I love making Gingerbread houses for the holidays, and a great start is with a recipe for the perfect royal icing. It makes the house easy to put together and tastes great, to boot.
This icing recipe makes a great “glue” to hold all the sections together.
Make sure your Gingerbread house gets the perfect start with this royal icing recipe.
Gingerbread houses are so much fun to make. We have a different one every year in our house. It is a tradition that we started when my daughter was a little girl, and it continues to this day.
Even though she is a 28-year-old woman who now visits for the holiday, we still make a holiday house when she comes home.
Some years, I make gingerbread house dough from scratch and add the icing to it. In other years, I just buy a kit. But even with the kit, I like to make my own icing.
Ingredients for royal icing for your gingerbread house
Making this royal icing recipe could not be easier. Just three ingredients and a bowl, and you are done. How great is that?
To make the perfect Gingerbread royal icing, you will need these supplies:
- 3-3/4 cups of confectioner’s sugar (be sure to sift it to get all the lumps out!)
- 2 large egg whites
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract (don’t skimp and use imitation vanilla. It tastes so much better!
How to make royal icing
Mix together all of the ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer. You will want the icing to be smooth and thin enough so that it can be pressed through a pastry bag.
Place the royal icing into a pastry bag that has been fitted with a writing tip.
Press the icing out to join the parts of the house first, and then use it as a “glue” for the other decorations on your Gingerbread house.
This icing is great for attaching the seams of the house parts together.
It also does double-duty as a frosting for the outside area to add windows, doors, and more. It is very easy to pipe and work with.
Let the icing dry until it has hardened. This could take several hours. Don’t rush this part. The house will stay together better if the icing is very hard.
I love how easy it is to cover the roof area, make icicles, and so much more. Plus, it tastes great if you decide to eat the gingerbread house.
You want it to stay stuck together, and this takes time. This is the beginning of this year’s Gingerbread house. See the whole tutorial here.
If you would like to see tips for making the perfect Gingerbread house, be sure to visit my main site, The Gardening Cook, for 15 tricks for a perfect holiday house.
Looking for inspiration for the design of your Gingerbread house? See these 17 great Gingerbread house designs on my holiday site – Always the Holidays.
Would you like a reminder of this royal icing recipe? Just pin this image to one of your Food boards on Pinterest.
Admin note: This post for royal icing first appeared on the blog in December of 2015. I have updated the post to add a new recipe card, more photos, and a video for you to enjoy.
Royal Icing For Gingerbread Houses
This recipe for royal icing will hold your gingerbread house together easily, and it makes decorating the house a breeze.
Ingredients
- 3 3/4 cups of confectioner's sugar, sifted to remove any lumps.
- 2 large egg whites
- 1 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract
Instructions
- Combine all of the ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer until the frosting is smooth and thin enough to be piped through a piping tip of an icing bag.
- You can add more vanilla extract if needed.
- Place the icing in a frosting bag fitted with a writing tip.
- Pipe the pieces of the house together first and then use the icing to add the decorations.
- Be sure to let the icing dry completely between stages for the best results.
Notes
Nutritional information is for the icing only. Calories are for 1/12 of the entire recipe. Whole recipe has 1796.6 calories.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
12Serving Size:
serves 12Amount Per Serving: Calories: 150Total Fat: 0.1gSaturated Fat: 0.0gTrans Fat: 0.0gUnsaturated Fat: 0.0gCholesterol: 0.0mgSodium: 9.6mgCarbohydrates: 37.4gFiber: 0.0gSugar: 36.8gProtein: 0.6g