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ASSEMBLY
TIPS |
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The
construction of a gingerbread house will closely follow
the building concepts of a real house. Proper planning
is essential!
You can make the gingerbread ahead of time, making
sure to let it thoroughly dry in a secure area before
putting it in a cardboard box. Be sure to allow plenty
of time to put the pieces together and that you have
everything you need for the assembly before you start. |
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Prepare
a base for your house. Use a piece of plywood or MDF covered
with tin foil, or a large heavy platter or tray. You will
want to be able to move the entire structure easily. You
can use a sheet of gingerbread on top of the base if you
wish, but it's not necessary. If you want fairy lights in
the house this is how to attach them: Use 10-15 mm MDF as
your base. Use thin nails, attach 3-4 in a row in the centre
of the base you are going to use, 3-5 cm apart. Don’t
hammer them all the way in, but leave around half of it.
Take some garden string or any other metal string and cut
to around 5 cm long pieces, one for each nail. Put the piece
of string next to each nail and hammer the nail down to
one side so the string gets hooked under it. Now you can
run the wire for the fairy lights along the line of nails
and use the metal strings to securely fasten the lights.
Tin foil or cotton wool, or both, will cover the wire. |
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For
the next step: Banish small children from the kitchen !!
You can assemble the gingerbread house either using royal
icing or melted sugar.
I prefer melted sugar so here comes how to do that:
First of all, no children in the kitchen is not a joke,
it is for safety reasons. And don’t limit it to just
children. Pets, old parents, whimsy spouses and nosy neighbours
should all be kept on a safe distance. What you are about
to do is a one-man/woman-job.
Pour about 300 grams of sugar in a frying pan and melt slowly
over medium heat. Do not stir until you can see it’s
started to melt. Melted sugar is seriously hot, take great
care not to splash anything on your hands. The sugar should
have a dark brown colour when ready. If the heat gets too
high it will burn so if the colour turns dark on the edge
before the centre part has melted take the pan off the heat
for a moment. You will probably need to keep moving the
pan on and off the heat many times, while stirring and checking
the colour. If you burn the sugar and it gets black or starts
to smoke, put the pan aside to cool, clean and start all
over again! |
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When
you have a smooth, runny, melted sugar mass you are ready
to start assemble the house. Keep the pan on the heat but
lower the temperature so it doesn’t burn. Assemble
the house on a work surface next to the cooker if possible.
Cover the surface with greaseproof paper and have all the
pieces for the gingerbread house next to you. Use a spoon
to pour the melted sugar on the edge of one wall and put
the adjacent wall quickly in place while holding firmly.
Continue until you have all 4 walls attached and check that
the corners are fairly 90 degrees. Continue with the rest
of the pieces and finish with the roof. You might want to
attach some wooden plant sticks to the walls, across the
longest stretch of the roof, to make some support for the
weight. If the sugar mass gets too thick to pour from a
spoon you might have to increase the heat. You can also
use melted sugar to safely secure the gingerbread house
to the base. Make a mark on the base of where each corner
of the house will be. Add one dab of sugar mass to each
mark and place the house on top of them. If you are using
fairy light, make sure to attach them before attaching the
house. |
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After
the house is assembled, go over and check that there are
no loose parts. Use more sugar mass if necessary. Melted
sugar stripes on the outside can be covered by decoration,
so do the final touch up with some more sweets or icing
sugar. Leave the house to dry for several days in a cool
dry place before either displaying it or storing it wrapped
in cardboard and plastic. |
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