5 Family Tips for Making Your Gingerbread Houses Last in Hawai‘i (2024)

FAQs

5 Family Tips for Making Your Gingerbread Houses Last in Hawai‘i? ›

Royal icing is the “glue” that holds the house together. It's also the glue adhering any candies to the walls and roof. As you can see in these photos, I covered the roof with royal icing before piping the buttercream on.

Royal icing is the “glue” that holds the house together. It's also the glue adhering any candies to the walls and roof. As you can see in these photos, I covered the roof with royal icing before piping the buttercream on.

Storing Houses

Properly sealed and protected, you might be able to keep a gingerbread house looking good up to a year. If you are okay with making your house a non-edible creation, spray it with a clear lacquer, which is available at craft and hardware stores. You might need several coats for maximum protection.

Using the proper icing (in this case, royal icing) will make a huge difference in how secure your gingerbread house is, since the icing is the glue that holds it together. And finally, securing your gingerbread house to a base (I recommend a cake plate) will help it stand tall for weeks.

there's one key thing you should do if you want your house to stay put right off the bat – get the glue right. It's royal for a reason because royal icing is the king of glues for gingerbread houses. As my go-to choice for edible cement I can't really fault it's versatility and strength.

Assemble In Advance

The royal icing (essentially the glue that holds up the walls) will have a chance to dry and make the structure sturdier, which will create a stronger base for the weight of the candy decorations.

Well, TikTok user @tastyentertaining has the answer to all of our gingerbread house problems. She recommends using granulated sugar instead of royal icing to hold the walls together. How? Just melt the sugar in a pan over low heat.

Baked gingerbread will keep for 5 days in an airtight container. If it's humid or moisture is present, the gingerbread will soften. You can freeze gingerbread either raw or cooked.

To achieve crispy, sturdy gingerbread, Lomas recommends letting the baked gingerbread pieces dry out for a day or two. Don't put the pieces in the refrigerator or keep them in a closed container, as this keeps the moisture in. “The longer it dries out, the easier it is to work with for construction purposes,” she said.

You can keep a gingerbread house for years with proper storage. Our houses will stay fresh to eat for up to 12 months depending on how they are displayed and/or stored. Keep in mind that if you are displaying your decorated house, it will gather dust and other air particles.

Why won't my gingerbread house stay together? ›

The most common culprit behind a gingerbread house collapse is not allowing enough time for the glue or royal icing to fully harden.

A 1:4 ratio of butter to flour makes the gingerbread strong. Corn syrup keeps freshly baked gingerbread pliable and soft, so it's easy to cut while warm. Rolling the dough directly on parchment makes it easy to transfer to the pan.

Fit Everything Together with Melted Sugar or Royal Icing

The second way is to use burnt sugar as your glue. Just melt C&H® Pure Granulated Cane Sugar in a pan on the stove, dip the gingerbread parts in and hold them together for a few seconds. Then, presto! You've created a solid house.

If you want your gingerbread house to be a centerpiece through all the merrymaking, put it under the protection of a glass cloche or cake dome. Less dust and damage, definitely. Less candy pilfering, we hope.

Pick a solid base for your gingerbread house - either a flat cookie sheet, or a thick, sturdy piece of cardboard. If you want, line the base with aluminum foil or wax paper. Mortar the sides of the house with royal icing: Pipe a thick line of icing along a short end of one of the side pieces.

Believe it or not, a Brown University undergraduate found that melting down candies like gummy bears, caramel and marshmallows also worked as a solid “glue” for gingerbread houses.

The biggest tip for a professional-looking gingerbread house is to decorate the pieces before you build the house. This lets you make everything perfectly even, and prevents awkward slipping of icing down the sides. One caveat: You want the decorations to dry completely before you build the house.

After the gingerbread is cut out, Lomas recommends putting it into the fridge for at least 30 minutes and up to three days. Chilling the dough before it goes into a hot oven gives the butter a chance to firm up and reduces how much it spreads when baking.