Tuesday 29 December 2015

Building the Gingerbread House - BlogMas Day 3

Getting started

I don't usually start a blog post off with an apology but I will today. I apologise that BlogMas sorted came to a halt last week on December 23rd. That was partially because my flu was getting the better of me but mainly because of the task I had set myself and my cousins to completing (or rather constructing). We try to host a family Christmas party each year and I'm always in charge of baking something yummy. This year, I decided to turn it up a notch and do something completely different (but definitely Christmassy).

Opening the box of goodies
Prepping the icing bag (and the house!)
Ladies and gentlemen - it was finally time for The Amateur Anthropologist to make decorate a gingerbread house.

I'd found a box (by Wilton) that offered all the necessary tools and sweets needed for gingerbread house decorating just the other day in the local shopping mall - there was definitely no stopping me now!

Steady there...
Like all good cooks/amateur bakers, I made sure I read the recipe (in this case, instructions manual). This involved prepping the piping bag with a generous amount of thick white icing to begin with, and then gluing the walls of the house before waiting for an hour for them to dry off. A tip for anyone that wants to attempt at decorating a gingerbread house in 2016 (my countdown for next year's Christmas has already begun) is to pipe a decent dose of icing on the bottom of the walls before positioning them on your base (I used a silver piece of cardboard made especially for baked goods) - this ensures that your walls are sturdy enough to stand by themselves and to later hold the roof of the house up (there have been quite a few gingerbread house fails on YouTube - probably because they didn't follow my tip!)

Waiting for it to dry...

Lunch break

Making the gingerbread house required a lot of patience (because it took several hours to dry each piece). So during that time, I decided to head out to do some last minute grocery shopping for our family Christmas party. I also picked up some lunch which was awesome.

Mini bus-ing it to the shops
Purchases for the party
A (somewhat) healthy lunch
And isn't the Christmas tree in the shopping mall near my house simply stunning? They always ensure that a new design is used each year, so it's always exciting to see what they have install for us by the time December arrives.

Several levels tall and colour changing - best tree ever!

Decorating delicately

Decorating the gingerbread house did require a lot of delicate movements -- push too hard on any of the pieces and the whole building (well house) could easily collapse. We decided not to go with a design that the box had suggested us to go with. Instead, we improvised along the way. I think it worked out quite well in the end don't you?

(Sweet) decorations for the house
Beginning with the front door
We also used some sweets (M&M chocolates) that I had bought during my lunchtime shopping excursion, and some leftover cake decorations that had been lying around in my house - I think adding them made the gingerbread house even more special.


That's it for this post - be sure to look out for the next two BlogMas posts (which I promise will be up before this year ends which is in like what...? 2 days?!?!?!)

A very Merry Christmas indeed! :D

2 comments:

  1. Oh, how delicious that gingerbread house looks! Can I eat just one of those walls? I'm sure you don't need all of the walls.. lol!

    Really nice job decorating that little delight, though. And that Christmas tree in the mall is beautiful! Wow! I love when places make it exciting like that, switching it up every year.

    A belated Merry Christmas to you! Hope you have a great New Years as well.

    Eve
    Edge of Night

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    Replies
    1. A belated Merry Christmas to you too! Hope the new year goes well too...aha the gingerbread house was swiftly knocked down to satisfy the tummies of my family and friends not too long after it was made! Will try to save you a piece if I make one again next year :D

      Nice blog btw! I've liked your Facebook page -- feel free to like the one I made for my blog! https://www.facebook.com/theamateuranthropologist/ :D

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