Gingerbread House Icing Recipe - I Heart Naptime (2024)

FAQs

What is the icing for gingerbread houses made of? ›

In a large bowl, combine 1 pound confectioners' sugar, 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar, and 1/2 cup room temperature pasteurized egg whites. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a silicone spatula.

there's one key thing you should do if you want your house to stay put right off the bat – get the glue right. It's royal for a reason because royal icing is the king of glues for gingerbread houses. As my go-to choice for edible cement I can't really fault it's versatility and strength.

An egg white whipped with 250g of icing sugar did the job for us. You need more than just royal icing, you need to add meringue powder (available to buy online or sometimes in your supermarket) to make it thicker and able to support the house, plus cream of tartar also available at supermarkets.

Gingerbread House Icing Tips & Tricks:

If your kitchen is warm or the temperature is humid, the icing may melt or fall off your gingerbread house. Be careful not to overwhip your icing. Incorporating too much air may make it difficult for the icing to stick to the cookie.

Ingredients Needed for Gingerbread House Icing

*if you don't have the cream of tartar, you may use salt as a substitute.

Royal icing is the go-to choice for gingerbread house construction because it “glues” your house together. The icing starts crusting quickly, and once it's set it's hard, so you can use it to piece together your walls and roof.

Royal icing with meringue powder is perfect for a gingerbread house because of its consistency. It dries hard, and fast, making sure that your house won't break or fall apart. It's perfect not just for decorating, but for setting a strong base for your house.

Then take your gingerbread house pieces, dip the edges in melted sugar and hold them together for a few seconds. That's it! The sugar hardens quickly and creates an solid base for tons and tons of decorating. Don't miss our best ideas for adorable gingerbread houses!

So to make sure our walls could stand strong, we sandwiched melted marshmallow cement between two graham crackers. The marshmallow adds weight, which helps stabilize the structure. It also acts as a sealant, ensuring that the cracker won't crumble.

Do you decorate a gingerbread house before or after putting it together? ›

Traditional kits, like our top pick, the Wilton Ready-to-Build Gingerbread House Kit, recommend assembling the house several hours before decorating, whereas interlocking designs or those that come with clips, such as our runner-up, the M&M's Holiday House Gingerbread Cookie Kit, allow you to decorate after as little ...

Fit Everything Together with Melted Sugar or Royal Icing

The second way is to use burnt sugar as your glue. Just melt C&H® Pure Granulated Cane Sugar in a pan on the stove, dip the gingerbread parts in and hold them together for a few seconds. Then, presto! You've created a solid house.

Drying method:

Table fan = dries a bit faster. Dehydrator = dries a lot faster (and get dry out cookie)

If you are using store-bought frosting, mix approximately 1/4 teaspoon of cream of tartar per cup of icing. This will help your icing to harden.

They are typically made before Christmas using pieces of baked gingerbread dough assembled with melted sugar. The roof 'tiles' can consist of frosting or candy. The gingerbread house yard is usually decorated with icing to represent snow.

For the icing, you need confectioners' sugar, water, vanilla extract (replace with water to keep the icing stark white, or use clear vanilla extract), a touch of corn syrup, and a little salt. The icing dries firm with a very slight crisp, so you can easily stack your decorated sugar cookies and travel with them.

To make the faux snow concoction, I mixed powdered sugar and water in a gallon bag and cut the corner to dispense it (a wonderful and easy suggestion that my baker gave me). Last, after the powdered-sugar snow mix had dried, I topped it with finely chopped coconut, made easier by using a mini food processor.