‘Tis The Season – Gingerbread houses
Do you have a Christmas tradition? One for our family was only started a few years ago when a couple of Mums decided to get our kids together outside of school or activities and do something together. In the lead up to Christmas we wanted to share a fun day with the kids, 3 in their family and 4 in mine. So we have a Gingerbread house day with our 2 families and this morphs into a great relaxed BBQ dinner.
This image is from the Chef’s Toolbox website and I’m sharing it as I use the silicone gingerbread house mold they sell. It is fantastic and makes a great sized house, with four walls, 2 roof sections, a door, 2 people and a tree. The recipe that comes with the mold is easy to do and bakes really well.
I have a dodgy oven so it even works in there. I would recommend the full baking time or slightly longer as you want the gingerbread to be sturdy, especially if your kids are ‘heavy decorators’. I have heard people add more ginger or less according to their taste, or you could make it chocolate instead by using cocoa. I’m easily able to use margarine suitable for my husband’s dietary intolerance so that’s a win also. 
These houses are from 2015 and we are due to make more next week. My boys will be helping me bake houses this weekend ready for construction day next week. They help in the chance there might be some leftover mixture to eat, but there never is.
We have been shopping for the copious lollies that are used to adorn our houses and it’s always fun to see how the kids use them to create features on their houses. Everyone has their own style and you’d be surprised at the lack of lolly eating that goes on in between the decorating, I’m thinking it’s a case of there’s too much and they know they can enjoy at leisure.
The royal icing recipe is also available either with the mold or on the Chef’s Toolbox website. Easy to make and as I keep chickens we have a great supply of eggs. Having enough piping bags is often the issue. Remember there are 7 kids making houses.
Why do we make a Gingerbread House at Christmas time? Well it’s fun and it tastes really good, it’s a great activity for all the family and it rarely involves technology. Here’s a link to some more info about gingerbread making.
Now I can’t be sure but I think this picture was taken by a small person last year. Perhaps we were trying to focus on the small bonfire that has been created and the two figures enjoying the blaze. Completely for looks as we do not have bonfires this time of year in Australia, we’re in fire season at the moment!
Our gingerbread houses will be a great thing to snack on during the first couple of weeks of the holidays, I doubt they’ll last longer than that.
What’s your favourite Christmas tradition, be it a family one or larger in scale? And why?
Must go find those silver cachou things, I like those!
Raylee
