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Having kids in the house means that we break out the Christmas decorations and music the moment the Thanksgiving dishes are washed and put away. And once the holiday season is fully underway, we are all about making cookies. So one new tradition my family has started is to make a gingerbread house on the night after Thanksgiving.
We also got into the holiday spirit that same day by visiting our local botanical garden. This year they feature a Christmas display with gingerbread in all shapes and sizes. So we had extra inspiration for our house building mission that night.
Now, our gingerbread house is a little ramshackle in comparison to the stunning ones we saw at the garden, but it was so much fun to construct. We used a basic store bought house and decorated it with an assortment of bulk candies such as gumdrops, red hots and candy trees. The little guys were delighted with the holiday candy and had all kinds of ideas on how to decorate even before the house went up.
The trouble was, the store-bought icing wouldn’t “glue” the walls of the house together. Even my architect brother was puzzled by this situation and couldn’t get the house to stay together no matter how much icing we glopped on there.
You know the gingerbread house situation is in peril when words like buttress and reinforce come up! As four adults huddled over the collapsing house with confounded expressions, the little ones happily munched away on all the decorations. Finally I whipped up a batch of extra sticky royal cookie icing and this is what did the trick. Once we had the house in place, complete with chimney, we decorated with the candy we had left and were totally enthralled with our homespun creation.
To add to the fun this year, we had a great time making gingerbread men and ladies too. These edible decorations can last for years if you treat them carefully, but that old song about catching the wily gingerbread man doesn’t ring true around here. In my house the cookie lovers take care of them before we even get through the first week of December! Then we are on to make our next batch.
The ancient tradition of making ginger flavored cookies and sweets dates back to eleventh century Europe, when ginger spice was used as a preservative. Germany has a long history of elaborately decorated gingerbread creations that are offered at its festive holiday markets. And its no wonder this tradition has carried over to the United States with sweetly spicy cookies and cakes that fills the house with a Christmasy scent.
Around here we are also fond of gingerbread cake. Topped with lightly whipped cream, it’s a little slice of holiday heaven. While my favorite recipe is for a gingerbread stout beer cake, it’s not exactly suitable for small kids. So I have traded out the beer for butter and sour cream. Of course the adults can always have the stout beer on the side, while the kids have milk; both make a great accompaniment!
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To share this article with others, you may link to this page:
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Gingerbread Making: Catch Me If You Can
Having kids in the house means that we break out the Christmas decorations and music the moment the Thanksgiving dishes are washed and put away. And once the holiday season is fully underway, we are all about making cookies. So one new tradition my family has started is to make a gingerbread house on the night after Thanksgiving.
We also got into the holiday spirit that same day by visiting our local botanical garden. This year they feature a Christmas display with gingerbread in all shapes and sizes. So we had extra inspiration for our house building mission that night.
Now, our gingerbread house is a little ramshackle in comparison to the stunning ones we saw at the garden, but it was so much fun to construct. We used a basic store bought house and decorated it with an assortment of bulk candies such as gumdrops, red hots and candy trees. The little guys were delighted with the holiday candy and had all kinds of ideas on how to decorate even before the house went up.
The trouble was, the store-bought icing wouldn’t “glue” the walls of the house together. Even my architect brother was puzzled by this situation and couldn’t get the house to stay together no matter how much icing we glopped on there.
You know the gingerbread house situation is in peril when words like buttress and reinforce come up! As four adults huddled over the collapsing house with confounded expressions, the little ones happily munched away on all the decorations. Finally I whipped up a batch of extra sticky royal cookie icing and this is what did the trick. Once we had the house in place, complete with chimney, we decorated with the candy we had left and were totally enthralled with our homespun creation.
To add to the fun this year, we had a great time making gingerbread men and ladies too. These edible decorations can last for years if you treat them carefully, but that old song about catching the wily gingerbread man doesn’t ring true around here. In my house the cookie lovers take care of them before we even get through the first week of December! Then we are on to make our next batch.
The ancient tradition of making ginger flavored cookies and sweets dates back to eleventh century Europe, when ginger spice was used as a preservative. Germany has a long history of elaborately decorated gingerbread creations that are offered at its festive holiday markets. And its no wonder this tradition has carried over to the United States with sweetly spicy cookies and cakes that fills the house with a Christmasy scent.
Around here we are also fond of gingerbread cake. Topped with lightly whipped cream, it’s a little slice of holiday heaven. While my favorite recipe is for a gingerbread stout beer cake, it’s not exactly suitable for small kids. So I have traded out the beer for butter and sour cream. Of course the adults can always have the stout beer on the side, while the kids have milk; both make a great accompaniment!
Gingerbread Cake
Made with ground ginger, ground cinnamon, ground cloves, nutmeg, ground cardamom, eggs, dark brown sugar, sugar, vegetable oil, stout
Made with ground ginger, ground cinnamon, ground cloves, nutmeg, ground cardamom, eggs, dark brown sugar, sugar, vegetable oil, stout
Serves/Makes: 8
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 tablespoons ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
- 1/8 teaspoon ground cardamom
- 3 large eggs
- 1 cup packed dark brown sugar
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 3/4 cup vegetable oil
- 1 cup stout
- 1 cup unsulphured molasses
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
***To serve***
- confectioners sugar, for dusting
- whipped cream (if desired)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Generously butter Bundt or cake pan and sprinkle with flour, tapping out excess. In a large bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and spices.
Bring stout and molasses to a boil in a large saucepan and remove from heat. Whisk together eggs and brown and white sugars. Whisk in oil, then molasses, sour cream, and butter. Add to molasses mixture to flour mixture and whisk until just combined. Pour batter into cake pan and tap pan on counter to eliminate air bubbles. Bake in middle of oven until a tester comes out with just a few moist crumbs adhering, about 40-50 minutes. Cool cake in pan on a rack 5 minutes. Turn out onto rack and cool completely.
Serve cake, dusted with confectioners sugar, and whipped cream, if desired.
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©2026 CDKitchen, Inc. No reproduction or distribution of any portion of this article is allowed without express permission from CDKitchen, Inc.
To share this article with others, you may link to this page:
https://www.cdkitchen.com/cooking-experts/pamela-chester/1210-gingerbread-making/