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Gingerbread

Rose Levy Beranbaum

Soften the butter. In a small bowl, sift together the flour, salt, baking soda, and spices. Whisk to combine well. In a mixing bowl, cream together the sugar and butter until fluffy. Add the molasses and beat until blended. On low speed, gradually beat in the flour mixture until incorporated.

Scrape the dough onto a sheet of plastic wrap and use the wrap, not your fingers, to press it together to form a thick flat disc. Wrap it well and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or up to 1 week.

When you're ready to bake:

Place 1 oven rack in the middle of the oven. Preheat the oven to 375°F.

Place 1 piece of the foil on a cookie sheet and sprinkle it lightly with flour. At this point, Rose recommends setting up two "illustration-board strips" to keep your rolling pin at a consistent height so all of your cookies come out the same height (and create a more consistent building material). Lisbeth has never bothered to do this; she has no idea what an illustration-board strip is and probably shouldn't have skipped that section of the cookbook. Her gingerbread buildings are not as pretty as Rose's.

Working with pieces of dough about the size of an orange, roll out the dough, being sure to have the rolling pin resting on the illustration-board strips to ensure an even thickness. Use all the fresh dough first and keep the scraps covered to prevent drying. (When only the scraps remain, knead them together and use them to roll out more pieces. When the dough has been rolled out more than three times, the texture becomes less smooth and even).

Trim the dough with a small metal spatula so that there is about a 1-inch margin around the perimeter of each template. (Don't use a knife; it will cut through the foil). Leave the dough on the foil and transfer it to another cookie sheep [sic from the original cookbook; but Lisbeth is transcribing this, and cookie sheep make her giggle, so we all get to keep the typo] for baking.

Repeat this process with the remaining dough. When all the template pieces plus extras have been baked, roll out the remaining dough and bake it in large freeform pieces for use as the stone surface around the base of your building.

Bake only 1 cookie sheet with a maximum of 4 pieces on it at a time to ensure even baking [Lisbeth has also never done this either]. Distribute the pieces evenly on the cookie sheet. Avoid crowding the pieces into one section of the cookie sheet, leaving a large area bare.

Bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until the pieces are firm to the touch and just beginning to color around the edges. Do not press the pieces in the middle, as the indentation may remain. For even baking, rotate the cookie sheet from front to back halfway through the baking period.

Cool the cookies on the sheet for a few minutes. When they are firm enough to lift, use a small, angled metal spatula or pancake turner to loosen the cookies from the foil and transfer them to the wax paper-lined counter to cool completely. Allow the cookie sheet to cool completely, then wipe the foil with a paper towel before using it for the next batch.

The baked dough cuts most evenly when not too dry, so cut any openings soon after cooling. If desired, shortly before assembling your building, you may bake the pieces once more for a few minutes to harden them and enhance any etching marks (pieces containing melted candy for a window effect will be rebaked during the candy melting process).

Store: in an airtight container at room temperature.

Keeps: for months.