
6 batches of my gingerbread recipe…

4 batches or 4 kg of royal icing…

and goodness knows how much candy later…

is what it took to make the 7 simple and whimsical gingerbread houses & gingerbread dollhouse facade I had planned to make this year.

I’m so happy I just managed to get them all done!

They’re why I haven’t posted in a while, but I wouldn’t have managed to even make them as fast as I did without my new, 7-quart bowl-lift KitchenAid mixer.

Sigh. It is a thing of beauty.

Not only is it pretty to look at, it’s pretty powerful too. It had no problem mixing the 6 batches of gingerbread I mentioned earlier. Amount-wise, with this mixer, I only had to make the dough twice! (3 batches at a time). For the royal icing, I only had to make 2 double-batches and still have leftover icing which I’ll use for decorated cookies.
To show you how I made the icing in my new mixer, I finally made another video – here’s a how-to on making royal icing for your gingerbread houses:
{Video} How to Make Royal Icing for Gingerbread Houses
Click here if you can’t see the video.
If you’d like to make royal icing for your gingerbread house(s), and would like printable recipes, I’ve included a single and double batch recipe here for you, as well as a classic royal icing recipe made with egg-whites especially for those of you who can’t find meringue powder. The first two recipes listed here are adapted from cakecentral.com’s user Antonia74. The recipe made with egg whites is adapted from the author of Gingerbread for All Seasons, Teresa Layman.
You can find a template for a gingerbread house and a video on how I put the house together, HERE.
I bought most of my candy at Old Thyme Confections HERE.
Royal Icing Recipe for Gingerbread Houses (One or Two Batches)
Click here for the Printable Recipe

Royal Icing Recipe Made with Egg-Whites
Click here for the Printable Recipe THE PRINTABLE RECIPE HAS A TYPO! IT SHOULD SAY 1 KILOGRAM (KG) ICING SUGAR, NOT 1 pound (lb).

A quick note about royal icing – if you’d like more information on how to store it, how long it lasts etc., please click here and for a video on find royal icing consistency for decorating cookies, please click here.
It was completely worth the one hour’s drive to Toronto to buy the mixer (I had to drive there to get one as it’s a new model and the residential model is exclusively available to Williams-Sonoma right now. The NSF commercial mixer is more readily available. You can find it on Amazon here), as the amount of icing I went through for the houses and the facade was really something!
You might be wondering by now what a ” gingerbread dollhouse facade” is. In fact, I didn’t know what to call it, so I just kind of made the name up. I know you’re not supposed to play with your food, but I couldn’t resist making a little gingerbread “house” that our H-banana could play with this Christmas. Truth be told I had wanted to make an all edible interior too, but time-wise, that was just not going to happen. I can’t wait to see how she reacts.

And another confession, I’m not sure who’s going to enjoy her gift more, her or I. Lol. I think I’ve fallen in love with miniatures.

I mean, really. Those little cookies are barely 1 cm long.

And oh my goodness, a little sieve and whisk! I want to try sifting flour with it! (No, haven’t done it yet… stress the yet).

By the way, there’s a tiny version of something in the ‘gingerbread dollhouse facade’ that I’ll possibly be giving you for Christmas – except it will be adult size. Can you guess what it is? Chances are, if you’ve read the title of this post, you already know 😉 .

You got it!

Ultimate 7-Quart KitchenAid Mixer Giveaway!
To celebrate the Holiday season and help you with your Christmas baking, I am hosting a giveaway for TWO 7-quart Ultimate KitchenAid Mixers!
You’ll be able to chose from the following available colours:

I am so excited and thankful that KitchenAid is sponsoring this giveaway for you! Good luck!
Here’s how to enter:
You have at least five chances of winning – each option below gives you one chance, and you’re about to see how there are even more possibilities.
Either use Facebook or your name and email to enter the contest below.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
The contest is not running on Facebook and although I appreciate your comments on my Facebook page, those comments will not be entered into the draw. Again, you must leave your comments here.
*
Announcing the Winner of the *TWO* 7-Quart KitchenAid Mixers!
First of all, thank you to all of you who entered; I was delighted and touched by your sweet, funny and passionate responses.
I really WISH I could give away as many mixers as there were entries; you dedicated bakers and sweet-tooths deserve it!
There is one winning comment number though, and it is:
Congratulations!!

The winner is Nicole Irwin Cross, entry #16,754!
Please contact me with the best way to reach you so that you can claim your prizes.
Thank you to ALL of you how entered! Blessings to you this holiday season!
xo,
Marian



I would love to win!
Thank you for the chance to win!! I want sooooooo much to win!!!! Have a merry merry Christmas and a happy new year!! xxx
I would love to win!!! Fingers crossed!
Oh my goodness! I love your Gingerbread Houses!! Amazing! So beautiful and creative! I have been dreaming of having a red KitchenAid mixer for years now! What a cool give-away! Thank you to Sunday for informing us of this blog on her fb page! Yay! This is so much fun! Thank you!
Thanks to Carla Machuca…I found out about this awesome sweepstakes. Hope they select our names!!!
I would love to win!
Wouldn’t that be a fantastic Christmas present.
I would like to win!!! 🙂
I would love to win!!
Pick me please!!! I would love one of these mixers!!! 🙂 Merry Christmas!
This would be amaxing! I’ve always wanted one!!
Your gingerbread houses are amazing!!!
I would love to win!!!
Such a thing of beauty.
Amazing for Christmas present!
Winning one of these mixers would be a dream come true.
This would be an AMAZING Christmas gift! Love it!!!
I hope I win this mixer!!! That would be sooo amazing!!!!
I would love a red one please!
Amazing gingerbread houses!!!
I NEED this!!!!! I want to make lots of cute cookies and cakes! My hand mixer is just not cutting it anymore! PLEASE!
I would love love loooovvveee this!!!!
This would definitely be a lot faster than my hand mixer! Love it!!
I would love to win this! What an awesome giveaway for the holidays!
I would LOVE LOVE LOOOOOVE to win!
Would love this!!!,
I would not only love to win…I have a big family and I need to win lol.
Would love to win this giveaway.
Yes, yes & yes, the KitchenAid mixer is delicious to look at. In fact this mixer would really look good in my kitche, hint!
oh! I’d love to win one of these in the candy apple red color!
What a beautiful mixer! If chosen, red would definitely be my color of choice 🙂
Don’t think my gingerbread house would turn out as nice as yours….even with the mixer, however one can always hope!!
I would LOVE to win a new kitchen aid! WOW!! I have been drooling over them. I think I have one of the oldest ones around. It was my grandmothers, and knowing her, she purchased it when they were the newest thing!!
I absolutely adore everything you make!!! Oh and ummm I’d LOVE to win one of those awesome Kitchenaids. =)
I would absolutely love to win!! Me and my mom love baking together and would love to have this mixer to use!! 🙂
This would be such a great mother daughter gift for Christmas. Really hope I win!!
I so hope I win this mixer! it would be great for the mass of cookies and bourbon balls I make every Christmas!
I would love to Win! I love to cook and bake!
oh ma! KITCHEN AID!!! this is the sweetest thing of sweetopia! sweeptakes!
I would like to win!!!!
I would LOVE to win this in the Candy Apple Red!
im dyingg for it
Absolutely beautiful! Love the gingerbread houses…Sherron
Oh, a RED Kitchenaid Mixer – could anything be more delightful?!!!
The Gingerbread houses are inspiring. I would love to try something like that, but would need to have the mixer to take on the task 🙂
What an amazing giveaway!!!
I want to win, I bake all the time and have an old hand mixer. Blessings…
Merry Christmas!
Oh how I would love to win this! My poor little mixer is on it’s last legs. It would be the best Christmas present EVER!
I would love a mixer for Christmas!!!! Love your blog!
I would really have a Merry Christmas if I won this fabulous mixer! Thank You!!