Making a gingerbread home is ideal for keeping the family entertained over the holiday season! While gingerbread cookies have been around for a long time, the typical gingerbread house arrived to the United States with immigrants from Germany, where it had gained in popularity after the publication of the Hansel and Gretel story.
We examine a range of the finest gingerbread house kits to help you discover the appropriate one for your family, including entire pre-baked kits, ready-to-bake kits, molds, and even a re-usable gingerbread home! We also look at the fascinating history of gingerbread cookies and provide a number of recommendations to help you get the most out of a gingerbread house kit.
Best Selection
As a ready-to-assemble and decorate kit that is a bit different from the usual gingerbread home, the Wilton Super Mario Brothers gingerbread castle kit is our top selection.
Budget Selection
Being a tiny and full gingerbread house kit with two design possibilities, the Wilton petite traditional gingerbread house kit is our budget selection.
Contents
- Quick Comparison: Top 9 Best Gingerbread House Kits
- 1. Wilton Super Mario Brothers Gingerbread Castle Kit
- 2. Wilton Ready-to-Decorate Gingerbread House Decorating Kit
- 3. In the Mix Gingerbread Cookie Kit by BRAND CASTLE
- 4. Juvale Gingerbread House Silicone Mold Kit
- 5. The Candy Cottage
- 6. Wonka Gingerbread Cottage Candy Kit
- 7. Wilton Build It Yourself Mini Village Gingerbread House Decorating Kit
- 8. The Elf on the Shelf Gingerbread House Kit by Cookies U
- 9. Tootsie Roll Gingerbread Cottage Kit
- Considerations Before Purchasing a Gingerbread Home Kit
- Conclusion
Quick Comparison: Top 9 Best Gingerbread House Kits
| Product Name | Grade |
|---|---|
| Wilton Super Mario Brothers Gingerbread Castle Kit | A- |
| Wilton Ready-to-Decorate Gingerbread House Decorating Kit | A- |
| In the Mix Gingerbread Cookie Kit by BRAND CASTLE | B+ |
| Juvale Gingerbread House Silicone Mold Kit | A- |
| The Candy Cottage | A- |
| Wonka Gingerbread Cottage Candy Kit | A- |
| Wilton Build It Yourself Mini Village Gingerbread House Decorating Kit | A- |
| The Elf on the Shelf Gingerbread House Kit by Cookies U | A- |
| Tootsie Roll Gingerbread Cottage Kit | A- |
1. Wilton Super Mario Brothers Gingerbread Castle Kit
Highlighted Characteristics
The Wilton Super Mario Brothers gingerbread castle kit includes four pre-baked gingerbread castle panels, mushroom-shaped gingerbread cookies, sprinkles, gumdrops, mushroom, and Super Mario icing decorations, and instructions. It also comes with fondant, ready-to-use icings, and a display board.
The maker suggests building the castle, which measures 7.25 wide by 4.8 deep by 6 high, for three to four hours before decorating. Several purchasers have reported receiving this kit with broken gingerbread panels, requiring additional time to glue the parts back together with icing before the castle can be completed.
Pros
Cons
2. Wilton Ready-to-Decorate Gingerbread House Decorating Kit
Highlighted Characteristics
The Wilton tiny traditional gingerbread house kit comes with everything you need to make a classic home that measures 4.5 high by 5.25 wide and 5.75 deep, including pre-baked gingerbread panels, ready-to-use icing and decorating bag, and three varieties of candies.
The package also contains instructions and photographs of two different designs to assist you in building the home. A number of purchasers got this kit damaged, requiring repairs before it could be constructed, and several buyers discovered that the ready-to-use icing would not stay when applied to the house.
Pros
Cons
3. In the Mix Gingerbread Cookie Kit by BRAND CASTLE
Highlighted Characteristics
The Creative Cooking Kits Ninjabread gingerbread cookie kit includes ninja cookie cutters, gingerbread cookie mix, royal icing, and candy beads to produce 20 gingerbread ninjas ready for decorating. The cookie mix contains no dairy, although it is manufactured in a facility that does. Several buyers have complained that the mix is too thin, and that the cookies do not taste as well as other gingerbread mixtures.
Pros
Cons
4. Juvale Gingerbread House Silicone Mold Kit
Highlighted Characteristics
The gingerbread home silicone mold set is made of food grade and non-toxic silicone and contains three molds for baking a gingerbread house, a Santa Claus with sleigh and reindeer, and a snowman and a tree. These molds may also be used for Jell-O, candy, chocolate, fondant, ice cubes, frozen yogurts and more and do not require greasing before use. They are freezer, microwave, and dishwasher safe in addition to oven safe.
These molds do not come with instructions or recipes, therefore it may be more difficult to locate gingerbread dough recipes that work with these molds. While the silicone molds are nonstick, some bakers have found that greasing them before use yields superior results.
Pros
Cons
5. The Candy Cottage
Highlighted Characteristics
The sweet cottage is a plastic gingerbread home frame that can be iced and decorated, then cleaned and reused. The gingerbread-colored cottage structure snaps together fast and easily disassembles after usage. This is a bigger home, measuring 10 long by 7 broad, with a foundation that extends farther out.
Since the cottage walls do not fold up, it may also be rather spacious for storage. This does need assembly before decorating, and snapping the parts together might be difficult. The unusual customer also discovered that the clamps on several sections were not molded as properly as they should have been.
Pros
Cons
6. Wonka Gingerbread Cottage Candy Kit
Highlighted Characteristics
The Wonka gingerbread home kit includes gingerbread and a half-pound of candy, including Nerds, Runts, Bottle Caps, and SweeTARTS, as well as a set up tray, ready-to-use icing, and a decorating bag. There is a danger of shipping damage to the gingerbread panels, as with any kit, and the ready-to-use icing may be a touch too soft.
Pros
Cons
7. Wilton Build It Yourself Mini Village Gingerbread House Decorating Kit
Highlighted Characteristics
The Wilton gingerbread mini town kit includes pre-baked gingerbread panels, cardboard bases, ready-to-use icing, decorating bags, and sweets to construct four distinct little gingerbread homes. Despite the fact that this kit is nut-free, it is manufactured at a facility that processes tree nuts.
There is a potential that some of the gingerbread panels may break, and since the panels must be torn apart before they can be constructed, the chances of breaking panels increase. Some consumers may be dissatisfied with the total size of the kit since it comprises four tiny homes rather than one large one.
Pros
Cons
8. The Elf on the Shelf Gingerbread House Kit by Cookies U
Highlighted Characteristics
The Elf on the Shelf gingerbread home kit includes pre-baked gingerbread panels, sweets, icings, a frosting gummy elf figure, and a smart tray. Scene setters are also included in the package for storytelling. There is a possibility of getting this with damaged gingerbread panels, and some purchasers believe there is not enough icing in the kit, so depending on the decorating, you may need to create additional.
Pros
Cons
9. Tootsie Roll Gingerbread Cottage Kit
Highlighted Characteristics
The Tootsie Roll gingerbread cottage kit includes eight ounces of various Tootsie Roll candy, gingerbread panels, a set-up tray, and pre-made frosting. The odd customer has difficulty to build the roof of this kit since the panels are on the tiny side, and the package may arrive with fractured panels.
Pros
Cons
Considerations Before Purchasing a Gingerbread Home Kit
Gingerbread cookies are regarded an art form in various regions of Europe, and gingerbread guilds have existed in these nations since the Medieval Ages!
Except for twice a year at Easter and Christmas, when anybody might create it without consequence, only professional gingerbread bakers were authorized to bake gingerbread cookies in the seventeenth century.
Gingerbread cookies, on the other hand, have been around for far longer. A sort of gingerbread was utilized in rituals by the Ancient Egyptians and Greeks, and the oldest documented recipe originated from Greece some 3,500 years ago! Gingerbread originated in Europe around the eleventh century, when Middle Eastern Crusaders returned from the Crusades with ginger.
Early gingerbread cookie recipes were for crushed almonds, breadcrumbs, sugar, rosewater, and ginger, and the dough was pressed into wooden molds. These molds were often carved in the shape of kings or religious images such as saints, and the resulting cookies were then coated with edible gold or white frosting, depending on how wealthy the homeowner was!
The gingerbread man initially appeared in the court of Queen Elizabeth I, who would give significant visiting visitors with a gingerbread man created in their image.
Simultaneously, breadcrumbs were eliminated from gingerbread cookie recipes and flour was substituted. Gingerbread biscuits wrapped with ribbons grew into love tokens that could be purchased at fairs and were often presented as presents, particularly on name days (usually the day belonging to the saint who the individual was named after).
Gingerbread cookies would also be crushed into plates to mask the aromas of any meat that was beyond its prime! Gingerbread cookies may also be prepared using cloves, cinnamon, cardamom, nutmeg, or anise, in addition to ginger.
Early English immigrants brought gingerbread cookies to the New World, and these sweets were sometimes utilized in Virginia politics to persuade citizens to vote for one candidate over another! The earliest American cookbook, Amelia Simmons’ American Cookerybook, had three gingerbread cookie recipes, including a softer gingerbread cooked into loaves that became a popular dish.
These exquisite gingerbread biscuits are also the origin of the intricate gingerbread work found on colonial coastal mansions throughout the United States.
Gingerbread cookies may be formed in a variety of ways depending on the recipe and origin. German gingerbread cookies may be softer lebkuchen or firmer biscuits that are commonly offered at Christmas markets in ornamental forms. Gingerbread cookies are often thinner and crisper in Nordic nations, and they are sometimes used as window decorations. The Bulgarian cookie is another sort of gingerbread cookie that is palm-sized, thin and crunchy, and coated in chocolate!
The gingerbread home, on the other hand, does not have the same lengthy and historic history as the gingerbread cookie. While gingerbread homes were most likely present at this time, the gingerbread house (lebkuchenhaeusle) did not become famous until the eighteenth century, when the Brothers Grimm published the Hansel and Gretel fairy story in Germany. The gingerbread home custom was then carried to America by German immigrants.
Even today, adorned gingerbread biscuits and gingerbread homes are popular festive events in a number of nations.
The world’s biggest gingerbread home, which covered approximately 40,000 cubic feet and required a construction permit, was created in Texas. This 35.8 million calorie gingerbread mansion was created using almost 7,200 pounds of flour, 2,925 pounds of brown sugar, 1,807 pounds of butter, 7,200 eggs, and 68 pounds of ground ginger!
A New York Sous Chef presently holds the record for the biggest gingerbread town, which comprises over 1,100 structures and takes a year to make.
Tips for Building a Gingerbread Home
s for the display area you have available, and consider if you want a typical home or something a bit unusual. Always choose the appropriate size kit.
Take at least one day to make a kit (to allow for appropriate drying) and two days if you need to bake the gingerbread panels yourself.
Prepare everything you will need for the work before you begin constructing a kit home. A muffin tray is excellent for storing all of the candies and may help to contain some of the mess!
Check to see if any of the gingerbread panels are damaged before you begin. If this is the case, they will need to be glued with icing and let to cure before the home can be built.
If your kit requires you to bake the gingerbread cookie dough, work with it on parchment paper to keep it from sticking to the tabletop, and a pizza cutter comes in handy if you need to cut any panels.
After usage, the board should be recycled. After the foundation board is complete, pipe some icing into it to keep the created walls in place. If your gingerbread house kit does not come with a foundation, you may make one out of a cardboard cake circle or cut a piece of cardboard. You may reuse it if you cover it with cellophane.
Kits often contain pre-made icing and frosting. Look for an icing that contains egg whites and sugar, as well as cream of tartar, to provide a stronger frosting for binding the gingerbread panels together. If you want to keep the home edible, you’ll need to use icing, and you may keep the icing soft while working with it by placing a damp kitchen towel over the icing in the bowl.
If the gingerbread house will not be eaten, or if you can control which sections will be eaten, you may use hot glue instead of icing to put it together! Hot glue is also faster to apply than icing.
The house’s drying area. If you want to tint white icing, use a paste food coloring instead of liquid coloring since liquid coloring will thin the icing down too much. When used to tie the gingerbread panels together, the icing should be at least the consistency of toothpaste, and if your kitchen is particularly humid at the time, it will prevent it from setting correctly. This implies that, if possible, operate in a somewhat colder environment.
If the gingerbread panels are rough where you have to break them apart, smooth them using a fine grater. While putting up the walls, run a line of frosting around the joints on the interior of the home to help support it. This icing will be hidden after the house is built.
While assembling the roof panels, use icing to adhere a piece of folded paper to the back of each panel, and then set a can of soda or a bowl beneath each side of the roof to keep it in place while the icing dries.
If you wish to add windows to the home, insert hard candies (such as Jolly Ranchers) into the window holes and bake the panels for a few minutes in the oven. The sweets will melt and fill the window openings. If they don’t quite fill the hole, use a toothpick to press some of the melted caramel around the windows’ rims.
When the home is built, it should be left for the least amount of time suggested by the manufacturer, preferably overnight, before being decorated.
You may wish to get additional treats from the cabinets in addition to decorating with candy. Decorate with pretzels, marshmallows, striped gum, candied fruits, popcorn, cookies, crackers, and cereals. You may even sprinkle confectioners sugar over the home to simulate new snowfall!
A Gingerbread House in Storage
After a gingerbread home is completed, place it in a good display location, preferably one that is cool and dry and out of reach of younger two and four-legged family members (yes, dogs enjoy gingerbread too!).
If you remember to cover it with plastic wrap at night, it will keep bugs, dust, and damp out. A gingerbread home preserved in this manner should last a few months, however the longer it is stored, the less appetizing it becomes.
If you want to keep a gingerbread home for a longer period of time, you may lacquer it. Make any necessary repairs and remove any components that you will not be retaining, such as fresh holly or pine. You may remove any plastic decorations from the home and store them separately.
Put the house in a warm location for at least a day to allow any extra moisture to evaporate. After that, place it in a well-ventilated area and spray it with lacquer from any craft shop. Begin by spraying the interior door and window frames, then on to the exterior structure. It is much simpler to use a spray lacquer than a brush, since a brush would most likely knock off part of the ornaments. You may need to apply additional coats of lacquer to ensure that it is thoroughly covered.
After allowing the home to dry for a day or two, you may put it in a box to keep.
Conclusion
We hope you have liked this essay, whether you are a beginner or an experienced artisan builder. We’ve included a lot of helpful hints for building a gingerbread home, and if you want to keep your family’s work around for longer than the next holiday season, we hope the part on storing your house was also informative.
We also hope that the variety of gingerbread house kits reviewed in this article has helped you in selecting the finest gingerbread home kit, whether for smaller family members or even the older youngsters in the family!