It's a Gingerbread House! (Updated with some tips)
First I bought this:
It comes in a few biscuits in the shapes of different parts of a house, flat-packed;). After dinner, I had a lot of help to finally put this up. Even the 2-year-old was excited to be allowed to participate. Not so neat, but it does not matter.
One happy kiddo!
And 3 more!
The attack!
The aftermath:
Good easy fast less-messy fun for a very busy mom (and the kids haha). It costs only RM15, some leftover icing and colourful candies! But the kids needed thorough teeth-brushing last night;).
For muslim moms who are not sure of the emulsifier E471 used in the biscuit, I had asked the staff and they assured me that its plant-based. Still not satisfied I sent an email to the company in Sweden and received the answer in less than an hour. So efficient!
Try it, we will definitely do it again! Off course with different designs, and maybe more elaborated with grass and snow...can't wait!
Update
I add just a bit more to share some tips.
If you use melted sugar as the glue, please remember that it is VERY hot!
And it is hardened fast when cooled and you no longer have glue to work with;) ...unless you reheat again.
What I did was, once the sugar melted, I turned off the fire (to avoid the sugar to caramelise (sp?) too much and turn dark), I quickly dip the edge of the biscuit (where I want to attach to the other, you can also use spoon to spread). It may look messy on your house, but you can cover that later with icing. Once the sugar turned stiffer, I reheat again with a very low fire. I added sugar bit by bit (and didn't follow the instruction that says 200g in a go) and keep on doing this till the house completed;).
It is a bit tedious, what more when you have 4 eager kids aged from 7 to 2 fighting to look closer at what mom's doing, and in a tiny kitchen. Easier way is by using glue meant for food, I guess. The one for cake decoration, but I'm not very sure as I've never tried that.
But that's a lesson for the bigger kids, that sugar can be glue. Hubby just got back from golf when the kids were decorating. He asked "How do you put that up?" Bea2 almost jumped to explain. Mama just smiled.
I don't really like the biscuit, too much spice to me. For the next project, I will just use it as a template, and I will bake simple butter cookies.
There, hope that's useful for you, Sizuka and Madre!
It comes in a few biscuits in the shapes of different parts of a house, flat-packed;). After dinner, I had a lot of help to finally put this up. Even the 2-year-old was excited to be allowed to participate. Not so neat, but it does not matter.
One happy kiddo!
And 3 more!
The attack!
The aftermath:
Good easy fast less-messy fun for a very busy mom (and the kids haha). It costs only RM15, some leftover icing and colourful candies! But the kids needed thorough teeth-brushing last night;).
For muslim moms who are not sure of the emulsifier E471 used in the biscuit, I had asked the staff and they assured me that its plant-based. Still not satisfied I sent an email to the company in Sweden and received the answer in less than an hour. So efficient!
Try it, we will definitely do it again! Off course with different designs, and maybe more elaborated with grass and snow...can't wait!
Update
I add just a bit more to share some tips.
If you use melted sugar as the glue, please remember that it is VERY hot!
And it is hardened fast when cooled and you no longer have glue to work with;) ...unless you reheat again.
What I did was, once the sugar melted, I turned off the fire (to avoid the sugar to caramelise (sp?) too much and turn dark), I quickly dip the edge of the biscuit (where I want to attach to the other, you can also use spoon to spread). It may look messy on your house, but you can cover that later with icing. Once the sugar turned stiffer, I reheat again with a very low fire. I added sugar bit by bit (and didn't follow the instruction that says 200g in a go) and keep on doing this till the house completed;).
It is a bit tedious, what more when you have 4 eager kids aged from 7 to 2 fighting to look closer at what mom's doing, and in a tiny kitchen. Easier way is by using glue meant for food, I guess. The one for cake decoration, but I'm not very sure as I've never tried that.
But that's a lesson for the bigger kids, that sugar can be glue. Hubby just got back from golf when the kids were decorating. He asked "How do you put that up?" Bea2 almost jumped to explain. Mama just smiled.
I don't really like the biscuit, too much spice to me. For the next project, I will just use it as a template, and I will bake simple butter cookies.
There, hope that's useful for you, Sizuka and Madre!
posted by mama23beas at 7:55 AM
11 Comments:
hi! just wanna know. Where did u get this from? my son sibuk nak buat:)
Hi Ros - very nicely decorated gingerbread house!
We made the house too last year but didn't decorate it.
http://hui-wearn.blogspot.com/2008/12/gingerbread-house.html
aww those pictures made me smile.
mamabeas, I went to Ikea and bought the gingerbread house. pastu tadi kononnya nak decorate la.. erm.. but my sugar glue turned dark coz i forgot to tell iman to remove it from fire when the sugar melted... *sigh*..
thx so much for the great idea :D
Ikea Madre...Ikea, where you can find all the fun hehe! Maybe it is also sold anywhere else, I dunno.
Hui wearn...yes, saw what you did. Interesting for kid, right!
saveyoursoul...thanks!
Sizuka...lengthy explanation in the update, for you and Madre!
Cute!! Is it possible to use royal icing to 'glue' he house together?
ICCA at Section 14 has something similar (if not The Same!) but I didn't check out the details/price/etc.
QOTH...if royal icing hardens as it dries up, then can la I guess. If not, rumah mesti roboh;).
ICCA tu belakang umah I je tau. But I never bought, will ask for that on my next visit.
mamabeas, i managed to complete my house with the burnt sugar glue before it hardened. bila dah keras, even my senduk was glued to the pan. *sigh*... i'm buying the ginger bread house again this weekend coz my icing was too runny thus making my house looked like it has melted snow on it..
Ros, I go to ICCA tu like 2-3 times a month.
Edible glue can be used -- you make it using something called CMC or Gum Tragacanth or Tylose (all in powder form) mixed with water. But too much hassle to find or stock if you are not into cake decorating.
Royal icing (with meringue powder added) will dry rock hard, so it's a possibility.
Do post pics of you subsequent cookie houses if you get around to making them :D
Sizuka...I just got back from Ikea hehe. If you are buying again, please take a look at the 'sample' that they have done...decoration with snow and all (I mean if it still was not there last weekend). Boleh tiru idea. Cantik sangat...they even have 'glass window'. Bea1 asked why we didn't have that. Bea2asked me to buy again...I just said I would bake my own. And I saw they glued it with icing, maybe royal icing as QOTH had suggested.
QOTH...thanks for the tip. Will look out for royal icing la kot. I pun selalu pegi ICCA but beli sikit-sikit aje...baru belajar dan bukan ada masa pun nak buat selalu.
I enjoyed the pictures. Gingerbread Houses are fun.
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