#40 gingerbread house

School holidays seemed like a good a time as any to have a go at my gingerbread house. While I know they can be tricky to stick together, I wasn't very inspired looking at pictures of all those boxy rectangular houses. I wanted something quite different. Instead I went with modular construction, with design influence from art deco. I also wanted to see not only the curves mixed with corners and sheer walls, but the bare bricks too.

Last night Elly and I mixed up a giant batch of gingerbread cake, then baked muffins and a shallow flat cake in our giant german cake tray. This morning - bricks, icing, and assembly! Elly's favourite parts were of course the periodic taste-testing, shooting the icing out of my clicky icing tube thingo, and shingling the roof. He lost interest during the build itself and took himself off for a ben10 break, which left me to potter on in peace for a bit.

 Mmm gingerbread. Enough to sink a battleship, I think.

Design taking shape. I did a rough sketch and cut the blocks based on the radius of the circular pieces, then improvised a bit.

Butter icing lightly flavoured with chocolate. Do you know what happens when you chop up and microwave a milky way bar? If not, go try. It's a bit like microwaving marshmallows. Whee!

Most of the deco buildings I looked at had flat roofs. Or as Elly said, "no triangles in this house".

Testing the bricks again, just to make sure.

Yep, they're ok. Now for the roof tiles. Elly chose smarties.

The combination of curves with sheer walls turned out really well. And quite art deco! I also wanted a portico out the front. Check out that little pillar at the left corner, and curved lintel over the entrance - love!

Must remember when eating there's a toothpick holding those pillar pieces together. She's got curves all the way around the back.

And because he kept trying to stick his head into the cake pictures, a posed one to finish.

Gingerbread house, done!