Curved Roof Gingerbread House Recipe

5 from 7 votes

Curved Roof Gingerbread House Recipe

Super strong, great for cutting out intricate templates and does not spread when baking. This recipe is enough to make one gingerbread house using the template included in the blog post

Prep Time15

Cook Time1

Chilling20

Total Time1 35

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Servings: gingerbread house

Calories: 112kcal

Author: Liz Marek

Equipment

Stand Mixer with paddle and whisk attachment
#2 piping tip and bag
Foam core
creme brulee torch
Silicone mat or parchment paper
Heat-resistant gloves for isomalt
X-acto knife optional

Ingredients

Gingerbread House Recipe

30 oz AP Flour
¾ tsp cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ginger
½ teaspoon nutmeg
¼ teaspoon cloves
¾ teaspoon salt
7 oz vegetable shortening
6 oz granulated sugar
16 oz molasses or corn syrup
1 Large egg
2 ounces clear isomalt for the windows

Royal Icing Recipe

16 ounces powdered sugar sifted
2 ounces pasteurized egg whites
¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Gingerbread House

Before you begin: preheat your oven to 300º F. Transfer your wall/roof template to your foam core and assemble it (see video for instructions).
Sift your dry ingredients together and set aside.
Microwave the vegetable shortening (or melt it on the stovetop) until liquid but not hot.
In a stand mixer, whisk the shortening, sugar, and molasses together. Add the egg and mix until combined.
Switch to the paddle attachment and add your dry ingredients. Mix on medium-low until a smooth ball starts to form. Don't overmix.
Roll the dough out onto parchment paper or a baking mat to ⅛ inch thick, keeping the thickness as even as possible.
Freeze the dough for 20 minutes (optional).
Cut shapes out using your templates. Remove the excess dough (it can be re-rolled to make more pieces).
Form the front porch cutout over a cookie cutter cut in half, or a tin can (see video).
Fill your silicone mold with cookie dough and freeze for 20 minutes. Remove from the mold and place on the cookie sheet with the rest of your pieces.
Bake in an oven set to 300º F for 45 minutes. Remove the small pieces and the roof pieces, then bake the walls another 15 minutes, or until very firm.
Place the warm roof pieces on your foam core template right away and weigh them down with something heavy so they hold the curve as they cool. Let cool completely before moving.
Let the other baked gingerbread pieces fully cool before moving from the sheet pan and assembling.
Melt clear isomalt (or hard candies) and pour it into the window openings on a silicone baking mat. Once cooled, peel the pieces off the mat, torch the back to smooth any bubbles, then seal with an isomalt sealer or a little vegetable oil.

Royal Icing

Combine your egg whites, sifted powdered sugar, and cream of tartar in the bowl of your stand mixer with the whisk attached.
Mix on low to get the ingredients combined then bump up to high for 1-2 minutes. Add in your vanilla extract and whip until it's white. No need to mix for longer than 5 minutes.
Place the royal icing into a bowl or container with a lid. Your THICK royal icing is now ready to be thinned down to the consistency you desire.

Assembly

Use a Microplane to sand down any pieces that aren't quite straight. Glue the front and back walls to the side walls with a generous bead of stiff royal icing.
Prop the walls up and let dry for about an hour. This is what keeps the house from collapsing under the roof and candy later.
Glue the roof on with more royal icing and let dry while you build the chimney and side window.
Glue the chimney and gable onto the side of the house, then attach the curved porch to the front, propping it with candy canes until it can hold on its own. Add shutters to the windows.
Using a #2 piping tip, pipe on brick texture and a criss-cross pattern across the roof with more royal icing.
Finish with your favorite candy, then tuck a battery-operated candle inside before gluing the house down to its base.

Video

Notes

Ingredient notes: Use pasteurized egg whites in the royal icing since it won't be baked again after mixing.

Pan options: This recipe is sized for the template included in this post. To make a bigger or smaller house, scale the dough recipe proportionally to your own template's surface area.

Make-ahead and storage: Baked pieces: room temperature airtight container up to 1 week, or frozen up to 3 months. Dough: refrigerator up to 3 days. Assembled structure: can be built a day ahead before decorating. Display the finished house in a cool, dry place away from direct sunlight; construction gingerbread made with shortening can last the entire holiday season and potentially years if stored carefully.

Substitutions: Molasses can be replaced with corn syrup for a lighter-colored house. Isomalt can be replaced with hard candies (like Jolly Ranchers) for the windows if isomalt isn't available, though isomalt holds up better for a long display.

Critical do-nots: Don't rush the wall-drying time before adding the roof. An hour with stiff royal icing is what keeps the structure from collapsing. Don't overfill your piping bag. About ½ cup at a time is easiest to work with. Don't skip freezing the dough before cutting. It's what gives you clean template lines.

Nutrition