concentrated and makes deep,
bright colors. You can find gel food coloring in most grocery stores, but the gels at craft
and cake decorating stores come in many more colors and are even more concentrated.
When tinting your icing, use a craft stick or toothpick to add just a tiny bit of gel to
the icing. A little bit goes a very long way. You can always keep adding more, but you canât
add less!
The easiest way to use the icing to decorate your house is to spoon some of it into a
quart-size ziplock bag. Squeeze the air out of the top, then seal the bag. Double-check and
make sure it is completely sealed or else the icing will come out the top when you squeeze
the bag. Cut off a bottom corner of the bag and squeeze the bag to push the icing through
the hole. The smaller the hole, the thinner the line when youâre piping the icing. Youâll
usually want a thinner line when decorating, but you can use a thicker line when âgluingâ
the house together.
Any icing that is left in the bowl needs to be covered with plastic wrap so that the
plastic wrap is touching the surface of the icing. Icing that is exposed to air will turn
hard quickly and you wonât be able to use it.
You can store royal icing in the fridge for a few days.
Candy, Candy, Candy!
The projects in this book have suggestions of what candy to use so that your house looks
the same as the one in the photo. But if you have an idea for a different color or shape of
candy for the house youâre making, go for it! The best part of making gingerbread houses is
using your imagination and playing with different candies to come up with a cool design
thatâs all your own. You can use any candy you want, with one exception: taffy. After taffy
is unwrapped, it will eventually âmeltâ and run down the sides of your house. Trust meâit
doesnât look good!
Now that you know some tips and tricks and important information, go have some fun, be
creative, and build some really cool no-bake gingerbread houses.
Demo version limitation
Metric Conversion Chart
Volume Measurements
Weight Measurements
Temperature Conversion
U.S.
Metric
U.S.
Metric
U.S.
Metric
1 teaspoon
5 ml
1/2 ounce
15 g
250
120
1 tablespoon
15 ml
1 ounce
30 g
300
150
1/4 cup
60 ml
3 ounces
90 g
325
160
1/3 cup
75 ml
4 ounces
115 g
350
180
1/2 cup
125 ml
8 ounces
225 g
375
190
2/3 cup
150 ml
12 ounces
350 g
400
200
3/4 cup
175 ml
1 pound
450 g
425
220
1 cup
250 ml
2-1/4 pounds
1 kg
450
230