Gingerbread 2011: Urban Brownstone Complete

Dec 162011

A few years ago I received this as a gift. The Gingerbread Architect is a great book, and it comes with recipes and ingredients for 12 different gingerbread masterpieces.

This year, I opted to make the Urban Brownstone, which is rated as one of the more difficult houses to make in the book. Despite the written difficulty level, I found the baking of the walls to be pretty easy, and the decorating wasn’t too difficult either. It was definitely easier going than last year’s Second Empire house.

Next year, I am strongly considering making my own house out of gingerbread.

Without further ado – here are the photos from my process this year. Hope you enjoy the photos as much as I enjoyed making this year’s house. Happy Holidays everyone!

Plans - enlarged, copied and cut from The Gingerbread Architect.	Rolling and cutting 8 pounds of gingerbread dough. This was the front wall piece, which needed the windows cut out.
Everything is baked at this point. Here I've melted hard butterscotch candies into the windows, and piped icing for mullions.	The base for the house. I cut a hole in the base to string the LED lights through, and ran the AC cord out the back.
Pre-construction tools. Icing, piping bag, various tips for the bag, and that's what she said.	First wall is up on the board, held up with a complex system of coffee mugs.
Four outside walls are up. Held together with pins while the icing "glue" dries.	View of the inside. Lights in a bunch at the bottom. I used more pins to secure the lights higher on the vertical gingerbread struts.
Details - front stairs, door below the stoop, Rice Krispies hedge, mini Chiclets patio.	Details - sanding sugar roof, Candy Bloks chimney.
Details - front door, flower baskets, windows boxes with flowers and leaves.	Money shot! With the windows lit, you can almost see people having holiday parties inside.
Another shot of the finished house. Party on Wayne! Party on Garth!

john

looks awesome Bruce!! lot of time put into this piece!!
next yr we do the taj mahal!! lol

http://transcendwebs.com/blog Bruce Ng

LOL thanks John! i think i’ll stick to a house. i can see the Taj Mahal crumbling under a ton of fondant hahaha!

http://twitter.com/iskeets0ysauce **JD**

awesome job bruce! i still see an architect in you, yet LOL

http://transcendwebs.com/blog Bruce Ng

thanks JD! i think i’m too old to learn proper architecture. gingerbread architect, okay, maybe. =)

http://twitter.com/DilaraLit Dilara Litonjua

That’s fantastic Bruce! Looks so great

http://transcendwebs.com/blog Bruce Ng

thanks Dilara! might require your interior design services on next year’s haha!

http://twitter.com/girlygirlpotter Rochele

Amazing, Bruce! That is so incredible. I’ve wanted to make gingerbread architecture for years, but I always seem to run out of time. Your family must be so proud!

http://transcendwebs.com/blog Bruce Ng

hi Rochele! funny you mention running out of time, this year i got started earlier. last 2 years in a row i got finished really late – Dec 23rd. it helped that this year there wasn’t as much crazy candy required. thanks for the read!

http://twitter.com/girlygirlpotter Rochele

PS I love the mini chicklet patio.
http://cicychan.com Cicy

Holy crap, Bruce. That looks amazing.

http://transcendwebs.com/blog Bruce Ng

thanks Cicy!!! <3

Cathy

so did you eat it, or will it forever be in this state, lol as that looked like alot of work!

http://transcendwebs.com/blog Bruce Ng

as yet, uneaten lol .. staring at me. every day. hahahah!!

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Gingerbread 2011: Urban Brownstone Complete

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