How Gingerbread Houses Are Built to Stay Standing

A gingerbread house may appear solid, but the roof may start to slant, or a wall may start to lean. These holiday constructions are not that difficult, but they do require some planning, a strong structure, and knowledge of construction.

Many of the same principles used in construction can be applied to gingerbread houses. All elements must work together. The structure must also be able to support itself before the holiday candy is added.

Importance of the Gingerbread

When building gingerbread houses, the gingerbread must be strong enough to hold its structure.

Gingerbread cookies are often chewy and soft. However, construction gingerbread must be hard. This is achieved by using a stiff gingerbread recipe, which will produce hard gingerbread.

The gingerbread must also maintain its shape during baking. If the gingerbread spreads too much, it may make it difficult for the walls and roof to fit together.

Chilling the gingerbread before cutting it out will reduce spreading. Paper patterns can also be used to help cut out roof and wall sections.

Once baked, the gingerbread can be trimmed when still warm to produce straight edges. The gingerbread must be completely cooled before use. If the gingerbread is still soft, the walls may bend or collapse.

Using Royal Icing to Connect Elements

Gingerbread houses are connected with royal icing rather than nails and screws.

Royal icing is egg white or meringue powder and powdered sugar. Royal icing is used to connect the gingerbread pieces. Unlike other icings, royal icing dries hard and can be used to connect gingerbread pieces.

Thick royal icing should be used when building gingerbread houses. Thick royal icing can support the roof and walls. Thinner icing can be used for decorative purposes.

The walls are usually connected to a strong base first. Icing is placed at the corners and the bottom of each wall. The walls can then be held in position by boxes or cans while the icing dries.

Connecting a Roof Without Sliding

Roofs on gingerbread houses are often difficult to build.

Before a roof is added to a gingerbread house, the walls should be secure. Two slanted gingerbread pieces are then placed along the roof and connected by icing.

The slanted pieces may need support while the icing is drying. If heavy candy is added too early to the roof, too much weight may be placed on the walls, or the roof may slide.

Once the house is secure, candy can be added to represent snow, pretzels can connect walls and beams, and candy can represent shingles on the roof.

A gingerbread house can be completely edible, but many of the same construction principles can be used to build a solid gingerbread house.