The Christmas season just wouldn't be quite the same without our gingerbread creations.
We tried some new things this year, and as you can see, we needed to be sure we had a nice, sturdy icing for it...
I found a fantastic recipe on about.com --
Beat together on high for 7-10 minutes: 1 lb. confectioner's sugar, 3 egg whites & 1/2 tsp. cream of tartar.
We use sealable plastic bags with a tiny bit of the corner snipped off as pastry bags.
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| Can you spot Santa Bear on the roof? Teddy Bears sledding? Bears caroling around the Christmas tree? |
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| Away in a Gingerbread |
To get all these cookies to stand up, I made paper templates for stands. Using the cookie cutter height as my guide, I cut triangles and labeled them. Some templates could be used for multiple cookies. People got one stand each, animals got two.
I got better & better at it as I went along. This was the winning combination -- so fast & easy once I figured it out!
Hold your cookie in the correct spot & pipe a line of icing where the base of the stands will go.
Remove the cookie and pipe icing where stands will touch the back of the cookie, as well as on the bottom of the cookie, where it will touch your plate.
Place your cookie in front of the piped lines on your plate.
Place a plain, uniced stand on the plate & against the cookie.
Repeat with the second stand.
Voila!
This icing recipe made it very sturdy once it dried.
It's definitely the one we'll use next year.
(And, now I'll know where to find it, too. My gift from me, to me.)
Happy creating!
They all look wonderful!
ReplyDeleteglad to have the icing recipe! a got a gingerbread train kit for christmas and i've been putting off making it with him because there's such an issue with getting icing to work.
ReplyDeleteYes, this recipe is great! Another technique I've learned about gingerbread building is to do it in stages: 1) build walls & let dry; 2) add roof & let dry; 3) decorate. So much more fun to decorate when not trying to keep structure from sliding apart!
Deletethanks! that might work, depending on his attention span...and mine... :)
Deletegreat idea with the stands! I'm always frustrated by the sliding gingerbread :(
ReplyDeleteIt could be done more simply, too -- I'm sure. Probably could use some store-bought cookies & break them into stands. Maybe score lightly with a serrated knife & snap? I knew I was donating this one, so I went with precision, but not necessary in most cases : ) I'm seeing a gingerbread chicken coop in your future...
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