The dough for a gingerbread house is edible, but finished houses are not usually eaten. Often, they are shellacked and kept for years. The dough is very tasty and fragrant, but once it is baked and cools down it becomes hard as tile, although it will disintegrate if wet.
You will need two batched of this dough recipe for the house as shown.
The Secret of the Wood Grain
To create a Swiss chalet or log cabin look, roll the dough (it should not need more flour to keep from sticking) into ropes about 1/2 inch in diameter and as long as your baking sheet and place them as shown, with space between them. One batch of dough is enough for one sheet pan and a little extra dough for the gingerbread fence or fascia pieces (cookies with almonds as decoration).
The second batch of dough was rolled into a rectangle and fitted into the same pan. This will be your roof. Extra dough is also used for decorations you might want, gingerbread fence or fascia pieces.
To make the cookies for the gingerbread children and roof decoration (fascia pieces) roll the rest of the dough into a log and cut the log into pieces. The children pieces are about three inches long and the fascia pieces are about one and a half inches long. Flatten dough slightly with a rolling pin to about three eighths of an inch thick. Brush with egg yolk (see below) and decorate with blanched almonds.
The dough is then brushed with an egg wash (one yolk plus a little water) and baked. The egg whites are saved for making frosting.
