This recipe is from the Better Homes and Gardens cookbook. We don't know what edition of the book it is that we have 'cause I ripped out that page when I was little. Also there's been a hitch since I made this recipe. I lost the cookbook (I'm sure it will turn up... I just can't find it right now). So I am giving you the newer recipe out of the Better Homes and Garden 15th edition cookbook. It has all the same ingredients, but a different method. Good thing we gave this book to Mom for Christmas. Anyway, gingerbread is a Christmas tradition at our house. We use it every year for gingerbread men and houses. I got some great pictures of everything. Enjoy!
Gingerbread Cutouts
1/2 cup shortening
1/2 cups sugar
1 tbsp. vinegar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp.cloves
1/2 cups molasses
1 egg
1 tbsp. vinegar
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
In a large mixing bowl beat shortening with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for about 30 seconds. Add sugar, baking powder, ginger, baking soda, cinnamon, and cloves. Beat until combined, scraping sides of bowl occasionally. Beat in molasses, egg, and vinegar until combined. Beat in as much flour as you can with the mixer. Stir in any remaining flour. Divide dough in half. Cover and chill about 3 hours or until easy to handle.
When looking for recipes for icing, I remember watching TV programs with cake artists using royal icing - how it finishes smooth and hard. To have a smooth surface that does not look crusty add a couple drops of glycerin (glycerol) to the icing. I didn't do that with this recipe though I should have. When adding color to royal icing I like to use concentrated gel paste dyes instead of liquid dyes. The color is so much stronger I find rather than other food coloring. When I made icing for a different cake, I used probably 1/8 teaspoon of red to get a pink and I got a very strong reddish pink, almost neon.
The royal icing recipe is good to experiment with. The more egg whites - the more liquid. The more icing sugar, the thicker. I was browsing recipes, wrote down one, and could not find the paper again... I'm on a roll! So I tried to remember what was on the recipe, and I ended up making my own. I did not use vanilla, lemon juice, or lime juice (I forgot to put them in!) but I don't see a purpose. Other than a little change in color and even less change in smell (and maybe consistency)... I still want the icing to be pure white because it is the "snow" on the gingerbread house.
Royal Icing
3 egg whites
4 cups icing sugar (approx.)
1 tsp. vanilla, lemon juice, or lime juice (optional)
Whip egg whites in an electric mixer until frothy and white. Gradually add icing sugar (add vanilla, lemon juice, or lime juice now) to egg white, not too fast because of "light streaks". If they do appear, don't worry because they disappear when icing dries.When whipping, it will be thick. If you need it thinner - whip egg whites in an electric mixer until frothy and white again then add to the whole batch. If you need it to be thicker, add more icing sugar.
My gingerbread house was just a classic house. Two roof pieces, two side walls, front and back walls, an open door and a few windows I cut out. For "stained glass" windows I crushed up some hard candies then sprinkled the bits into the raw dough windows. When the gingerbread is baking the candies melt together and stay solid when cooled. I found that red, orange, green and sometimes yellow candies work best. Thanks for reading!
