I made a gingerbread house last month for my Grimm’s Fairy Tales menu, so at first it felt weird making another gingerbread house so soon. But how could I not when the house of Wuthering Heights is so iconic AND gingerbread is the most prominent dessert in the book? 🙂 Plus, I loved the idea of trying a different look for my next gingerbread project. I didn’t want to just copy and paste the structure and style from my last gingerbread escapade, so I decided to increase the challenge by adding detailed icing work, putting “glass” in the windows, and making the house two stories high. I thought of making it a HAUNTED gingerbread manor, but the ones I looked at for ideas were pretty elaborate. I didn’t think my skill set was there yet (this is still only the second gingerbread house I’ve made as an adult), so I stuck with a more classical design. I loved the thatched roof effect of the Mini Wheats on my last roof, but this time I went with chocolate Belvita Bites for a more traditional shingle pattern.

Like last time, I used a dough recipe from Sprinkle Bakes (this time a double batch) and an icing recipe from Make It and Love It. This time I incorporated Pretty Cake Machine’s advice to use brown icing for all the structural work, and I LOVE how much cleaner all the edges look.

Throw in a gingerbread ghost and a scowling gingerbread Heathcliff, and you’re all set for life at Wuthering Heights!

 A

Wuthering Heights Gingerbread Manor

“Wuthering Heights is the name of Mr. Heathcliff’s dwelling. ‘Wuthering’ being a significant provincial adjective, descriptive of the atmospheric tumult to which its station is exposed in stormy weather. Pure, bracing ventilation they must have up there at all times, indeed: one may guess the power of the north wind blowing over the edge, by the excessive slant of a few stunted firs at the end of the house; and by a range of gaunt thorns all stretching their limbs one way, as if craving alms of the sun. Happily, the architect had foresight to build it strong: the narrow windows are deeply set in the wall, and the corners defended with large jutting stones.”

— Wuthering Heights

INGREDIENTS:

• For the Gingerbread
  • NOTE: This recipe calls for a double batch of dough, so you’re going to need 2x the amounts listed below. However, unless you have a huge mixer that can mix in 7 cups of flour without spraying it everywhere, you’ll want to make the dough in 2 separate batches. The proportions below are for a single batch.
  • 3 1/2 cups flour
  • 2 tsp ground ginger
  • 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
  • 3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup molasses
  • 1 egg
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla
  • You’ll also want gingerbread house cookie cutters, molds, or stencils. I used this cookie cutter set from Stadter, which I won in a gingerbread contest hosted by Rosa of Gingerbread Sagas.
• For the Icing
  • 1 lb powdered sugar
  • 1/2 tsp cream of tartar
  • 1 1/2 egg whites
  • 2 tbsp water, plus more if needed
  • brown food coloring
• For the Decorations
  • Red Hots
  • Red and green icing flowers
  • Cinnamon Toast Crunch
  • Chocolate mini Belvita breakfast biscuits
  • Food pens
  • Silver sprinkles

Makes 1 gingerbread manor

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. 1. 1. In a large bowl, sift the flour, ginger, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt and set aside. In the bowl of a standing mixer, beat the butter on medium speed until smooth. Beat in the brown sugar until combined. Beat in the molasses until fluffy (approximately 2 minutes), stopping to scrape the bowl if necessary. Beat in the egg until well combined. Reduce the speed to low and beat in the vanilla. Gradually beat in the flour mix until just combined.
      2. Gather the dough into 2 balls and flatten them into disks. Wrap the disks tightly in plastic wrap.
         
      3. Repeat Steps 1 and 2 to make your second batch of dough. Chill the 4 disks until firm but not hard (approximately 4 hours).
      4. Position your oven rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350°. Line 2 baking sheets with silicone mats and lightly grease the mats with vegetable shortening.
      5. Unwrap your first disk (leave the others in the fridge) and roll it out to 1/4-inch thickness on one of the mat-lined baking sheets. Use your cookie cutters to cut as many shapes as you can fit on the mat, leaving 1-2 inches between pieces. Try to bake large pieces together and small pieces together, since they will have different bake times. Bake 8-10 minutes for large pieces and 5-8 minutes for small pieces. About halfway through the bake time, trim your pieces by reapplying the cookie cutters and discarding the scraps (this will give you clean, straight edges). Be careful, as the cookies will be hot.
      6. NOTE: The exact number and type of pieces you need will depend on your cookie cutters. I wanted to make a 2-story version of my standard gingerbread house, so I doubled the number of walls. I used the roof cutter as my template for the long walls so that I could get creative with my windows (my normal wall cutter has a pre-cut door space). My short wall cutter has an angle at the top for the roof, so I cut the angle off of 2 of them to use as my first floor short walls. In total I made:
         • 2 walls with 2 windows (for the 1st floor)
         • 2 walls with 3 windows (for the 2nd floor)
         • 2 blank rectangular tiles (for the roof)
         • 2 blank square tiles (for the 1st floor)
         • 2 square tiles with a window and an angled top (for the 2nd floor)
         • 6 rectangular gingerbread strips (approx. 1″ x 6″, used to secure the 1st and 2nd floor walls together)
         • 1 gingerbread Heathcliff
         • 1 gingerbread ghost-Cathy
      7. Allow the cookies to cool for 5 minutes on the mat. Remove to a wire rack to cool completely. If using a roof cutter to make walls like I did, be sure to check the height against the height of your short walls. My roof tiles are about 1/2-inch wider, which made the 2 stacked walls a full inch taller. I forgot to trim them before constructing and had to patch it later. If you use the same cutters I do, you can trim before baking or after. If doing it after, score the line you want to cut with a sharp knife before cutting all the way through to prevent cracking.

         

      8. Repeat Steps 5 and 6 with your remaining disks. Gather together the scraps and repeat with those as well. Regrease your mats before each use. I did about 6 trays total, though you might need to do more depending on the size of your pieces.
      9. While you wait for them to cool, mix your icing in a large bowl by combining the powder sugar and cream of tartar. Beat in the egg whites and water with a hand mixer on high speed until completely combined. If necessary, beat in more water 1 tbsp at a time to reach piping consistency. Transfer half the icing into a second bowl and stir the brown food coloring into it (you can also mix in 2 drops black, 3 drops red, and 3 drops green gel coloring for a similar cinnamon brown color). Add the brown icing to a piping bag fitted with a large round tip. Cover the white icing tightly with plastic wrap and set aside.

         

      10. Since this is a 2-story house, you want it to be structurally stable, so before you put your house together, you want to join each 1st story wall to it’s corresponding 2nd story wall. To do this, turn your walls front side down and line them up with the 2nd story walls above the 1st story walls. Add brown icing to the back of your rectangular strips and press them in place over the seam between the walls (place the rectangles in the space between the windows so they won’t be visible from the outside). Allow these to dry before continuing.

          

      11. Construct your house by joining the walls together at the seams with the brown icing, holding each joint together for a few minutes and then letting it set for 10-15 minutes before moving on to the next joint. If you want, can prop something tall and heavy next to each wall as it dries to keep it in place (I used tall glass straw canisters).
      12. Here’s an easy way to stabilize the roof: Turn your 2 roof pieces bottom side up. Place them up against each other lengthwise. Apply a dollop of icing to the center of each piece. Take half a sheet of printer paper and press it in place so it covers both dollops (it should overlap the seam between the pieces, joining them together). Allow to dry. Line the top of the walls with icing and apply the roof. Allow to dry.
      13. To decorate the roof, apply a dot of brown icing the size of a pea to the back of each Belvita bite one at a time and press them in place in lines across the roof.

          

      14. Time to decorate! Transfer your white icing to a piping bag fitted with a small round tip and pipe borders and details around your window. After drawing the outline for you door, use icing to glue 6 pieces of Cinnamon Toast Crunch to the center of the door. Add a Red Hot for a doorknob. Pipe a trellis on one of your short walls and glue 3 red icing flowers to it (I also broke up a couple of green flowers to use as leaves). On the other short wall, Pipe a “WH” and apply a circle of Red Hots around it. Glue Red Hots to the tip of 6 Belvita Bites and secure them upright along the top of the roof.
          

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      15. If you like, create some gingerbread characters for your manor! I’ve included  instructions for Heathcliff and Cathy’s ghost in the captions below:
          
          

          Apply a layer of white icing for the clothes and allow to dry. Draw a jacket, tie, and trousers with food pens. Apply leftover brown icing for the hair. Use a black food pen to draw shoes and a scowling expresion (since Heathcliff is ALWAYS scowling).

          

          Lay the cookie on a sheet of wax paper. Apply leftover white icing to make a dress and hair. Add silver sprinkles to the dress. Allow to dry (the hair has to dry while laying on the wax paper or it will fall off). Use food pens to draw eyes and a mouth.

          

          Moody Heathcliff and his friendly neighborhood manor ghost.

      16. Serve as you wander the dark halls of your manor, searching for the ghost of your lost love.

          

Check out my other cookie recipes!

Candied Flower Cookies from The Secret Garden

Fairy Dust Star Cookies from Peter Pan

Romeo’s Sighs and Juliet’s Kisses from Romeo and Juliet

Key Lime Coins from Treasure Island

Jo’s Christmas Gingerbread from Little Women