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    Top 10 Most Amazing Gingerbread Houses You'll Ever See

    Some of these edible masterpieces are even wired for lighting! Take a look at 10 of the most beautiful gingerbread houses, courtesy of thisoldhouse.com

    • 1. Shingle-Style

      Ann Bailey of Cary, North Carolina, never baked a day in her life until she decided to enter the National Gingerbread Contest. Bailey's inspiration came from a Shingle-style home in New Bern, North Carolina. Bailey used royal icing, marzipan, and gum paste to create this scene in a little over two months. A Dremel junior tool attachment, which resembles a sander, enabled this chef to sand out all the windows and doorframes. The shingles were laid using a ruler and a paring knife, to ensure that they were all about the same size. The topiaries and Santa figure were created with gum paste. - Enter the 2010 Gingerbread Contest for YOUR chance to win! -

    • 2. Sugar Castle

      The Sugar Castle, displayed in the historic Westin St. Francis hotel in San Francisco, took over 400 hours to create. Executive Pastry Chef Jean-Francios Houdre was inspired by European architecture and used a variety of tools for this construction, including X-Acto knives, glue guns, and rulers. The piece features a motorized base which allows the castle to slowly rotate. A hole in the base accommodates wires for the lights in the pulled-sugar-paned windows. Houdre recommends that you overbake your gingerbread for about 20 minutes, then leave it to cool in an open oven for about 45 minutes for a sturdier structure. - Enter the 2010 Gingerbread Contest for YOUR chance to win! -

    • 3. Winter Wonderland Victorian Palace

      "The tools I used were my X-Acto knife to cut out a pattern in foam board and in the gingerbread dough, my Skil saw to cut the platform for the stand, a mouse sander for sanding the plywood stand and the rough edges of gingerbread house, a drill to make holes in the platform to insert lighting, a jigsaw to enlarge holes in platform and to cut baked gingerbread,a Dremel to sand gingerbread edges and refine details. The gingerbread house took 180 hours to prepare and finish. The windows are made with gelatin." - Enter the 2010 Gingerbread Contest for YOUR chance to win! -

    • 4. Brownstones & Batali

      "This was our submission for the San Diego County Epilepsy Foundation Gingerbread City 2008. It featured a row of brownstones on one side, Mario Batali's Babbo NYC restaurant on the other side, a flower shop on one end, and Mario's Italian Wine Merchants on the other end." - Enter the 2010 Gingerbread Contest for YOUR chance to win! -

    • 5. A Christmas Gingerbread Castle

      "The gingerbread castle has gum paste cupolas, royal icing green wreaths, rice paper banners, gingerbread soldiers and their ladies dressed in royal icing attire. The castle is surrounded by a moat and has rock candy rocks in the back. The castle pieces are all painted gray with thinned royal icing." - Enter the 2010 Gingerbread Contest for YOUR chance to win! -