Your Perfect Gingerbread House

One of the staples of the holiday is a gingerbread house. It is as ubiquitous as Santa, and cookies. It is also the dream of every home baker to create the perfect one. Unfortunately, it's one of the hardest baking projects any baker can tackle . However, there's a guide to help build that perfect house.

Luckily Julia Moskin becomes our Property Brothers in today's holiday issue of the New York Times Food section. She has got the former White House pastry chef, Bill Yosses, to give some tips as well as a cut out pattern to create the perfect house. (Keep in mind that the recipe is printed on the pattern for the house's front and back while the decorating tips are printed on the pattern that will make up both the house's sides and roof). Guests and especially the baker will want to nibble on the creation so the gingerbread itself has to be tasty. Chef Yosses suggests adding orange and lemon zest to cut the spiciness. Also a pound of butter also helps,giving it more of a butter cookie vibe. The spices are there - in heaping teaspoons, mostly ginger and cinnamon  which ,along, with molasses , give the cookie its' rich deep tan color.The pieces are baked in batches. The dough has to be refrigerated overnight before baking and it needs three days to a week to dry out for construction.. The walls will have to be rebaked for fifteen minutes when the candy windows are added.This is done by cutting out a circle and placing crushed hard candy in the middle. Again the suggestion is using one color for the window although you can use two ot three colors for a festive stained glass look.

The hardest part is the decorating and assembling. The icing will also act as the glue that holds the whole thing together. It is royal icing, made with a pound (!) of confectioner's sugar , two egg whites and one teaspoon of lemon juice. The egg whites will give the icing the stiffness it needs to hold everything together. The lemon juice gives it that crisp whiteness that makes lovely snowflakes and and snow dusted tiles. Putting it together will be the hardest part. Have help at the ready. Chef Yosses recommends using thick sealable one gallon plastic bags for the icing instead of the traditional pastry bags..Luckily you won't need any special tips, Just snip off a corner and use your dominant hand to guide the lines. Two bags are needed for construction and decoration. For constructing snip a hole measuring 3/8 ths of an inch while the decorating bag get's a 1/8 th of an inch opening. rest the bag in your palm and manipulate the opening with your thumb and forefinger. Decorating can be done in the traditional manner or with brightly colored candy like Gumballs and gum drops.. Assembling will be the hardest part . It starts with a steady wooden board or even an inexpensive cutting board. You can also go to an art store for a canvas painting panel. Use a can, mug or jar to prop this up. Make sure that the front wall sits inside the side walls. When the four walls are in place, then carefully (what else?) place one roof slab. This may slip so  add more icing and prop it up with a  ramekin or small glass. Wait until the icing dries before placing the other side.

A gingerbread house is a real thing of beauty not   home chef's unicorn. Do it properly and it will be the highlight of your holiday and baking career/It is easier than you think so go bake that house!.