My first time making a gingerbread house in years. I kept it sweet and simple but had lots of fun!

So after last years rather large and unruly tree house, I decided this year to do something smaller. After much thought, I realized I have never done a castle. I could do a small castle, right? As I worked on the pattern, things kept being added and expanded.. Three batches of gingerbread dough (one more than last year) and one batch of sugar cookie dough later, I failed miserably at making a small castle. :-P

Baking begins


This year I decided to try using chocolate to glue everything together.


Needed a moat, so used cardboard to make a base


Smaller pieces assembled and ready for the base to be done. Also realized I didn't have fest on my paper with my name, so added it.


Base done and foiled. Used chocolate for the ground. Crushed up chocolate mint cookies to line the bottom of the moat. Started working on vines to help bring some much needed color. Used tiny candy leaves on the vines.


The moat needed some moat monsters. I don't have the skill to freehand Kelp or Vorpas, but I do have an axolotl cookie cutter! Moat vorpas are born!


Vines done, clock tower completed, drawbridge chains added, doors to get into the towers added, moat vorpas added and isomalt added to the moat. Unfortunately the cookie ground floated into the isomalt, but it does give it a muddy moat look.

@Faeyla,
"decided this year to do something smaller" -- That castle is huge! I just wanted to say that your gingerbread houses are always so amazing and creative. I still remember your tree from last year and I'm sure I'm not the only one who reads through every step. Love the moat sylvorpas you made, great idea and very cute to boot! The details all around are amazing.

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Separately, I've been looking at these gingerbread house competitions on Sylestia since they started back in 2014 and I feel like if Sylestia's gingerbread house makers teamed up together, they could totally win some major competition. I am always beyond blown away. I forget whose it was, but I remember that one year when someone furnished the inside of their gingerbread house with miniature edible furniture. The level is too high!!

I really do think looking at these gingerbread houses is the winter festival #1 highlight for me.

Finally started my gingerbread inn. Whether or not it gets finished remains to be seen!











Discovered edible icing pens when I was shopping for ingredients. These made it possible to draw the neph on the 'The Nephini' inn sign.




Here is the finished inn, except for a few details on the side panel. I suddenly realised the significance of being on storm and power cut alert tonight - I could finish the side view but couldn't upload pictures if the power goes off.


Final picture - power held out!

Well This year is a sad pale example of what I can do, I blame the sugar strike this winter at the rogers sugar factory here in BC. :( Had a hard time getting the sugar and icing I needed, made things difficult, but I managed a house.. and a second one for my girls to create! We were going for humble log cabins this year XD

I used rice waffers as my base, I swear it's not styrofoam!





Aaaand that is when I realised I left all my fancy sprinkles at my parents' place, so random candy decorations it is!

This year i wanted to finaly try that castle that i have bin wanting to do for years but never got to, becaus of a lack of time and space. (both the lack of time and space are still very much a reality XD ) so the castle became a ruin. A special place non the less, a place where the queen of winter crowns the princes of spring as the next ruler of the season.

I found a new recepie that i wanted to try out, it's easy and tasts good (but don't rise so my first batch turned out a bit flat X'D )
butter, powderd sugar and flower

ones the butter and powderd sugar are well combined you add flower


ones it becomes crumbly you use your hands to make a dough out of it.

then you role it out (withs i did to tin with the first batch)


the second batch i rolled out thicker and they came out perfect, my son by now had relised what i was making and started asking for cookies... so i caved XD and made him some as well. alsow in the hope of him not stealing my building cookies like he did last year.



i made a 3rd batch, one more tray of bricks and the rest turned into dino's for my son (he loved it so that made me happy, but i realy should have made more for myself to work with) leson for next year: just make seperat batch for my son insted of sharing mine with him! we will see if i remember ^^'

now the fun part begins the building!

the idea was a castle, so we make for 2 towers in the base... yes ones i was working on placing the second layer and was turning it around i relized it looked like a loof of bread XD



the relization that all the good siced bricks have bin used and are now left with the tin ones, so you keep on working trying to make it work out as it is. when i had to use the tin bricks i switches from the bakers glue to my own royal icing becaus the bakers glue is realy hard to get out of the tube, even when kept warm. so to have myself from even more pain in my hands knowing i would need a lot more with the tinner layers that where to come.

a ruin where they celebrate the end of winter and the begining of spring. the last pilles of snow have bin placed to protect the spring flowers from the cold that can still come during the early spring days. however the first brave spring flowers have started to show themselfs. the ruin has bin decorated for the celebration, where in the midel of it all the ceremonie will be helt.









not what i origenaly had in mind, but i'm quit pleased with the outcome (yes my son did try to eat from my cookies as well ones his dino's where all gone, but insted he help me by handing me cookie bricks^^ )

The Queen and Princes.

It felt like there was something else in the box so I shook it and this came out. Amazing! Why did no kits before this include this most amazing device.



I feel like after all this time that I still never get this stage quite right.


The glorious roof holder in action.



One tree didn't make it long enough to be shrubbery. I always love these things.

Went with a little kit again for this year cause...time lol Which I am not great at managing so here I am finishing this the very last night >.<
My icing pack burst so I had to smear it around with my finger, great start

'chilling' out in the freezer overnight

I heated these licorice rolls on my fireplace so I could unroll them

Part way through

And then sadly done. At this point not only did I run out of icing(using fingers wastes a lot haha) but I discovered I did not actually have the sprinkles and powerded sugar I needed for the scenery details :/ So a little short of the cuteness I had planned