I never expected it to happen. I can honestly say that I never saw it coming. For years I have been so careful with the numbers, and I have reviewed every single step. I still cannot believe that it happened to me. It started with the walls. They held the smallest cracks that grew deeper until they could not support the roof. Piece by piece they started to fall. Now really, how could this have happened? I might spend a bit more than I should on certain things, and I do like name brand items, but as I reviewed the history, the steps, the process, and I everything I did along the way to get to this point, I could not figure out the hows and the whys. I would have to start over - from the beginning, and build it all over again, from scratch.
And that is exactly what I did. Upon starting all over again, I learned that I should NOT attempt a recipe while recovering from the flu and in the midst of pneumonia - because that is exactly what I did. And I neglected to count and measure accurately and that is when it happened... the recession affected Gingerbread Land. Sad, so very sad. So after I paid the price of screwing up, really screwing up and admitting defeat, I started all over again. From the beginning, and I yielded a much more promising recipe.
The December 2009 Daring Bakers’ challenge was brought to you by Anna of Very Small Anna and Y of Lemonpi. They chose to challenge Daring Bakers’ everywhere to bake and assemble a gingerbread house from scratch. They chose recipes from Good Housekeeping and from The Great Scandinavian Baking Book as the challenge recipes.
I chose to follow Y of Lemonpi, and here goes (note: follow the recipe EXACTLY!)
Y's Recipe:
Scandinavian Gingerbread (Pepparkakstuga)
from The Great Scandinavian Baking Book by Beatrice Ojakangas http://astore.amazon.com/thedarkit-20/detail/0816634963
1 cup butter, room temperature [226g]
1 cup brown sugar, well packed [220g]
2 tablespoons cinnamon
4 teaspoons ground ginger
3 teaspoons ground cloves
2 teaspoons baking soda
½ cup boiling water
5 cups all-purpose flour [875g]
1. In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar until blended. Add the cinnamon, ginger and cloves. Mix the baking soda with the boiling water and add to the dough along with the flour. Mix to make a stiff dough. If necessary add more water, a tablespoon at a time. Chill 2 hours or overnight.
Roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface (the dough will be tough at first). Cut patterns for the house, making patterns for the roof, front walls, etc. You can do a search on line for houses, and place the paper up against the house and cut around the edges. I then placed each piece of the house on a cookie sheet and baked. It will be easiest if you use a spatula to place the pieces on a cookie sheet so that when you pick the pieces up they do not rip.
Preheat the oven to 375'F (190'C). Bake for 12 to 15 minutes until the cookie dough feels firm. Leave to cool on the baking sheet.
Royal Icing:
1 large egg white
3 cups (330g) powdered sugar
1 teaspoon white vinegar
1 teaspoon almond extract
Beat all ingredients until smooth, adding the powdered sugar gradually to get the desired consistency. Pipe the icing on the pieces if you want to make windows, a door, siding, etc, and allow to dry before assembling (otherwise it will run down the house!) If you aren't using it all at once you can keep it in a small bowl, loosely covered with a damp towel for a few hours until ready to use. You may have to beat it slightly to get it an even consistency if the top sets up a bit. Piped on the house, this will set up hard over time. If you want to add decorations, use slightly dried (but still wet) icing as this will allow the decoration (candy) to better stick to the house.
Enjoy, and Happy New Year!
