pooleparty

Just to give credit where credit is due, the recipe given by Patricia Austin above is Marcy Goldman's "Double Bran Muffin" with only the slightest of changes.

Confessing my obsession with gingerbread houses, I can relate to the superabundance of egg yolks. The filling for Christmas Lane Cake from Epicurious uses eight yolks. (Of course the cake itself uses eight whites, but I never actually make that cake. I use the filling with chocolate cake.)

If you've gotten the gingerbread house bug and are hunting for more inspiration, check out the Yahoo group I moderate. There are lots of links to decorating tips, suggestions and pictures. Right now we're having a poll to select our gingerbread house photo of the year.

For the record, I have traditionally used Teresa Layman's recipe. I have had houses that collapsed after two days, after two weeks and after two months. I've also had a few houses that have survived for years on end without the aid of any special storage conditions (stuck on a high kitchen shelf uncovered, collecting dust, and generally becoming disgusting). One witch's cottage, crafted by my daughter in her kindergarten year, met its end last month only because we finally convinced our now eight-year-old that it had to go. Last year we made two houses with the Pastry Chef Central recipe and both houses lasted all year, without absorbing moisture or becoming dry and brittle, just as the recipe claimed. We convinced our daughter to toss them, but had we not I expect that both houses would have lasted a very long time. I guess that is sort of what got me thinking about this topic. What is it about the chemistry of the Layman recipe that yields shelf lives of such varying lengths? What is it about the make up of the Pastry Chef Central recipe that the final product didn't absorb moisture or become brittle? All six of the recipes I cited in the original post seem to be radically different from each other. Yet they all claim to be the perfect formula for sturdy houses. I am interested in understanding the science behind the gingerbread and I appreciate the responses I've received so far. Any other thoughts on the subject?

Here's a question for all you food chemistry eggheads: If the goal is sturdiness and long shelf life (unaided by non-edible support structures), not taste, then what aspect of a gingerbread house dough recipe is most important? Submitted for your approval are a collection of multifarious recipes, all of which are reputed to be the perfect concoction for making gingerbread houses: 1.) Teresa Layman's Recipe (Author of Gingerbread for All Seasons) http://www.vegsource.com/talk/veganism/messages/953365.html 2.) Deni's Deluxe Dough (Top 10 finalist at the Grove Park Inn National Gingerbread House Competition) http://home.comcast.net/~frankysattic/denidough.htm 3.) Christina Banner's Recipe (Grand Prize winner of the GPI competition and Food Network Challenge winner) http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/re...6_32442,00.html 4.) Elizabeth Prioli's Recipe (Grand Prize winner of the GPI competition) http://www.cottageliving.com/cottage/food/...1127969,00.html 5.) Good Housekeeping Recipe ("Nettie's Gingersnap Dough" printed year after year in the annual Christmas issue) http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/recipefind...read-dough-1571 6.) Pastry Chef Central ("The finished baked items will not absorb moisture nor become dry and brittle!") http://www.pastrychef.com/Gingerbread-House_ep_105.html But what is it that really makes one recipe superior to another? Are the specific ingredients used the most important element for success, or is it the ratios of those ingredients to each other? Or, is the mixing method the key to success? One recipe claims honey outlasts molasses, some recipes use margarine not shortening, some use eggs and some don't. Some recipes use roughly equivalent amounts, by weight, of fat and sugar, others use more sugar than fat. One recipe uses very little viscous sweetener, while others use a lot. Some recipes cream the fats and sugars like regular cookie dough, others melt the fats with the syrup/sugar and still another recipe skips this step altogether and uses oil. Based on your knowledge of baking chemistry, what is paramount to gingerbread house success? Is it the specific ingredients used, the ratios utilized, or the mixing method? Or am I barking up the wrong tree altogether? Does it all come down to environmental conditions (humidity) or technique (architecturally sound house design, coating the gingerbread with royal icing, or using an edible fixative, etc.)? Looking forward to this discussion! E.

Cargill's site states that Isomalt is heat stable at temperatures up to 160C (320F), which implies that at higher temperatures it may discolor. http://tinyurl.com/2fg7mb I think that Baggy's comment is valid. Perhaps, the problem is not with the Isomalt, but with the candy thermometer. It's not wildly out of the realm of possibility that it is reading 280F (the point at which you noted discoloration), when in fact the actual temperature is much higher. My own experience with Isomalt is rather limited, but I did find that it does in fact discolor. I tried microwaving small quantities of it last December to use for gingerbread house windows. It was my first experiment with boiled sugar (real or synthetic). I microwaved the Isomalt with a little water (10:1 ratio) in a Pyrex measuring cup and then poured the hot liquid into a waiting gingerbread piece. The result was a remarkably crystal clear window. While admiring my handiwork I accidentally broke the gingerbread piece, so I decided to pour another one. However, by this time the Isomalt had hardened. Since I had limited quantities of the stuff, I just microwaved the Pyrex again for 90 seconds. However, I got distracted by the phone or something else and the Isomalt hardened all over again. I microwaved it for a third time and found that by this time the Isomalt looked a little amber colored in the Pyrex cup. I don't know whether this was because the temperature had exceeded 160C (I didn't use a thermometer) or if it was because it had been heated multiple times. In any case, the finished window was still beautiful, just not absent of color. I did find that after a week or so the windows went cloudy. This was something that I had not expected. Perhaps I will try adding glucose as HQAntithesis suggested. My two cents...

You have probably already found a pattern that you are happy with, or have made one of your own by now. However, I just remembered having bookmarked this haunted gingerbread house article from the Rocky Mountain News last year. It looks like it would make a suitably spooky house. http://tinyurl.com/yjju5m Have fun with your project!

I had the Martha Stewart magazine with the photograph of the haunted house, but I would have to do some searching to put my hands on it. I know that I didn't throw it out. Actually, that issue inspired me to start making Halloween themed gingerbread houses a few years ago. If I find it I will let you know. Meanwhile, I know that this isn't what you are looking for, but you might consider these two patterns: Ray Keim's "Haunted Dimensions" Phantom Manor is reminiscent of the Martha Stewart house: http://www.haunteddimensions.raykeim.com/index500.html Ravensblight Manor is a paper model, but you could adapt it for use as a gingerbread pattern: http://ravensblight.com/Manor.htm I have links to lots of other gingerbread house patterns, photographs and decorating ideas at the Yahoo group I run, if anyone is interested: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/justgingerbreadhouses/

For a bake sale at my daughter's school last year I decorated the cupcakes to look like brown bears, pandas and koalas using various candies. I got the idea from my Claire Crespo book, "Hey There, Cupcake". You can see a picture of the panda and the brown bear on the front and back covers: http://tinyurl.com/2ck4jf I wasn't able to attend the sale, but the PTA president told me that they sold out almost immediately. With kids, it's all about eye appeal. Sometimes taste is secondary. (That's true with some adults, too!)