Gingerbread houses & frosting cement

We typically make one of those gingerbread kits early in December, but somehow I never ran across one in the stores this year. I'm sure they were there. I just never saw them. I was feeling bad about missing out on the family decorating time, so I pulled out a recipe that an former grandma-aged neighbor had given me years ago. The recipe was a little hard to decipher (like she forgot to mention any of the cooking information--how hot the oven should be, and how long to cook). I crossed my fingers and --Yippee!-- it turned out great! Not only did this recipe make a great gingerbread house, but it tasted amazing! :)


Gingerbread Houses

Simmer
1 cup molasses
1 cup shortening or ¾ cup oil

Cream
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla

Dissolve
2 tsp baking soda in ½ cup hot water

Cool molasses mixture slightly and add all ingredients to this point.

Next, in separate bowl, mix
6 cups flour
1-2 tsp cinnamon
½-1 tsp ginger
½-1 tsp salt
(I opted for going low on the ginger and salt, and heavier on the cinnamon)

Add flour to the wet ingredients in a large bowl. Mix well until dough is stiff At this point, I added a little more flour until my dough was no longer sticky. Cover and refrigerate dough for at least 30 minutes.

Roll out dough and cut into the shapes that you want (either cookie cutters or into house pieces)

Bake on cookie sheets (I would recommend lining your cookie sheet with wax or parchment paper) at 350°F for 8-10 minutes for cookies, 5-10 minutes longer for house pieces. If you are going to be making a gingerbread house, turn off your oven and put the pieces back into the warm oven to dry the pieces out. I also left the house pieces out to air dry overnight.
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Frosting cement

3 egg whites
¾ tsp cream of tartar
--beat until stiff—
Gradually add 1 ½ cups powdered sugar
--beat 10 minutes—
Add another 1 ½ cup powdered sugar
--beat 10 minutes—

(I didn’t really beat for 20 minutes)

**Keep frosting covered, or it will dry out (that’s what it’s supposed to do!)

The kids got a little impatient waiting for the frosting cement to be done.