Whether you’re entertaining grandchildren, your own children, or an army of your children’s friends, a gingerbread house party is a wonderful holiday tradition, says HGTV’s Monica Pedersen, whose handmade gingerbread house replica of the Deer Path Inn was featured recently in a holiday special on HGTV.
But when hosting a party of your own, Monica has one important tip. Purchase a premade gingerbread house from your local bakery or craft store. That way, your focus can be on the fun part—the frosting and decorating.
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- Gingerbread cookies and Mrs. Pedersen’s Hot Cocoa (plus, all the candy you can sneak)
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- Gingerbread houses for everyone
Mrs. Pedersen’s Hot Cocoa
- ½ cup sugar
- ¼ cup Hershey’s Cocoa
- dash salt
- ¹⁄³ cup hot water
- 4 cups (1 quart) milk
- ¾ teaspoon vanilla extract
- miniature marshmallows or sweetened
- whipped cream (optional)
Stir together sugar, cocoa, and salt in medium saucepan; stir in water. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture comes to a boil. Boil and stir 2 minutes. Add milk; stirring constantly, heat to serving temperature. Do not boil. Remove from heat; add vanilla. Beat with rotary beater or whisk until foamy. (Serve topped with marshmallows or whipped cream, if desired. Makes five 8-oz. servings.)
Royal Icing
- 4 cups confectioner’s sugar
- 3 tablespoons meringue powder
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½–¾ cup warm water
- food coloring
Beat the confectioner’s sugar and meringue powder until combined. Add the water and beat on medium to high speed until very glossy and stiff peaks form (5–7 minutes). (If necessary, to get the right consistency, add more powdered sugar or water. Use immediately. Recipe adapted from The Secrets of Baking.)
Gingerbread House Decorating 101
For the roof: shredded wheat cereal, gumdrops, Andes Mints, Vanilla Wafers, Necco Wafers,
Hershey’s Chocolate Bars
For shutters: wafer cookies, sticks of gum,
licorice, Andes Mints
For fences: chocolate-covered pretzels, pretzel
sticks, Mini Teddy Grahams, candy canes
For trees and shrubs: spearmint leaves or miniature trees from a hobby store
For snow: confectioner’s sugar or white frosting
For logs: Mini Tootsie Rolls
For an ice skating pond: a mirror or aluminum foil
Gingerbread cookies and undecorated houses supplied by The Bent Fork Bakery in Highwood.
Excerpted from Monica Pedersen’s upcoming book, Make it Beautiful, Designs and Ideas for Entertaining at Home, published by Agate Publishing, which will be released May 15, 2012.
—Julia Friend
