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Haunted Gingerbread House

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Haunted Gingerbread HouseEpicurious

Dylan Lauren of New York's Dylan's Candy Bar created this fun, kid-friendly Halloween project. She starts with an undecorated gingerbread house, then covers it with a variety of popular Halloween treats, including candy corn, marshmallows, and licorice. To watch Lauren create a Haunted Gingerbread House and to take a tour of Dylan's Candy Bar, check out our videos.

The instructions below are just for inspiration—feel free to experiment with different kinds of candy and decorating supplies. Most of the candy can be found in the candy aisle of supermarkets or at Dylan's Candy Bar.

Decorating Tips:

To tint royal icing or purchased frosting, add a few drops of food coloring and stir thoroughly. Add and stir in more food coloring, one drop at a time, until desired color is achieved. To create purple, use drops of red and blue food coloring. To create orange, use drops of red and yellow.

Recipe information

  • Yield

    Makes 1 haunted gingerbread house

Ingredients

Royal icing or 1 (16-ounce) container vanilla frosting
Liquid food coloring in red, yellow, green, and blue
1 undecorated gingerbread house*
Black licorice laces
Gummy spiders
Candy corn in assorted flavors
Green apple sour belts
Mellocreme pumpkins
Sugar candy bats (also called dextrose candy bats)
Marshmallow ghosts
*Undecorated gingerbread houses can be purchased from Dylans Candy Bar or Amazon.com

Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Place 1/2 cup icing in small bowl and tint purple (see Decorating Tips).

    Step 2

    Place 1/2 cup icing in small bowl and tint green (see Decorating tips).

    Step 3

    Place 1/4 cup icing in small bowl and tint orange (see Decorating tips).

    Step 4

    Using small offset spatula or knife, spread purple icing in thin, even layer on roof.

    Step 5

    Cut black licorice laces into shorter pieces, then arrange in crisscross pattern on right side of roof to create spiderweb. Gently press into icing to secure. Arrange gummy spiders on roof, gently pressing to secure. Arrange candy corn along seam where left and right sides of roof meet. Arrange candy corn in three vertical lines on left side of roof.

    Step 6

    Using small offset spatula or knife, spread green icing in thin, even layer on base of house. Arrange green apple sour belts around base of house to form grass.

    Step 7

    Using small offset spatula or knife, spread small dollop of orange icing on bottom of one Mellocreme pumpkin, then place in front of house. Repeat with additional pumpkins if desired.

    Step 8

    Using small offset spatula or knife, spread white icing in thin, even layer across surface of door. Gently press sugar candy bats onto door. Place small dollop of white icing on 1 sugar bat and attach to left side of roof. Repeat as desired.

    Step 9

    Using small offset spatula or knife, spread small dollop of white icing on marshmallow ghost then gently press it onto front of house.

    Step 10

    Using small offset spatula or knife, spread thin line of orange icing along seam where roof meets front of house. Arrange candy corn along seam, gently pressing to secure.

    Step 11

    Arrange candy corn along sides and back of house to form fence. If necessary, secure with additional icing.

    Step 12

    Continue adding candy as desired.

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