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Frosting to hold a gingerbread house together?

linnea56 (zone 5b Chicago)

7 years ago

I bought a kit that comes with the panels, but no frosting / icing. My daughter and I took a class once, that made everything from scratch: and we found the Royal Icing version very hard to handle. It did not hold the pieces together well at all. Plus, we didn’t care for the taste.

So is there an alternative to Royal Icing?

At Joann’s the other day I bought a bottle of Wilton Cookie Icing. That’s meant for decorating the tops of cookies, so I don’t know if it has the, er, tensile strength for house construction??? Ingredients are confectioner’s sugar, sugar, water, corn syrup, palm oil, ( then other things that I would rather not think about). It is supposed to be zapped in the microwave, then the bottle kneaded before use.

I figured I would use this for decoration, if it is not strong enough for construction adhesive. I want to put the house together at least a day before my daughter arrives on Christmas Eve, so she can focus on what will be fun for her, decoration, vs. assembly.

Thanks!

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Comments (4)

plllog
7 years ago
last modified: 7 years ago
My first thought was "you need the eggs" so I went looking and found this:

http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2013/12/20/255866169/how-to-build-an-indestructible-gingerbread-house

Prize winning, earthquake-proof gingerbread house is held together with gummy bear epoxy and marshmallow cement. :) I'm guessing it's the gum, and that commercial marshmallows are the correct kind, not angel wings homemade kind. :)
annie1992
7 years ago
Depending on the weight, I used to put small gingerbread houses together with fairly stuff buttercream, the kind that crusted, and it held pretty well, but I never tried to move the houses.

Usually, though, I just use the traditional 4 cups powdered sugar/3 egg white/1/2 tsp. cream of tartar icing, thick enough to be piped down the sides of the walls and holds well, but it's not particularly flavorful. Maybe not even edible, LOL.

By the time our houses got decorated with every candy known to mankind, they were pretty heavy. We tended to refer to them as gingerbread "hovels", and gleefully dismantled and ate them when the urge struck. At least the buttercream was good to eat.

Annie
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Khandi, This is the basic recipe I use for Royal Icing, but I don't have Wilton-brand meringue powder. Royal Icing This smooth, hard-drying icing is perfect for making decorations that last. It is also useful as a "cement" to fasten decorations together. Royal icing is edible, but not recommended for icing cakes. Ingredients: 3 Tablespoons Wilton Meringue Powder 1 lb. (4 cups) confectioners' sugar (about 1lb.) 6 Tablespoons warm water* Beat all ingredients until icing forms peaks (7-10 minutes at low speed with a heavy-duty mixer, 10-12 minutes at high speed with a hand-held mixer). Recipe makes 3 cups. NOTE: Keep all utensils completely grease-free for proper icing consistency. * For stiffer icing, use 1 tablespoon less water. **When using large countertop mixer or for stiffer icing, use 1 tablespoon less water. Thinned Royal Icing: To thin for pouring, add 1 teaspoon water per cup of royal icing. Use grease-free spoon or spatula to stir slowly. Add Â½ teaspoon water at a time until you reach proper consistency.
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Thank you all for your kind comments. I had no idea about family traditions of building gingerbread houses existed. trainrunner - congratulations on your first. You won't have difficulty remembering the birthdate. bestyears - it must be rewarding that your teen age daughter and her friends share a decade of memories with you. kristinekr - yes, frosted mini wheats. My DH made the rockers from plans and always describes them as taking 3 months of every spare waking moment. nancybee - The kids raided the pantry for the special effects, cereal for the roof and ice cream cones for the trees. ideefixe - interesting observation as their father began his college studies to be an architect, then changed to industrial design. lascatx - the icicles actually are just streams of the royal icing. A few fell into the snow below. texanjana - The rockers have stayed in their rooms since they outgrew riding them. deeinohio - This was a Wilton kit that I purchased at Michaels. It was complete with royal icing and the candies. I also purchased a heavy tray onto which it is built. The kids just added their personalization.
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colleenoz
7 years ago
I've always used royal icing and it works perfectly. You need to hold or prop each piece in place until the icing hardens, usually only a few minutes.
lindac92
7 years ago
Royal icing...or what Annie said....same thing. Add some vanilla if you think it's tasteless....or almond extract...or cinnamon if you don't mind brown mortar.

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