Decorating with Royal Icing is the best way to decorate gingerbread houses.

National Gingerbread House Day is on December 12th. Now is a good time to stock up on candy and gingerbread houses.

When my children when they were toddlers, I started decorating gingerbread houses with them. That’s another way of saying that I have 20 + years experience in decorating gingerbread houses. So I am passing along my tips and tested recipes. Hoping they will save you some time and money.

Here’s a great recipe for Royal Icing.

Decorating With Royal Icing

This Royal Icing is the perfect consistency for decorating gingerbread houses.

Prep Time 15 minutes

Ingredients

  • 12 cups powdered sugar
  • 8 egg whites
  • 1 t. cream of tartar

Instructions

  1. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a wire attachment, add all of the ingredients.

  2. Beat the mixture at high speed, until it is thick and holds its shape.

  3. Trim the tip a pastry bag, add pastry tip, fill 1/2 full with Royal Icing.

    Pipe decorations onto the gingerbread houses and assemble fences and decorations.

  4. + Be careful to squeeze pastry bag from the top and not the middle!

  5. Tip: Be sure to cover the bowl with Saran Wrap or a lid because the Royal Icing will dry out! No need to refrigerate the Royal Icing.