How to Make a Gingerbread Candle

Young children often don't have the skill level or the attention span to finish a whole gingerbread house. Try a gingerbread candle as an easy way to introduce young children to the fun of holiday baking and decorating. Read on to learn how to make a gingerbread candle.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• Gingerbread recipe (see below)
• Icing recipe (see below)
• Piping Bag
• Small decorative cookie cutter
• Assorted small candies and decorations
• LifeSavers or other hard candy

How to Make the Gingerbread

1. Gather the ingredients for the gingerbread: 1 1/4 cups sugar, 3/4 cup molasses, 1/2 cup margarine or butter, 1 tbsp. cinnamon, 1 tbsp. ginger, 1 1/4 cups milk, 1 tbsp. baking soda and 6 3/4 cups flour.
2. Melt sugar, molasses, butter and spices over low heat. Pour in the milk and remove from heat. Let mixture cool.
3. In separate bowl, mix baking soda and flour and combine well.
4. Add flour mixture to liquids. Combine well into a dough. Sprinkle with a little extra flour, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 24 hours.
5. Roll out the gingerbread dough to approximately 1/4 inch. Use extra flour on the cutting board and the rolling pin if dough is sticky.
6. Cut out four rectangles of approximately 4 inches by 6 inches. The size doesn't really matter as long as all four rectangles match each other.
7. Use a small cookie cutter to cut windows in each rectangle. Move the rectangles to a cookie sheet.
8. Sprinkle crushed colored hard candies (like LifeSavers) into each window hole. These will melt in the oven and create a stained glass look.
9. Bake the rectangles in a 350 degree oven for 12 to 15 minutes. Let cool completely before building the candle.

How to Make the Royal Icing

10. Gather the ingredients: 3 large egg whites, 4 3/4 cups powdered sugar amd 1/2 tsp. cream of tartar.
11. Using an electric mixer, beat the egg whites and cream of tartar at medium speed.
12. Add the powdered sugar a little at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat on high speed for 4 to 5 minutes or until icing thickens.
13. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.

How to Create the Candle

14. Fill a piping bag with Royal Icing.
15. Assemble the gingerbread rectangles into a square and pipe icing at each joint. Let icing harden for approximately 15 minutes before decorating.
16. Pipe icing along the top edges of the gingerbread square and decorate with small candies and sprinkles.
17. Place a votive candle in the middle of the gingerbread square. When you light it, the stained glass windows will glow softly.

Tips & Warnings

• If the icing is too hard to pipe, stir it vigorously for about 30 seconds.
• Keep the icing covered with a damp paper towel and plastic wrap while you are not using it. Royal Icing dries very quickly.
• Keep lit candles out of the reach of young children.

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