Hoppo Bumpo (n): A children's game. Played by folding one's arms and hopping on one leg. Aim is to bump opponents, so that they lose their balance. Last person standing wins.


December 08, 2008

A gingerbread-cottage-along


And when the children came near they found it was the most wonderful cottage they had ever seen. It was built entirely of gingerbread and ornamented with cookies. The windows were made of transparent candy and the steps of toffee. [From "Hansel and Gretel", The Brothers Grimm]

There is something magical about a gingerbread cottage. It might be the heady scent of the spicy walls and roof. Or maybe the lure of the snowy icing and bright sweets. Or perhaps that secret dream of being able to eat your accommodation.

This year I am turning my hand to a bit of edible craft for Argy and Bargy. They are already avowed gingerbread fans, so I would imagine that the combination of that and a load of sweets cemented into vaguely house-like shape, will be quite irresistible.

I have made a few cottages before, but not for a good number of years. The construction is a bit fiddly and there is always potential for something to go awry. But risk equals return. Its hard to think of an example of a bad cottage (we haven't seen one on Cake Wrecks, right?) - they all look special. And if something really does go horribly wrong, you can always eat the evidence and deny its existence.

I will be writing a few posts over the next couple of weeks about various aspects of making a cottage. If you fancy joining in for a Gingerbread-cottage-along leave a comment here and let me know. It will all be very casual - share as much or as little as you like. This is just for fun. Make one from scratch or create it from a kit. (There are plenty of fantastic pre-fabs about these days - I even saw one in my small local Coles supermarket the other day.) If you are an old hand at making cottages, perhaps you could share your favourite tips as we go along.

These are the days that I will write the posts:

  • Thursday 11 December - choosing a gingerbread recipe
  • Saturday 13 December - selecting a house pattern
  • Monday 15 December - humidity-proofing a gingerbread house
  • Wednesday 17 December - assembling and decorating a house
  • Sometime after Saturday 20 December - (hopefully!) showing an assembled house

    (Download 11-page PDF of all related posts)

* Note: the gingerbread pictured above was located at the back of a cupboard on the weekend. They were pieces from a cottage project abandoned last year. Whilst stashing is an accepted - and even, encouraged - practice amongst craftspeople, I would not recommend stashing gingerbread. I threw caution to the wind and nibbled a small piece. It was nasty. No, correction .... completely vile. No matter what you read anywhere ... homemade gingerbread will not last for 12 months. And yes, I really should clean out my cupboards more often.

18 comments:

  1. I would LOVE to join in! Yes please. I am notoriously "that's too hard I'm blowing that off" - ish, but will try really hard! LOVE your blog, every post makes me chuckle. Ever thought about writing professionally??!

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  2. I'd like to join in but I know I won't have time so I'll just watch from a distance :)

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  3. As I don't have an oven, I won't be joining in (though really wish I was). I'll be excitedly watching though, I've always wanted to make a gingerbread house!

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  4. Oh, how exciting! I'm making my first gingerbread house this year with my boys and can't wait to see what you come up with :)

    I've already selected my pattern and have my favourite gingerbread recipe all ready to go!!

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  5. I'm cheering from the sidelines on this one. Me and the cat will never be able to eat a gingerbread house.

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  6. Oh if you need a recipe I have a GOOD one. I use ginger bread cutters so it would work (lol). I roll and cut the dough on the baking sheet to avoid any distorsion . If you want you can break up some lollies and put them in windows to melt while it is cooking. BUt I am sure you probably already know all of this !

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  7. Looking forward to seeing what you come up with. I may have to join in the construction, feeling a little inspired.

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  8. How fabulous! I'll be watching from the sidelines as well, with great interest!

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  9. A gingerbread house is on my to do list this Christmas - Never made one before but keen to try...

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  10. Excellent, I will be following your progress. I'll post about mine if I knock one out. I'll be probably posting about Christmas biscuits in the coming weeks, I have got some fantastic cutters that we bring out each year.

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  11. I love that you organise "a-longs" but sadly I cannot join you on this one. Firstly I am the worst cook in the world and secondly I will be up in the air during some of the assembly time. I have a feeling the people sitting in 36C and E will not take kindly to me getting out a load of gingerbread and icing! They are going to be pretty peeved when they see the all bouncing, high pitched squealing, noisy toy wielding Boo as it is!

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  12. Giggling at the old gingerbread in the back of the cupboard... now if it were my cupboard, it'd be a few years old :o

    Won't be joining you on this 'a long' as my SIL claims she will be making the GB house this year... when they offer, I accept :)

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  13. love your blog heaps. funny reading your challenge, it is the first year i decided not to make my houses, i usually make up to 20 ( i give them as prezzies ) a tradition from my Mum who was german and we had one every year. the german recipe from my Mum has no ginger in it and lasts forever ( like wedding cake ) i have some in a tin from last xmas and it will be fine, have had roofs sliding off due to humid weather . NOW you have me excited and i may have to house along or at least just enjoy your blog while you tell the story of it all , and learn. Thankyou so much for that.

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  14. I've made lots of gingerbread men but never a house, maybe this is something I can try this Christmas! Good luck with yours :)

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  15. Here's me cheering from the sidelines: Gimme a G! Gimme an I! Gimme a G-I-NGER!

    I'm just not up to the challenge of a gingebread house, but I am so planning to live vicariously and learn from your posts...

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  17. I use ginger bread cutters so it would work (lol). I roll and cut the dough on the baking sheet to avoid any distorsion . If you want you can break up some lollies and put them in windows to melt while it is cooking. BUt I am sure you probably already know all of this !

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  18. Perhaps that secret dream of being able to eat your accommodation.

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Thanks for dropping by! I love hearing what people have to say. Leave a comment if you like.