THE ENGINE CAR
A cookie boiler and licorice wreath give this steam-powered locomotive a whimsical flair.
1 Lay one side of the engine facedown on your work surface. Use Royal Icing to glue on 2 graham cracker support stacks (see instructions below). Pipe icing on the tops of the graham crackers, then gently press on the other side of the engine. Let the icing set for a few minutes before turning the car upright.
2 Pipe icing along the edges of the side panels, then press the front, back, and roof in place.
3 To make the boiler, glue together a stack of 6 circles. Pipe icing onto the front section and across the top of the graham cracker stack, then gently press the boiler in place.
4 Glue a starlight mint to the centers of 7 circles. Let the icing set for a few minutes. Pipe a ring of icing onto the back of each circle, then glue 3 along each side of the engine and 1 on the back. Then glue a plain circle to the front of the engine. Let the icing set for a few minutes.
Engine Car Parts
This arrangement of gingerbread elements should help you organize the project.
Graham Cracker Support Stacks
These layered building blocks help support the walls of the cars from the inside. To make a stack (you'll need 7 for our 4- car train), break 13 graham cracker sheets along their perforations. Using Royal Icing, glue together the rectangles in stacks of 7. Let the icing set for a few minutes.
To Decorate: Glue licorice sticks to the starlight mints as shown. Glue on colorful candies (we used red and green M&M's) and add details such as a LifeSavers Gummies chimney and a wreath like this one:
Festive Wreath
1 Use a toothpick to widen the hole in each end of a 5-inch piece of green licorice.
2 Form the licorice into a ring and insert a K-inch piece of string licorice or a bent toothpick partway into one end. Push the other end onto it to hold the shape. Glue the wreath to the engine.
3 Split an 8-inch piece of Fruit by the Foot in half lengthwise, bend one piece into a bow, and glue it to the wreath.
