No way to lie, this was a marathon in cookie decorating, but made possible thanks to the flawless instructions and all templates provided by Haniela. This is part of her Patreon videos, but you can purchase the tutorial as a single, isolated lesson clicking here.
So many details! Obviously I cannot share all the details to make this adorable Halloween project, as it is all part of a paid class. But when you sign up for it, you will get everything needed. I am totally in love with it, and considering my trauma with gingerbread constructions, I am thrilled to have this one standing! (Side note: if you are not aware, in my past I was eliminated from the Great American Baking Show competition by a collapsed gingerbread house, Christmas vibe and all. Apologies to Paul Hollywood).
You will start by making all the Royal icing transfers, preferably the day before. All templates in scale provided by Haniela.
I made one extra door, some extra windows and several extra skulls. But oddly enough, none of them broke… Go figure. Then comes baking the components (I used Haniela’s recipe for construction gingerbread, made half the recipe).
The front and back panels, as well as the side panels, have a double coating of icing, starting with a thin layer of black and a thicker layer of white and black over it. Then the brick pattern is added with a toothpick.
But the most fun component is definitely the roof! A labor of love in three colors…
And after quite a bit of work, all pieces were ready and waiting for the final day
(day #3) in this big adventure…
My only departure from Haniela’s tutorial was using hot sugar caramel to glue the house together instead of Royal icing. After my trauma in the tent, I decided to use that method, for fear of a slow collapse. The only problem is that it sets up super fast. Next time I will be more careful trimming all pieces so they have a perfect fit, and also assembling the house over a piece of paper with a grid. This way I will be able to visualize the 90 degree angle better. It is very hard to adjust the pieces once you use hot caramel. The other issue was caramel running down the front of the panel. Of course, in a Halloween concoction this type of boo-boo can be part of the look. But I would not be happy with a cute Valentine’s house with a sugar drip.
I could not scrape it off or remove with water, so I just left it there. My next gingerbread assembling will be neater, hopefully.
At any rate, with a few issues here and there, I could not be happier with my little house! Huge thank you to Haniela for yet another amazing tutorial!
She has so many gingerbread house options in her Patreon site and her blog. Check them out, you will be amazed!
ONE YEAR AGO: Dressed to Bewitch
TWO YEARS AGO: Cookies for Scary Times
THREE YEARS AGO: Playing with Colored Dough
FOUR YEARS AGO: Spooktacular Shortbread Cookies
For the Love of Cookies 
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