Gingerbread House

To prepare the gingerbread house, start with the dough: in the bowl of a mixer, add the sifted flour, granulated sugar, cold butter cut into pieces, and all the ground spices: cinnamon 1, ginger, nutmeg, cloves. Then add the baking soda and salt 2. Turn on the blades and create a sandy mixture 3,

then turn it out onto the work surface and create the classic fountain shape: pour the honey and the eggs with the yolk in the center 4; mix with a fork initially, then knead by hand, without warming the dough too much 5, just long enough to form a compact mixture. Shape it into a slightly flattened disc and wrap it in plastic wrap 6. Let it rest in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.

To prepare the fence, make the almond brittle: soak the almonds in hot water for a couple of minutes 1: this will make peeling easier: dry them before peeling and remove the outer skin with the tip of a knife 2. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, distribute the peeled almonds on it 3, and toast them for 5 minutes in a preheated static oven at 350°F 3. The almonds should not darken.

Place a sheet of wax paper (or parchment paper) on a baking sheet:   this will be used later to cool the almond brittle (if you have it, you can use a silicone mat). In a saucepan, add the sugar, lemon juice, and water 4. Melt slowly over low heat, stirring constantly, until you get a nice golden-colored mixture. Meanwhile, roughly chop some of the almonds, leaving the remaining ones whole. Once the caramel is ready, turn off the heat and add the chopped almonds and whole ones to the saucepan 5. Stir the almonds vigorously with a wooden spoon 6 and mix everything together.

When the mixture is ready 7, pour it while still hot onto a silicone mat 8 or a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and level the surface. Let the brittle cool, but before it hardens completely, turn it out onto a cutting board and cut it into diamonds about 3/4 inch thick 9.

Prepare the royal icing you'll need for decorating the house and other elements. Pour the egg whites into a bowl with a few drops of lemon juice: this will help them whip better. Turn on the beaters 1 and when the egg whites are well whipped, gradually add the previously sifted powdered sugar into the bowl 2. Continue working the icing with the beaters until the powdered sugar is fully incorporated and you have a smooth, lump-free icing. Transfer the royal icing into two piping bags: a larger one with a plain tip for holding the parts of the house together and a smaller one for small decorations 3. Cut the tips to create a small hole only when you are ready to use the icing.

To create, bake, and assemble the house: to create the house, bake it and assemble it, you will need templates to cut the dough. For the front and back, you can cut a white sheet 8.5 inches wide and 10 inches high, with the height including the roof; for the side walls, you will need a rectangle of paper 7.5 inches long and 6 inches high; for the roof, a rectangular sheet 7.5 inches long and 5.75 inches high. For the door, you need a rectangle 4.3 inches high and 3.15 inches wide, for the windows you can use a cookie cutter 1.6 inches on each side. Take the dough, divide it into 6 parts, and roll out one part at a time into a disk about 0.6 inches thick and large enough for the part of the house you're making (you can keep the others wrapped in plastic wrap in the refrigerator while waiting to roll them out) 1. Start with the front and back: place the template on the rolled-out dough 2 and cut out the shape with a pastry wheel 3; do the same for the back.

Proceed the same way for the back 4. Then move on to the side walls, with the larger rectangular template (5-6): make two of these. Finally, from the last two doughs, cut out the roof using the 7.5x5.75 inch templates 6.

Cut the windows from the wall templates using a 1.6 inch cookie cutter 7. With the leftover dough, create other decorations to embellish your gingerbread house: for example, we made two trees with cookie cutters measuring 5.5 inches and 3.5 inches, and a snowman 4 inches tall. Then proceed to baking: place the templates on baking sheets lined with parchment paper and bake in a preheated static oven at 350°F for about 10-15 minutes (if a convection oven, at 320°F for 8-10 minutes). Once baked, remove them from the oven; you will now have all the parts of the house ready: front 8 and back, side walls 9

and roof 10. Place them on a wire rack to cool completely 11. Then cut out the door with a knife using the 4.3x3.15 inch rectangular template 12.

and gently remove it 13. At this point, start decorating the front with the royal icing as you prefer, retracing the roof's edge and simulating melting snow 14; also create a central window 15.

We also created a diamond pattern, decorating the intersection points between a strip and another with edible silver pearls (16-17). Also decorate the back 18

and the roof, drawing the tiles with the royal icing 19. Then generously apply royal icing to the cut sides of the front and walls, where they must fit together to build the house structure (it's advisable to assemble the house with at least two people during this assembly phase): align them so they fit together 20, and once assembled, place bottles or glass jars filled with water inside, positioning them at the corners to prevent the walls from collapsing inward 21. The icing will set and act as an adhesive between the various parts: allow 1-2 hours for it to solidify.

Once it has set, you can move on to the roof, following the same procedure as the previous step (22-23). For greater stability, you can decide to insert a skewer at the junction points of the various parts (the thickness of the individual pieces is sufficient so there's no risk of them breaking if you choose to use it). When you're done, you can work on the door, decorating it with the royal icing

and with decorated sugar beads, you can create a heart-shaped wreath 25. Now you can focus on the other decorations: unleash your creativity and decorate the trees and the snowman with royal icing and sugar beads (26-27). By arranging the brittle around the house, you can recreate the fence, and with nougat, make the path leading to the door. With cremino chocolates, you can make the base of a bench, made with chocolate sheets, and also create the chimney. Then you can further refine the roof decorations with royal icing tufts and colored smarties. Your house is ready to be admired by your guests throughout the holiday season!

Stick a piece of nougat with a skewer to plant the snowman 28; place the door on the house and arrange the brittle fence around the house, leaving space inside for other decorations 29; then position the cremino chocolates and apply a little royal icing 30

then place a sheet of chocolate: you can create a bench 31 or a small table. With the same elements, you can also make a mailbox 32 and the chimney 33.

Then you can further refine the decorations of the roof and facade with royal icing tufts and colored smarties (34-35). Your gingerbread house will certainly be a masterpiece to show and enjoy with your guests 36!