Gingerbread-cottage-along: humidity-proofing your house

Previously on Gingerbread-Cottage-Along ...
Introducing the cottage-along
Selecting a gingerbread recipe
Selecting a template

Humidity: the enemy of sleek hair-styles and gingerbread. I live in Melbourne, a city a long way south of the equator. High humidity rarely troubles us here and a gingerbread cottage will generally hold its stead. However, as you travel closer to the equator, you are more likely to experience rising damp and sogginess in your house. At very high humidity there is potential for structural instability and ... gasp ... collapse.

Like many people, gingerbread likes a low relative humidity. According to a study (link to abtract), recommended upper comfort limit for gingerbread is remarkably similiar to humans. At room temperature gingerbread keeps best below 60% relative humidity. In reality, the structural integrity of your cottage probably relies on a much lower level of humidity. You will notice most recipes suggest that you store gingerbread in a cool, dry place.

So is it possible to make a gingerbread house in more humid climates? A bit of research and reading via Google, suggests yes. Here are some ideas:

• Overbake the gingerbread pieces a little. This will dry them out.


• Use a gingerbread recipe designed for high humidity (Link to recipe)


• Coat the pieces with royal icing to keep out the damp


• Wrap the house in cling film or cellophane wrap overnight


• Make each load-bearing wall using two identical pieces. Sandwich them together with icing. This will give a nice stable wall and the additional icing helps draw moisture out of the gingerbread.


• Put a light inside your cottage. Turn the light on each day and this will help keep your gingerbread dry.

Unfortunately, I can't personally vouch for any of these methods or say which would work best. If I had to pick something to try, I think it might the light and the icing (as long as it didn't make the house pieces too heavy). You might like to try a combination of things. I'd imagine that each one, however, would reduce the edibility of your cottage. (Especially the gingerbread recipe, which guarantees to break your teeth!). Do you have any tips or sure-fire methods for humidity proofing a gingerbread cottage?

Lastly, an aside. During my research I chanced upon an article, discussing what happens when you add corn or potato starch to commercial gingerbread. (Link to article) This got me to thinking about what to do if you bake with a wheat or gluten-free flour. Often these flours contain, amongst other things, a mix of maize and potato starch. I know when I have baked scones with wheat-free flour in the past, I have had to use a great deal more liquid to the mix, than I would if I were to use wheat flour. The article suggests that adding a little potato and/or corn starch to wheat flour will improve the shelf-life of gingerbread, as it will hold more moisture. I'd conclude from this, that wheat-free flour would probably be unsuitable to use for a gingerbread cottage in high-humidity climates. Does anyone have any experience of this?

Are you cottaging-along? How are your preparations going?

Next: Assembling and decorating a house (Wednesday 17 Dec.)

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