With all of the work around Christmas, I wonder if it's possible to bake the gingerbread pieces in November and freeze them for assembly in December. Has anyone tried freezing ahead and if so any problem?
How soon before Christmas do you make and decorate the house?
Thank you in advance for any input on this. I'm trying to ease the December rush.
Cmac
I always bake my pieces in November, and I don’t freeze the pieces, I just store them in a cool, dry place. The trick will be keeping them absolutely flat so that they don’t curl/curve.
When stored properly gingerbread can last for months and months (I’m often still eating off-cuts from the project I made last year as I build the current project!). The main killer for gingerbread is humidity, therefore an airtight container will usually suffice.
Thank you - I'm so glad to hear that you can bake this ahead. December is such a rush with everything else that it will be a great relief to have the gingerbread house assembled and ready for decorating.
I love gingerbread too, but didn't get to snack on the house. I made a castle last year and after the holidays I put it outside by the woods and the birds and animals had a feast. It broke my heart to do it because that was such an ordeal to make. I understand some people manage to save them from one year to the next.
My houses go to our big family gatherings at Christmas (there are more than 40 of us!), where they get “admired”, then at the New Years Eve party the kids get stuck in and break them down. I love watching them gleefully shred it. Everyone assumes I will be heartbroken after all that effort, but I’d be sadder if it weren’t enjoyed. And I know there will always be another one the following year
Some of the best pics I have are of kids with their hands pulling apart the house and their tongues green from eating icing trees 🌲 . It usually takes them about 20 minutes to demolish and portion out the house for eating.
One year my uncle put on his safety gear and goggles and had a photo shoot of him pretending to take a sledge hammer to it. So much fun!
What I really want to do is take it to a children’s hospital, especially the paediatric oncology ward, but there are so many regulatoins and restrictoins these days, that I’d have to start a business and have a kitchen safety inspection before I could so it. So, it keeps going to my family
My uncle and my mum ❤️
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That house looks huge! What size cake board did you have to use? I like your roof of chocolate cookies. I’ve used frosted shredded wheat but am going to try fondant for a black slate roof.
It’s great that the kids get to devour it. My grandchildren usually eat it too, but last year’s castle was tall and we were afraid it wouldn’t survive the drive to their house. We celebrate Christmas at my house, but I don’t see them for awhile after that.
I’m trying the Silverlake template from this site this year. I was going to do the Waterford, but it has so many pieces - maybe next year.
That is the Effingham house template from here
I think the cake board was 22” square. And it survived a 40 mile journey from my house to Christmas.
Actually the roof was chocolate fondant pieces, hand cut (478 of them) with a bit of gum trag to help them harden. I cut all the circles over a couple of nights and left them stacked between layers of baking paper. The harder ones near the top were great for flat sections of the roof and the softer ones were perfect for the turret roof as they had enough give to curl a bit
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What I really want to do is take it to a children’s hospital, especially the paediatric oncology ward, but there are so many regulatoins and restrictoins these days, that I’d have to start a business and have a kitchen safety inspection before I could so it. So, it keeps going to my family
What a pity. The gingerbread contest I've entered last year donated the houses not collected to the local pediatrics unit, which made me very happy. The year before I'd done a giant book that opened to a scene, and I donated it to my local library, which happened to be having a gingerbread house workshop for the children on a Saturday. It seemed like the perfect place for my gingerbread book!
Can the pieces be sealed with a food saver type vacuum sealer?
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