BKHjncmif Farming, Saturday, Dacambar 2, 1993
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CONNIE LEINBACH
Berks Co. Correspondent
READING (Berks Co.)
Creating a gingerbread house may
be too awesome a task for some
kids. But take heart. Young ones
can test the water by first building
a cottage out of graham crackers.
Very young children will need a
lot of adult supervision. Children
in the middle elementary grades
will need an adult to cut crackers to
size. -And young ones may need
help squeezing the icing out of the
pastry bag.
But no matter. The idea is to
have fun and build an edible house
complete with candy decorations.
“Each one may take from one to
two hours to complete,” says Pat
Golembiewski, a professional
cake maker and wedding planner
of Redwood Drive, Wyomissing.
The total length of time is needed
because the icing glue should dry
for 30 minutes or more before
decorating the house.
Pat’s cookie cottage designs are
patterned after the cookie house
designed by the Gingerbread Lady
of Lancaster.
Pat says that the houses don’t
need to be made out of graham
crackers. They also can be made
out of club crackers, or even pre
tzel sticks for a log cabin look.
You are limited only by your
imagination!
Here’s what you’ll need:
• A piece of cardboard coveted
with tin foil on which to build your
house. If you want to use colored
foil, make sure it is lead free.
• Graham crackers or Club
crackers or pretzels
• Assorted small candies: Toot
sie rolls, gum drops, spearmints,
fish crackers, M&Ms, Necco waf
ers, Twizzlers whatever you
want to decorate your house with.
• Royal icing made from the
Wilton meringue powder mix,
which is available in the cake
decorating sections of craft stores.
(Pat says if you are going to eat the
house, you should use this powder
because of the threat of Salmonella
poisoning if you use raw eggs.)
Also, use Domino’s 10X confec
tioner’s sugar in the icing. Pat
stresses a name brand because she
says this one works the best (She
should know, being a
Your creativity in designing your house Is limited only by your Imagination, as you
can sea bv the varletv of those cottaoes Pat made.
professional).
Here’s the recipe:
3 tablespoons meringue powder
1 pound Domino’s 10X confec
tioner’s sugar
s'/j tablespoon warm water (if
needed, you may add 1/2 tables
poon or more)
Follow the ‘ directions on the
meringue powder box carefully. A
double batch of this icing will
make six houses.
To form house
Cut two whole graham crackers
in half to make four house tides.
To cut them so that they don’t
break, place them on a clean,
folded towel and use a sharp, ser
rated knife to saw through it. Pat
emphasizes you must not press
down on the cracker or it will
break) just hold it gently by the
sides.
Next (and this is the part for
adults) cut one-fourth off two
whole graham crackers to make
two rectangles 3-inches long.
These will be the two roof pieces.
Cut two small remaining pieces
into triangles. These will support
the roof pieces.
Start by squeezing the icing
“glue” on the board on the spot
where your house will be. Pat says
for best control of the icing, don’t
HU the bag full. Less is better.
Stand up the four sides of the
house in the icing, gluing the bot
tom edges to the base and at the
side edges (house comers), gluing
generously with icing. Let them
stand until the icing is hard.
Meanwhile, cut a roof. Ripple
icing along all the top edges of the
front and back house pieces. Place
onto this icing ripple ledge the two
triangle graham pieces. Put icing
along the two triangle edges and
me side edge of house. Place on
these iced edges the one roof gra
ham piece. Repeat, putting icing
along the remaining four edges
(including long center roof edge)
then put the second roof piece in
place.
Meanwhile, make a Christmas
tree with a sugar ice cream cone.
All you need is to add green food
coloring to a portion of the icing.
Mix it and fill another cake decor
ating bag. Squeeze small peaks all
around the cone for a Douglas Fir
look or just spread the icing in the
Samantha Dlllman, 5, of West Lawn, prepares to build her graham cracker house
with the help of professional cake maker Pat Golembiewski. First, the tour walls are
set up and allowed to dry for at least a half hour.
cone and decorate with sprinkles.
Frost the roof with icing. For a
snowy yard look, spread icing all
around the house on top of the
cardboard. Now the fun begins as
you decorate your house before the
icing hardens.
One imaginative thing Pat does
is make fences out of cut Tootsie
rolls. With the colored Tootsie
rolls, she cuts them and kneads
them, and molds them into bushes.
"I like to do this stuff,” Pat says
about her cottages and the ginger
bread houses she makes every year
at Christmas. “I like to create.”
Roof shingles can be made with
Quaker Toasted Oatmeal flakes or
Necco wafers. Pat even uses Cap’n
Crunch for roofing.
She suggests that when you
aren’t using the icing in the bowl or
in the bag, keep it covered with a
damp towel so that the icing
doesn't dry out. Leftover icing can
be saved in a tightly covered con
tainer at room temperature while
you are ready to make the houses.
Just beat it to bring it back to
consistency.
If you don’t want to eat your
cookie house, Pat says it will keep
for years if covered with plastic
and stored in a dry place.
hV s
rated knife so that they don’t break. Place cracker on clean,
dry towel and hold gently by the edges while cutting using a
sawing method.
A paper cup or a augar Ice cream cone can be used to
make a Christmas tree. Paper cups can be cut to whatever
size you want. Coat with white or colored froeting.