"gingerbread" news and stories

Gingerbread men, gingerbread men in dresses, and is that a gingerbread man in transparent frosting shorts? Call them whatever you like, and dress them however you please, gingerbread men (and the gingerbread women who love them) are Christmas essentials. You can even style them as a portrait in dough of your own family (and isn't it time Aunt Mabel had a likeness in gingerbread?).

Oh, and they make your house smell like Mrs. Claus's kitchen.

Try this Gingerbread Men recipe from our Queen of Cookies, Gina Marie Miraglia Eriquez.

Gingerbread, gingerbread, gingerbread rocks. We know people get creative with this stuff but never realized you could do more than just craft a little man to chew on later after the Kettle Chips ran out. No, a Gingerbread Wonderland contest this month at the Frelinghuysen Arboretum in Morristown, New Jersey, revealed some real Robert Moses-Baron Haussmann-Type A bakers out there who are capable of Eiffel Towers, Taj Mahals and suburban homes ("House on Ridgedale Avenue," which, if memory serves, is one block over from Freddie's place on Elm Street). We've even spotted a gluten-free, dairy-free house, which causes us to ask: "Doesn't gingerbread taste bad enough without having to make it totally inedible?"

But by far the winner of the Most-Disheveled-Joint Award, the one that pulls at our cramped-for-space heartstrings is the hoarders' house (above), with messy little stacks of gingerbread books and gingerbread trash, and well, who knows what's under that gingerbread carpet? What fresh Wonderland is this?

Photo gallery of Gingerbread Wonderland houses.

Gingerbread houses are going up all over this season. When White House chef Bill Yosses and First Lady Michelle Obama unveiled the annual edible home of the prez, reports our sister site Luxist, this year's model came complete with a marzipan rendition of the First Family's dog, Bo, as well as the kitchen garden. (Can we just add that if these are Bo's true proportions, we need to either call the Guinness Book of Records or run in fear... now!) (Visit Luxist for a photo gallery of the gingerbread White House.)

Here in the house of AOL, the teams from Slashfood, Shelterpop, ParentDish, Holidash, Lemondrop, and DIY Life did a little gingerbread-house building of our own, creating a six-foot-tall candy-covered dream cottage that we sent down to the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, in Memphis, for the kids' annual holiday party. Watch the video of how we did it, after the jump.

Now that we have you fired up, how about exercising your own DIY baking skills? Visit KitchenDaily for gingerbread-house recipes and how-tos, including templates. And if you love gingerbread but house construction isn't your thing, how about a town-house cookie? Or try these pull-apart cupcakes to create a chubby, whimsical gingerbread man.

Happy National Gingerbread Day!

Although most of you probably associate gingerbread with the wintertime holidays, the flavorful cake is a welcome treat even in the heat of mid-summer, as molasses and ginger pair well with fresh citrusy flavors.

Blogger Rachel is Coconut&Lime livened up plain pancakes with some gingerbread spices; while photographer CupcakeQueen lightened some gingerbread cupcakes with a zesty lemon frosting and GirlyChimp made gingerbread muffins seasonally appropriate with the addition of orange. In an interesting bent on the traditional cookie, blogger Brownies for Dinner updates the classic chewy chocolate chip cookie with gingerbread flavoring. Our top summertime gingerbread choice, however, is courtesy of bloggers (Never Home) Maker, for their refreshing chewy gingerbread cookies filled with homemade vanilla ice cream. Prepare some to have handy in your freezer for refreshingly complex summery snacks.

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These Chocolate Chip Gingerbread Cupcakes with Cardamom infused frosting by Sweet Beet and Green Bean are just what your guests will need after they're inundated with cookies. The rich, moist cake is made out of a combination of ginger, cinnamon, ground cloves, molasses, and a surprise filling of chocolate chips. Cardamom has an intensely aromatic fragrance and when mixed with soy milk, it creates "a truly unique tasting frosting," according to the blogger.

With tiny icing peaks that are reminiscent of snowy mountains, who could resist biting into these winter wonder confections?

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