Royal Icing Alternatives for Gingerbread Houses

Now that Christmas has passed, it's time to share my latest discovery in gingerbread architecture!  This is a fantastic alternative to royal icing, providing quicker setup and the ability  to re-use hardened confectionary cement!

Almond bark has been used in holiday baking, treat making and candy making for a long time, but it's taken me 20+ years of gingerbread house making to think of it as a cement.  It's relatively easy to use, and it solves the problem of raw egg whites for those who are worried about salmonella.  I've never had anyone in our house get sick from royal icing, but some people don't want to take the chance.  Having had salmonella issues in other situations, I don't blame anyone for their concerns.

To use almond bark as a gingerbread house icing, you will need to melt your product first.  Cut it into chunks, and use the microwave for easy results.  Two key factors:  a) short heating spurts and b) regular stirring.  You will use 30 second increments of heating, stopping to stir if possible in between.  The first couple of spurts may not allow for much stirring, but it won't take long before you have a liquid product.  Don't overdo it because you can burn your almond bark.

I use a dipping approach to assemble my pieces because I usually work on several houses at a time.  You'll see in the image above that I don't stress about neat and tidy edges, but I love that with almond bark, neat and tidy is possible.

I begin my assembly by spreading my icing product on foil.  With almond bark, this is a great starting point for holding your house in place.  The timing on the setup is much quicker than with royal icing.  I normally assemble my walls, using a slight tilt to avoid slipping.  You'll notice gaps in my house pieces, a normal issue because I bake en masse and don't worry about neat and tidy for the kids.  You'll find that if you check out my gingerbread recipe book for techniques that there are better baking options for more precise results.

I completed this house at the same time I worked on more than 10 houses with royal icing.  I waited at least 30 minutes on the royal icing ones before adding roof pieces, but this one set up well within just a few minutes.  You can evaluate progress by testing the icing on the foil...when it doesn't indent to the touch, you are looking at a good set.

When I add roof pieces, I cover the sides that won't show with a liberal layer of icing.  I did the same with my almond bark.

You'll notice gaps during assembly of roof parts in the image above.  Some almond bark in a tube is useful for filling gaps.  However, when the material is very hot, it is also quite fluid.  Allow it to cool a bit for a thicker flow.  You don't have to fill those gaps completely because they won't be visible when the house is completely assembled.  However, some points of contact are important for a good setup.  Hold those pieces in place for a couple of minutes if necessary, and you'll have enough of a set to let go.

Decorating is really nice with almond bark.  I use plastic storage bags for easy work on a mass basis, and I would recommend the freezer type of bag just because the plastic is more durable.  Cut a small hole at a corner for allowing icing to flow out.  You can ice the back of a candy before mounting it.  Mounting to a vertical surface requires just a minute or two of pressure for your almond bark to set.  This is much nicer than a royal icing mount on a vertical surface as such candies tend to slip even several minutes after placement.

Vertical candy placement on a gingerbread house assembled with almond bark.

It's important to note that drizzly almond bark can interfere with your decorating precision, as viewed in the house at the top of this article.  Use caution if you want your house to be neat and tidy.

Almond bark gingerbread house icing provides great effects.

I really like the fact that you can layer features like icicles, and I love the dainty icicles that developed when I drizzled almond bark at my roof edges.  You'll notice these layers in the image shown here.

One of the big bonuses with almond bark icing on our gingerbread house is the fact that the eating part, the favorite angle for the kids, is easy.  No hammers necessary to pull mounted candies from the house or base.  Also, the almond bark has a great flavor.

Notes:  Almond bark is more of a cream color, and you won't have the pristine white that you can achieve with royal icing.  You may be able to find a more white candy melt or almond bark product.  Also, the dribbles from almond bark may need some quick smoothing in order to avoid ugly clumps...you don't get the flow effect that you can achieve with royal icing, but you can overlay additional almond bark to cover clumps or messes.  You need to move quickly in spreading your almond bark because of the quick set nature of the material as well.

Consider a chocolate melting pot to keep your royal icing alternative hot and fluid while you work.  I have a chocolate fountain, but that didn't seem practical, and this will go on my list for next year's project when I plan to make all of our houses with almond bark icing.

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