until a dinner knife

stands up all by itself and doesn't

fall over.  That's stiff!

I put some of the frosting in

a small bowl & covered the remaining

frosting.

I add the green coloring with a

tooth pick for easy clean up. 

 This is strong coloring and gets

 everywhere.

I added color and mixed until

I liked the color.

I cover my frosting with a damp

cloth when not in use to prevent

the frosting from getting

a hard crust.

I use a turn table, but if you don't

have one the little pan will turn

easily.

 
A little lesson on "how to". 

Put the coupler inside the bag.

Place the star tip on the end and

screw on the cap.

To fill the bag with frosting turn

the top half of the bag down.

Load the frosting into the bag

 with a spatula.

Rolling up the

folded edges as you go.

 Don't over fill the bag.  Twist the end
of the bag.  This prevents the frosting
from squishing out onto your hand!

Place it in you hand like so.

Practice on a piece of tin foil.

Place the tip, straight up and down 

very close to some foil.

  As you squeeze

pull up.  Stop squeezing and continue

 to pull up.  You will make a star.

 

Place the tip horizontal to the foil,

squeeze as you wiggle the tip back

and forth and pull.  You make a

pattern like this.  I call it a squiggle.

With the round tip on the end of

the bag, place the tip

horizontal, squeeze and pull.

You will make a log.

Place the tip straight up and down,

squeeze and slowly

pull up, you make a snow ball.

I'm gonna make the whole

gingerbread house with stars,

 squiggles, logs and snowballs.  None

of them will be perfect. 

Kids can do this! 

 My nonpareils are ready.

I have green frosting and a star tip.

I placed the tip at the bottom of the cone.

Placing my free hand on the top of the

cone to hold it in place.

I made a big star.

I made stars all around the bottom.

Sprinkled with nonpareils.

I continued to make rows 
with sprinkles

till I got to the top.

I made a big star on top.

It's okay if you can see the

sugar cone between the stars,

that's called a tree trunk!

Little girls make very unique

trees, remember no 2 trees

in nature look alike. 

I need to reload.

Done with trees, I set them aside to dry.

I frosted the top of my base.  No need

to cover where the big house goes.

I smoothed the frosting in the marked

places so that my trees and out

building would sit flat.

I put a few splotches of frosting

in the empty space and

put the floor of the house down.

I need more frosting.

Time to decorate the walls and roofs.

I spread frosting on the little roof.

I made rows with the chocolate

nonpareils and poked them down

into the frosting.

 Ditto for the big roof pieces.

I have all the side pieces ready.

I am going to keep it simple.

I love the gorgeous brown color

of this gingerbread and I want to

see it.  If you give a side to 4

children with 4 different colors

of sugar sprinkles and nonpareils,

you will have a special house indeed.  

I stuck the little wreaths down

with a small blop of frosting.

I decorated around all the windows

with small snowballs and

sprinkled with nonpareils.

Crooked is just fine when it's

covered with sprinkles.

I made scalloped logs for the

 upper sections.  They are

crooked too.

(Is that cringing I hear?)

It was not unusual at my house

 to find sprinkles and nonpareils

well into February!

Cover your frosting with

plastic wrap, put on the lid

and refrigerate until needed.

I am ready to stop for today.

I have every thing spread out

to dry.

My inspiration.

Till next time.