Addams Family Gingerdead House

Hello, Sugared Nerds! Long time no see. I apologize for my absence, sometimes life gets in the way of making and photographing and writing about nerdy treats. But to make it up to you, I’ve come back with a doozy! Halloween is my favorite holiday, and I felt like making something epic. So here you’ll find a 1/30 scale (not really, I just made that up) recreation of the Addams Family Manor from the live action Addams Family movies.

I’ve had a love for the Addams Family for a long time. In fact, I dressed as little Wednesday for Halloween when I was seven. I haven’t seen the new animated film yet, but I’m glad to see the Addams Family getting its day with yet another generation. I’d be happy to see the Addams Family get a new incarnation every 30 years forever.

Now, when it comes to gingerbread, this isn’t my first rodeo. My first from-scratch gingerbread creation was this Gingerbread Tardis. Since then, I’ve made a gingerbread Nakatomi Plaza and a whole fleet of gingerbread spaceships. Still, every time I make one I learn something new. This house marks the first time I’ve worked with isomalt to create candy-glass windows. I also used rice krispie treats in order to mold the curved roof that I felt was vital to the house’s aesthetic. And between the windows, roof ledges, and all of shingles, this is certainly the most piping work I’ve every done.

A project of this size is no small undertaking. I was lucky enough to have Sugared Nerd contributor Casie joining me for the baking, construction and decorating and we still spent a good 20 hours from planning to completion. But, spread out over a couple weeks, it’s a lot more doable.

I’d recommend checking out my previous gingerbread blogs for all the basics, but for this display, a few more pieces of advice:

1) Support! My gingerbread Nakatomi Plaza did last for a few weeks, but eventually had to be dismantled because the roof caved in. In an attempt to avoid a similar fate for this gingerdead house, we added two more walls to the inside of the structure so that it could last, hopefully to the holidays.

2) Windows! If I’d known how easy candy glass is to use, I would’ve tried it out long ago. All you have to do is melt the isomalt in the microwave, 1 minute at a time, and, as it starts to melt, 30 seconds. When it’s just fully melted (don’t overheat or it will burn), you can slowly mix in some gel food coloring, wait for it to cool and thicken a bit, and then pour into your window spaces set on silicone mats. Do be careful as melted sugar burns like lava. I found this video very helpful.

3) Light it up! When planning your house, cut out small holes in the back wall and leading to all the rooms in the gingerbread building with windows. Before your roof goes on, string battery-operated lights through the house for an extra special Wow factor.

Hope you all have a creepy, kooky, mysterious and spooky Halloween!