Gingerbread Chalet Food

GINGERBREAD FOR A GINGERBREAD HOUSE

Steps:

• Make the gingerbread dough: Sift together the flour, ginger, cinnamon, baking soda, nutmeg, cloves and salt into a large bowl. Set aside.
• Combine the butter, shortening, brown sugar and granulated sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 1 minute. Add the egg, molasses and vanilla and beat on medium until smooth, about 1 minute. Add the sifted flour mixture and mix on low speed until combined into a smooth dough, about 1 minute. Form the dough into a flat square, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate until just firm, about 2 hours and up to overnight.
• Meanwhile, make templates for a gingerbread house. Gather several sheets of stiff paper; a manila folder works well. For the wall panels, cut a rectangle that measures 4 by 7 inches. For the front and back panels of a house with a peaked roof, cut a template that is 6 inches wide at the base, 4 inches to the roofline and 4 1/2 inches slanted to a peak. The template for the roof panels should measure 4 1/2 by 8 inches.
• Roll and cut the gingerbread: Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F. Line 3 baking sheets with parchment paper. Unwrap the dough and cut into 3 equal pieces (a pizza wheel is handy for this). Working with one piece of dough at a time and keeping the other pieces refrigerated, roll the dough into a rectangle 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick. Using the templates, cut out the front and back of the house and remove the scraps around the cutouts. Repeat with the remaining pieces of dough, cutting out 2 roof pieces and 2 side pieces. (If the dough gets too soft while rolling, return it to the refrigerator for 15 minutes before proceeding.) Discard the dough scraps or reroll to make cookies. Chill the dough pieces on the baking sheets for 15 minutes.
• Bake the gingerbread: Bake the dough pieces until crisp almost all the way through (the very center will still be a little soft), 30 to 35 minutes. Cool the pans 10 minutes on a rack, then remove the house pieces to the rack to cool completely. Assemble and decorate the gingerbread panels as desired.

GINGERBREAD CHALET

Steps:

• In a large bowl, cream butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy, 5-7 minutes. Beat in egg, molasses and corn syrup. Combine flour, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg; gradually beat into creamed mixture. In a small bowl, combine coffee and baking soda; gradually beat into the dough. Divide dough in half. Shape each into a disk; wrap and refrigerate 1 hour or until firm enough to roll., Preheat oven to 350°. Trace patterns onto waxed paper and cut out. Lightly grease 2 baking sheets. Divide dough in half. Using a lightly floured rolling pin, roll out the dough directly onto the baking sheets to 1/8-in. thickness. , Position patterns on dough. Using a sharp knife, cut out according to quantities noted on each pattern piece. Remove patterns. Remove dough scraps; cover and refrigerate dough scraps to re-roll if desired. , Bake until set, 10-12 minutes. Cool on pans for 5 minutes before removing to wire racks to cool completely. , To make icing: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, beat egg whites until foamy; Gradually add sugar until completely incorporated. Increase speed and continue to beat until stiff, glossy peaks form and sugar is dissolved, 8-12 minutes, adding a few drops of warm water as needed. Spoon half the icing into another bowl. To 1 portion stir in additional warm water, a few drops at a time, until icing reaches a thin flood consistency. If necessary, stir in additional confectioners' sugar to the remaining portion of icing to form a stiff icing. Place a damp cloth over bowls and cover tightly between uses. To decorate: Insert #3 round tips into 2 pastry bags; fill 1 with flood consistency icing and the other with stiff consistency icing. Working with 1 piece at a time, pipe a border using stiff icing. Fill area inside border with flood icing; pop any air bubbles with a toothpick. When all pieces have been iced, set aside and allow to dry for several hours or overnight. Icing must be completely dry and hard to the touch. Working with 1 piece at a time, place food safe stencil on surface of dried icing; using an offset spatula, spread a very thin layer of stiff icing over stencil. Carefully remove stencil; wipe off stencil between uses. When all pieces have been decorated with stencil set aside to dry for several hours or overnight. , To assemble: Test cookie pieces to make sure they fit together snugly. If necessary, file edges carefully with a serrated knife to make them fit., Insert #5 round tip into pastry bag; fill two-thirds full with stiff icing. Beginning with the chimney, pipe a wide strip of icing along the longest edge of chimney piece A. Angle and press the longest edge of chimney piece B against it; set aside., Ice along the 2 longer edges of chimney piece C. Press 1 edge against the shortest edge of chimney piece A and 1 edge against the shortest edge of chimney piece B to form a triangle. Gently press all 3 chimney pieces together (see Fig.1). Set aside to dry completely, 3-4 hours., Meanwhile, pipe icing along the 2 longest edges of both the front and back chalet pieces. With longest sides pointing up, position 1 A-frame roof piece, then the other, at about a 45° angle between the front and back house pieces. Press pieces gently together. Prop with canned goods and set chalet aside to dry, 3-4 hours., Referring to photo, center chimney on 1 side of chalet. Ice bottom edge of chimney piece C and press onto peak of chalet so that the chimney rises above it., Ice the back of the door and center it on front of chalet, as indicated on pattern. Press into place. If desired, use reserved dough scraps and icing to create tree and deer cutout cookies. ,