Nothing gets you in the holiday spirit quite like decorating some delicious gingerbread! Every family has their own traditions for this time of year, and it would come as no surprise that for our family, decorating gingerbread houses together is ours. Whether you’re a decorating pro or a total beginner, there’s fun to be had by all when decorating with loved ones. Here are a few of our tips for making some gingerbread masterpieces.

Choosing the Right Gingerbread for Decorating

Arguably the most important part of your gingerbread house is the base – your gingerbread. Many people opt to bake the gingerbread themselves, which can be a lot of fun (we do it every day!), however, gingerbread is one of those tricky bakes that’s easy to get wrong. Common problems include the gingerbread being too tough, lumpy and uneven, not strong enough to support house-building, or even spreading in the oven. If you’re short on time or just don’t want to risk your gingerbread not turning out right, pre-made gingerbread is the way to go. 

Our gingerbread houses are made with a whole lot of TLC by our skilled bakers, and come ready to decorate with icing and lollies. What’s more, our gingerbread is baked fresh, so you’ll get that homemade taste without the homemade trial and error!

Must-Have Tools and Materials for Gingerbread Decorating

There are a few gingerbread decorating tools that are essential for bringing your gingerbread dreams to life. These include:

Icing bags & piping tips

Piping your icing allows you to be much more precise in your application, and it makes it easier! There are endless options out there for different types of piping tips, so you can create thin lines for borders with a narrow tip, and use the wider tips for piping large areas.

Lollies & decorations

There are really no limits to how many lollies you can adorn your gingerbread house with (we tend to think the more the merrier). Head to your local grocery store and stock up on edible decorations like licorice allsorts, smarties, chocolate freckles, gummy bears – literally anything you’d like. Just make sure that if young kids are involved in the decorating, grab things that are easy to chew – safety first!

Sprinkles & edible glitter

If you’d like to add an extra bit of pizazz to your gingerbread creation, we highly recommend some fun sprinkles or edible glitter. Just make sure to sprinkle these over the icing before it sets!

Easy Gingerbread Icing Techniques for Beginners

Never picked up a piping bag before? Not a problem. There are a few basic gingerbread icing techniques that can make all the difference to the construction, stability, and final look of your gingerbread house. Here’s how we approach it:

Base layer

Grab a wide piping tip for your piping bag and use it to pipe icing along the edges of your gingerbread pieces, securing them together. Make sure to hold the pieces together for a minute before moving on to the next piece. Letting the construction icing set before you start decorating is a good idea.

Outlining

Now with a fine piping tip, outline the details and edges like the doors and windows. If you feel like your hand is a little shaky, try practising a few lines on a piece of baking paper first.

Finer details

Sticking with the fine tip, add your window panes, roof shingles, and any other small details you’d like. Dotting or swirling the icing is an easy way to add more interest and dimension to your gingerbread house.

Our Gingerbread Decorating Ideas

If you’re feeling a little stuck on a theme for your gingerbread house or just want to keep things simple and easy, there are a few design ideas we think are timeless and uncomplicated. A classic cottage-style gingerbread house is very straightforward, with a simple roof pattern, some bordered windows, and even a sprinkle of powdered sugar to give it that snowy effect. Themes like Hansel & Gretel or “Candyland” are also popular, where you essentially try to squeeze as many colourful lollies into your design as possible.

There really is something magical about sitting around a table with icing bags in hand and bringing a gingerbread house to life, surrounded by loved ones. Of all the beautiful traditions that occur at this time of the year, gingerbread decorating is our favourite. We’d love to help you bring this tradition to life with your own family this year – explore our range of gingerbread Christmas houses and place your order today.