Black sesame perilla “gingerbread” greenhouse
Here’s a “gingerbread greenhouse” that I made for the holiday season of 2020. There’s actually no gingerbread in this house - it’s all constructed out of black sesame shortbread. I wanted the greenhouse to look like it was made of rustic greyish wood rather than the brown wood that traditional gingerbread evokes. I used the 2019 gingerbread greenhouse pattern from Constellation Inspiration - her 2020 gingerbread houses are amazing, too!
For the front windows, I used pressed mint and perilla leaves from our backyard (shout out to Christine of Dear Saturdays for sending us perilla seeds earlier this year!), and I poured isomalt into the window cavities. For the other windows, I used gelatin sheets, which already have a decorative diamond pattern.
For surrounding foliage, I made black sesame mochi mini-muffins (recipe from One Happy Bite), and I stuck cactus and tree-shaped cookies (cut out from the greenhouse’s extra black sesame shortbread dough) into them.
Recipes and patterns for the greenhouse, muffins, and cookies are below (I took the greenhouse pattern from Constellation Inspiration with a minor Pythagorean Theorem fix - the short side of the right triangle on the side of the house should be 3.6 inches long, not 2 inches long). I recommend cutting the pattern out of printer paper, not parchment paper - parchment paper is too thin and tends to stick to the shortbread dough. Parchment paper patterns are also impossible to re-use for multiple pieces.
More tips on greenhouse construction:
Use printer paper, not parchment paper to cut out the patterns (repeating tip from above because it’s that important!).
For the wall thickness between the windows, I went with 0.5”, but in retrospect, I wish I had gone with 0.25”.
Roll out the dough between sheets of parchment paper, not plastic wrap (plastic wrap can leave wrinkles). I rolled the dough out to 0.25” thickness.
Freeze each rolled-out sheet of shortbread dough before you cut shapes out of it. Overly soft dough is difficult to cut.
Cut the shapes out of the dough on the baking sheet itself so you don’t have to transport it and risk warping the shape before baking.
My door ended up being a little too large for the door opening. I trimmed the door as soon as it was out of the oven, while it was still soft, to remedy the sizing discrepancy.
Decorate all baked panels with royal icing before assembly. And make sure the royal icing is fully dry before assembly.
During assembly , some of the royal icing decor may crust off, so keep a bag of royal icing handy to fill in the missing decor.
Use soup cans to support and keep the house together during assembly, as shown below. Once all the royal icing “glue” is dry, you can remove the cans.
Big thanks to Vivian of The Mini Lyfe and Janaya of The Little Brown Baker for many of these tips!
Black Sesame Shortbread for Greenhouse
(adapted from Food52's gingerbread recipe at https://food52.com/recipes/65940-gingerbread-dough-for-houses)
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups room-temp butter
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
1/8 cup molasses
7/8 cup light corn syrup
2 tsp vanilla
3 large eggs
5 cups all-purpose flour
1 cups ground up black sesame seeds
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream 1 1/2 cups room-temp butter and 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, 4-5 minutes.
Add the 1/4 cup molasses and 3/4 cup light corn syrup. Mix well to combine, about 30 seconds more. Scrape the bowl well.
Add the eggs one at a time, scraping well after each is incorporated.
In a large bowl, whisk the 5 cups flour, 1 cup ground-up black sesame seeds, 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda, and 3/4 teaspoon salt to combine. Gradually add the flour mixture to the mixer and mix on low speed to combine.
Scrape the bowl well to make sure the dough is homogenous, then divide it into 2 rectangles that are 0.25 inches thick in between parchment paper sheets. Refrigerate until well chilled—at least 4 hours, and up to overnight.
Transfer dough rectangle to baking sheet. Peel off the top layer of parchment. Use a printer paper template to cut the dough into the appropriate shapes for the greenhouse + Christmas trees + cacti.
Bake the shortbread at 375° F—exact baking times will vary based on the size and shape of your shortbread, but look for the edges to be noticeably brown and the surface to appear dry and set. It’s best to err on the side of overbaking. Underbaked shortbread can be flimsy and not stand up well when you go to build.
Let all pieces cool completely before you begin to build!
Royal Icing for Greenhouse Construction
(adapted from Arlo's Cookies, @arloscookies on Instagram)
Ingredients
2 lbs powdered sugar
1 cup (minus 2 tablespoons) warm water
5 tbsp meringue powder
With the paddle attachment on your mixer, add your meringue powder and warm water. Mix until incorporated a little, scraping off the edges of your mixer, then mix on medium/high until frothy.
Add in powdered sugar. Turn mixer on lowest setting and mix until incorporated.
Windows with Embedded Herbs
(Adapted from Amy Ho's book, Blooms and Baking)
Ingredients
1 cup isomalt crystals
2 tbsp water
Pressed mint and perilla leaves
Preheat oven to 265° F.
Place isomalt crystals in a small oven-safe pot over medium heat. I like to use a stainless steel saucepan. Allow crystals to melt without stirring them.
Once the isomalt is boiling, remove from heat. The isomalt will be very bubbly. Keep the pot off the heat until the bubbles settle down, about 15 seconds.
Once the bubbles have settled down, return the pot to the heat and stir in the water, a little bit at a time, making sure you are wearing long sleeves to keep your wrists protected, as steam will come off the isomalt aggressively. The mixture will be very bubbly.
Place the pot into the oven for 10 minutes to eliminate bubbles.
Line a cookie sheet with a clean sheet of parchment paper. Place shortbread greenhouse pieces on paper. Place pressed mint and perilla leaves in desired positions within the windows.
Carefully remove the pot from the oven and use the isomalt while it's still hot. With a small spoon, carefully pour a small amount of the isomalt into the windows, using the spoon to spread out the isomalt as thinly as possible.
Allow isomalt to cool completely (for at least 15 minutes) before building the greenhouse.
Black Sesame Mochi Mini-Muffins
(these muffins serve as the "base" for the decorative black sesame cookie trees and cacti on the exterior of the greenhouse)
Adapted from One Happy Bite: https://onehappybite.com/black-sesame-mochi-muffins/
Ingredients
2 cups sweet rice flour
1 cup dark brown sugar
2 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
¼ cup unsalted butter, melted
1 tbsp virgin coconut oil
1 13.5 oz can evaporated milk
2 large eggs, room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
½ cup sesame seeds, toasted
½ cup honey
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line mini-muffin tin with liners.
Make sesame paste:
Using a coffee grinder, blender, or food processor, grind the toasted seeds until smooth. Add honey and mix. Set the sesame paste aside.
Make sesame mochi mini-muffins:
In a large bowl, prepare dry ingredients. Mix flour, brown sugar, baking powder, and salt together.
In another bowl, prepare wet ingredients. Whisk together melted butter, melted coconut oil, evaporated milk, eggs, vanilla extract.
Add dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Mix until smooth. Then add sesame paste into the batter, stir until well combined.
Fill each muffin tin with batter up to just below the rim.
Bake for 50-55 minutes, or until the tops and edges are golden brown. Remove muffins from the tin and let cool for about 10-15 minutes before eating. Enjoy!
Crusting Buttercream for Decorating Christmas Tree and Cacti Cookies
Adapted from Sally's Baking Addiction: https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/funfetti-layer-cake/
Ingredients:
1 and 1/2 cups (3 sticks; 345g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
6 cups (700g) sifted confectioners’ sugar
1/3 cup (80ml) heavy cream
3 teaspoons (15ml) pure vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt
In a large bowl using a hand-held mixer or stand mixer fitted with a whisk or paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium speed until creamy – about 2 minutes. Add confectioners’ sugar, cream, vanilla extract, and salt with the mixer running on low. Increase to high speed and beat for 3 full minutes.
Happy “gingerbread” house making, and happy holidays, all!