Golden Grahams cereal for a roof. I'll use candy canes for pillars. Most participants learn through trial and error. For her first gingerbread project, Roth said she used a cookie-dough recipe but found it too soft. Now she uses a very stiff, unleavened dough.
Construction is tricky.
The home's interior, even though it can't be seen, is crucial. Roth and Woodward advise letting the dough dry out overnight after baking and using cardboard to support the structure and absorb moisture. They build multilevel structures in phases, letting the lower levels dry before adding the next level. By the time Woodward and her helpers started putting together the main display after Thanksgiving, they had worked every day of the previous month, making trees, shrubs, rocks and other background objects by using cake-decorating techniques. Roth said she enjoys the annual project.