Gingerbread House Tradition

One day, my daughter came home from school asking about family traditions. "Do we have any?" We made a list and gingerbread house making was at the top of her list. I knew we had skipped a couple of years, but by golly, if that rated at the top of her family traditions, we'd make it a tradition.

Add shortening, sugar, water and molasses to mixing bowl:

Sift dry ingredients: flour, ginger, cinnamon and salt:

Mix.  Kitchen Aid is at its capacity with this batch of gingerbread dough!

Chill dough for an hour:

John Wright 8.5" double-sided Chateau Mold:

Press chilled dough into greased mold:

My helper fell asleep at this point. Baking 3 sides (you need to bake the front side twice so you'll have a back to the house) at 45 minutes each and cooling the mold between baking (after waiting for the dough to chill an hour) was too much. Let the gingerbread cool in the mold for 10 minutes after baking before turning over to remove from the mold. Then, let the gingerbread harden over night.
While the first side baked, I cut out gingerbread people, trees, mini-houses and snowflakes and baked those while the mold was cooling between sides:

Next morning: Start your Royal Icing. 6 egg whites (room temperature), 1 1/2 teaspoons cream of tartar, 2 pounds of powered sugar. That's corn syrup all over the side of the bowl- I added as it mixed. Drizzle 1 tablespoon of corn syrup so the icing sticks better to the gingerbread (also adds a nice sheen).
Royal icing is the glue for the gingerbread house. It sets quickly, so keep it covered with a damp cloth.

Ready to assemble. I clean up the edges with an Exacto knife.

My helper was awake and helped hold the pieces in place. It only takes a few minutes for the icing to set. You can use a small box or can to place behind the pieces to help prop them up during drying time. Be patient. Use the remaining royal icing to pipe (#2 tip) your windows, door, roof, icicles, etc.
Candy used: Mike And Ikes, Dots, colored sprinkles, Wilton Holly Mix, sugar pearls, and Red Hots.