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Note: This recipe makes enough dough for two 11*17 gingerbread cakes. The most efficient use makes five houses of the specified size using three recipes one at a time (total of six cakes). The cakes need to be cut while still hot and get firmer and easier to handle over several days.

Sift 6 cups of flour and add to it the baking powder, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, cardamom, and salt and set aside. (This mixture can be set aside for days or weeks.)

In a heavy 4 to 5 quart saucepan, bring the butter, honey and sugar to a boil over high heat stirring with a wooden spoon until the sugar has dissolved. Remove from the heat, add the lemon juice and peel, and let cool to nearly room temperature. Then, using a heavy beater with a dough hook, beat in 2 cups of the flour-spice mixture, add the egg and egg yolk, and beat in the remaining flour-spice mixture. Flour your hands then knead the dough until smooth, pliable and still slightly sticky.

Place half of the dough in a pan which has been greased with butter and floured. Roll out evenly with a rolling pin to approximately 1/4 inch thick and bake 15 minutes in an oven pre-heated to 325 degrees F (the cake should be firm and light brown on the top.)

Cool 1 or 2 minutes then cut with the templates as a guide using the patterns in the below figures. Remove from pan immediately and place the pieces on a cooling rack. Use a spatula and be careful not to break the pieces during the removal process. Repeat process for the other half of the dough.

To make the glue for the houses, beat the egg whites with a rotary beater or whisk until frothy and slightly thickened, then sift in the confectioners' sugar 1/2 cup at a time, beating thoroughly between additions. Continue to beat for about 5 more minutes or until a stiff icing is formed. The kids really like to do the beating with the electric beaters.

One could decorate the house pieces before assembly, but we like to put them together first. Use the icing to cement the pieces together, holding it all together with nails made of toothpicks while the cement dries. Use more cement to glue on the candy decorations after the structure is stable.

6 1/4 cup all-purpose flour 1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

6 tblspn double-acting baking powder 1 tsp ground cloves

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg 1/8 tsp salt

1/4 tsp ground cardamon (important) 3/4 cup honey

1 3/4 cup sugar 1/4 cup butter

1/3 cup fresh lemon juice 1 tblspn finely grated lemon peel

1 egg 1 egg yolk

DECORATION

2 egg whites

2 1/2 cups confectioners sugar

Candy, assorted colors to decorate the house

Plan on about 8 hours of baking to make four or five houses.