DIY: How to make a gingerbread Brooklyn brownstone

We have seen quite a few deliciously <a href="http://inhabitat.com/top-10-deliciously-modern-gingerbread-houses/" target="_blank">awesome gingerbread houses</a> this holiday season, but designer and chef Renee Baumann has crafted a gingerbread creation that puts the rest to shame. Artfully combining her architecture and culinary studies, Baumann designed and built an intricate <a href="http://kitchentablescraps.com/diy/design/build-a-gingerbread-brownstone/" target="_blank">Brooklyn brownstone gingerbread house</a> that looks almost identical to the real thing. Baumann painstakingly recreated a brownstone's features, from the carved cornice and decorative frieze to a bicycle leaning against the stoop. Plus, she <a href="http://kitchentablescraps.com/diy/design/build-a-gingerbread-brownstone/" target="_blank">detailed every step</a> and made her <a href="http://kitchentablescraps.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/gingerbread-templates.pdf" target="_blank">templates available online</a>, so you can make your own masterpiece at home.

"If I’m going to the trouble of making my own darn gingerbread house, then I’m going to make whatever type I want," Baumann <a href="http://kitchentablescraps.com/diy/design/build-a-gingerbread-brownstone/" target="_blank">writes on her blog</a>. "So I thought I’d celebrate the house type in my adopted home, Brooklyn. And everyone knows New Yorkers spend a fair amount of their time coveting both real estate and fancy foodstuffs, so the whole thing just seemed to make sense."

Baumann made original templates for the entire structure and carved wooden pieces so she could easily imprint the dough with a brick pattern and decorative features.

She carved a dowel rod with a brick pattern to roll across the dough to make the brownstone's walls. While carving a rod certainly takes a little longer, it makes creating the walls much less tedious than creating the lines with a butter knife.

Baumann made her gingerbread dough recipe, and rolled the dough on parchment paper, making the walls to 3/1" thick. She then imprinted the walls with brick pattern and cut out the design.

To create the rounded bay window, Baumann stapled and folded a thick piece of paper into the right shape. Then she draped it with parchment paper and baked the bay window piece on the shaped support.

Baumann made the fire escape with royal icing. She piped it in the correct design onto parchment paper, then let it dry overnight.

She notes that royal icing also works well for other decorative features on the house.

Baumann made "glass" windows for her brownstone from melted sugar. She applied the sugary squares while they were still warm, so they acted as their own glue.

Baumann assembled her brownstone on a piece of scrap wood so that it had a sturdy base. She used both royal icing and poured sugar as glue. "If your house starts to feel wobbly, then leave it for a few hours," says Baumann. "Don’t try to add pieces to an unstable structure– no good will come of it."

Baumann even put lights inside the house, so its tiny windows would glow. She carved a whole in her wooden base and threaded the cord through.

Once the house is completely assembled, the fun part starts: decorating! "I chose a muted, more or less realistic palate, adding royal icing snow and just a few decorations," says Baumann.

Baumann used icing for the white snow, and other edible elements for the decorations. "I used fresh thyme to make garlands, and studded them with whole pink peppercorns. All sorts of pretty dried fruits, nuts, herbs and spices can make lovely gingerbread ornaments."

The finished product!