Disney Mama’s Fun Fact Friday ~ The Gingerbread House at the Grand Floridian Resort

Now that work has begun on assembling the lifesize gingerbread house in Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort, I thought it would be a great time to share some fun facts on exactly what it takes to build this completely edible baking masterpiece.  It takes Disney chefs about 400 hours to bake the gingerbread and 160 hours to decorate the  Grand Floridian’s gingerbread house.  The house is made with 1,050 pounds of honey alone.

The dimensions of the gingerbread house are:

16 feet high
17 feet wide
1,000 board feet of trim
60 sheets of plywood
40 window panes
80 square feet of retail space
100 square feet of display space
10,000 pieces of gingerbread used

Ingredients used to make the gingerbread used for the house include:
1,050 lbs. honey
600 lbs. powdered sugar
35 lbs. spices
800 lbs. flour
140 pints egg whites
180 lbs. apricot glaze

The Disney Parks Blog posted the recipe a few years back!  Check it out and let us know what you think!

Gingerbread Cookies
Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa. Makes 36 cookies

Ingredients
2 sticks softened butter
2 1/2 cups confectioner’s sugar, sifted
2 eggs
1 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 2/3 cups all purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 1/4 teaspoons ground coriander
2 teaspoons ground star anise
1 teaspoon ground fennel
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground clove
1/4 teaspoon ground mace

Ingredients for decorations optional
1/4 cup milk
1 cup colored sugar granules

Directions
1. Cream the butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl until smooth using an electric mixer. Add the eggs and mix until combined.

2. Sift all the remaining dry ingredients in a separate large mixing bowl and mix well. With the mixer on low, slowly add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture until a dough forms

3. Remove dough from the bowl and wrap in plastic wrap; place in refrigerator until firm, two to four hours.

4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease cookie sheets.

5. Remove dough from refrigerator and allow dough to sit at room temperature for about 15 minutes, until pliable. Divide dough in half and place on floured work surface. Using a rolling pin, roll the dough out until about 1/8 inch thick. While rolling, flour the work surface and rolling pin as needed.

6. Cut out desired cookie shapes with cookie cutters. Transfer cookies to a greased cookie sheet, placing them 1 inch apart.

7. Lightly brush cookies with milk and sprinkle with sugar granules as desired.

8. Bake until firm and edges begin to darken, 10-14 minutes. Allow cookies to cool on the cookie sheet for a minute, then transfer to wire racks to cool completely.

Cook’s notes:
You can find star anise in the ethnic aisle in your local grocery store. To get the best flavor from this spice, you will need to grind the whole star anise pod. For the neatest edges, dip your cookie cutters in flour before cutting out each cookie.

Will you be baking your own batch of Gingerbread this holiday season?