This festive gingerbread cake house is actually not hard yet a delicious treat and decoration for the holidays as well as a great family project!
This recipe was inspired by Healthy Chocolate Christmas Trees, Healthy Gingerbread Man Recipe For Kids, Easy Salt Dough Recipe For Kids and 30 Wooden Gift Ideas For Toddlers This Christmas.
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Gingerbread Cake Recipe
For years before I had kids I wanted to make a gingerbread house. But it just didn't make sense to make one for myself and have it lying around during the holidays knowing there is no way I could eat it alone.
So by the time I had my first child, I decided that making a gingerbread house each Christmas is going to be our tradition.
Obviously in the first years I would do most of the baking and cutting and they would be in charge of the decorating and that's the way it is for now (they're 4 and 2). But in time I'm sure they'll take over the baking.
With kids, figuring the right recipe for a gingerbread house was not easy. I wanted the cake to be pretty firm so that they could easily decorate it without baking, but also I wanted it to be edible.
And I think I've finally mastered it. Want to try? Keep on reading.
Gingerbread House Recipe
This is more a recipe for gingerbread cookies that eventually turn into a house rather than a cake recipe, but since pretty much any Christmas sweet can be considered Christmas cake, I decided to name these gingerbread house cookies as a gingerbread cake house.
From this gingerbread cookie recipe you will get a cookie dough that when baked will be a firm cookie which can be used to make a nice gingerbread house.
Gingerbread Cake House Ingredients
To make this gingerbread house you will need the following ingredients:
- all-purpose flour: I am always an advocate for whole wheat flour but it just doesn't work for a gingerbread house. All-purpose flour is the best option here so I stick with it in this case
- coconut sugar: being it is a solid sweetener, I decided to use coconut sugar for this recipe instead of other solid sugars but I've also seen good results with brown sugar and blackstrap molasses
- gingerbread spice: you really cannot make gingerbread house cookies without some gingerbread spice. I find it easiest to buy pre-made spice blends but if you prefer (or don't have the blend) you can use some ground cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and clove (1 teaspoon each)
- egg: try buying organic or free-range ones
- butter: regular, dairy butter (unsalted) is the kind I use in baking recipes
- honey: a gingerbread dough would not be gingerbread dough without some honey. So there is really no point substituting it with any other liquid sweetener
How To Make A Gingerbread Cake House - Step by Step
Gingerbread Dough
1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius or 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Mix all the dry ingredients with a whisk in a large bowl.
3. Join the honey with the egg in a separate bowl.
4. In a stand-alone mixer (or with a hand mixer with a large mixing bowl), mix the butter and sugar at medium speed until you get a foamy texture.
5. Add the egg and honey mixture and the dry ingredients mixture to the butter and sugar.
6. Mix together until you get a firm gingerbread dough.
7. Make a disc out of the dough, wrap it in plastic foil and put in the fridge for at least an hour.
8. Once the gingerbread dough has cooled, take it out of the fridge, remove the plastic wrap and roll out until you have a 0.5 cm thick dough.
9. Print Template: Print your gingerbread house template from this link.
10. Transfer to Baking Paper: Place baking paper over the template and trace the design with a pen or marker.
11. Cut Out Shapes: Cut along the traced lines on the baking paper to create your gingerbread house parts.
12. Cut Dough Using Template: Lay the baking paper shapes on your rolled-out gingerbread dough and cut around them with a knife.) Using a sharp knife, now cut out your gingerbread house shapes:
- one front of the house
- one back of the house
- 2 sides
- 2 rooftops
13. From the extra dough cut other shapes with cookie cutters or gingerbread men.
14. Place all the cut shapes onto a baking sheet and bake for about 10 - 12 minutes.
15. Take out of the oven and let cool completely.
Royal Icing
1. Whisk the egg white and add a few drops of lemon juice.
2. Add the icing sugar little by little and mix well with the egg white until you get the texture of melt down ice-cream.
Making The House
1. Put the royal icing into a piping bag, pastry bag or regular freezer bag where you have cut off the top.
2. Before joining all the sides of the house together, decorate them separately.
3. To join the side pieces of the house, coat the sides of the house and the rooftoops generously with the royal icing and press together gently. Keep them pressed together for a few minutes until you can feel the royal icing starting to work. And decorate as you like.
4. Now leave the house to dry.
Decorate The Rest Of The Cookies
1. Decorate the rest of the cookies per choice and enjoy nibbling while you wait for your gingerbread house to dry.
Gingerbread Cake House Decorations
To decorate the gingerbread house, we usually use the following decorations:
- royal icing
- food coloring for the royal icing
- chocolate chip cookies
- store-bought sugar snowflakes
- shredded coconut
- chocolate sprinkles
FAQ
Because the gingerbread dough is a bit dark from the spices, it can be hard to tell when it is baked and avoid burning. That is why I recommend you take them out of the oven as soon as you see dark browning at the edges.
There are quite a lot of examples of a gingerbread cake house that you can find on the web and download for free. Just print them, cut them out and use them for cutting the sides of your house from the dough.
Yes, you can make the gingerbread dough a day before and keep in the fridge before you want to cut your shapes out and bake. You can also bake your cookies the day before and decorate and assemble the house the next day.
More Related Recipes
- Homemade Vegan Gluten-Free Healthy Twix Cups
- Lemon and Garlic Roasted Brussel Sprouts and Carrots
- 3-Ingredient Vegan Avocado Chocolate Mousse
- Salted Garlic Crunchy Roasted Peas
If you've tried this or any other recipe from the blog, please rate it and leave a comment.
How To Make A Festive Gingerbread Cake House
Ingredients
Gingerbread House Dry Ingredients
- 2 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
- ¾ cups coconut sugar
- pinch salt
- 2 teaspoon pumpkin spice
Gingerbread House Wet Ingredients
- 1 egg
- ½ cup butter
- ¼ cup honey
Royal Icing
- 1 egg white
- 2 - 3 cups icing sugar
- few drops of lemon
Instructions
Gingerbread Dough
- Preheat the oven to 180℃ or 350℉.
- Mix all the dry ingredients with a whisk in a large bowl.
- Join the honey with the egg in a separate bowl.
- In a stand-alone mixer (or with a hand mixer with a large mixing bowl), mix the butter and sugar at medium speed until you get a foamy texture.
- Add the egg and honey mixture and the dry ingredients mixture to the butter and sugar.
- Mix together until you get a firm gingerbread dough.
- Make a disc out of the dough, wrap it in plastic foil and put in the fridge for at least an hour.
- Once the gingerbread dough has cooled, take it out of the fridge, remove the plastic wrap and roll out until you have a 0.5 cm thick dough.
- Print Template: Print your gingerbread house template from this link.
- Transfer to Baking Paper: Place baking paper over the template and trace the design with a pen or marker.
- Cut Out Shapes: Cut along the traced lines on the baking paper to create your gingerbread house parts.
- Cut Dough Using Template: Lay the baking paper shapes on your rolled-out gingerbread dough and cut around them with a knife.) Using a sharp knife, now cut out your gingerbread house shapes:- one front of the house- one back of the house - 2 sides - 2 rooftops
- From the extra dough cut other shapes with cookie cutters or gingerbread men.
- Place all the cut shapes onto a baking sheet and bake for about 10 - 12 minutes.
- Take out of the oven and let cool completely.
Royal Icing
- Whisk the egg white and add a few drops of lemon juice.
- Add the icing sugar little by little and mix well with the egg white until you get the texture of melt down ice-cream.
Making The House
- Put the royal icing into a piping bag, pastry bag or regular freezer bag where you have cut off the top.
- Before joining all the sides of the house together, decorate them separately.
- To join the side pieces of the house, coat the sides of the house and the rooftops generously with the royal icing and press together gently. Keep them pressed together for a few minutes until you can feel the royal icing starting to work.
- Now leave the house to dry.
Rest Of The Cookies
- Decorate the rest of the cookies per choice and enjoy nibbling while you wait for your gingerbread house to dry.
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