How to Make a Gingerbread Castle

Gather a ruler, pencil and paper. (Cardboard from a cereal box works well, too.)

Make a pattern for the castle walls: draw and cut out a rectangle - 14 inches long by 12 inches high.

Make the crenellations for the wall (you're essentially creating little one-inch tabs along the top here): with the rectangle facing you horizontally, draw a horizontal line across the paper 1 inch below the top edge. Then draw 1-inch vertical marks at 1-inch intervals from the top edge of the paper to that line. Cut off every other tab, starting at the left edge of your paper.

Mark windows by measuring 1 1/2 and 2 1/2 inches in from each side of the "wall" and 4 inches and 6 inches up from the bottom edge; cut them out.

Make a pattern for the castle towers: draw another rectangle - 4 inches wide by 12 inches high.

Make the crenellations for the tower (to achieve the same effect as above): with the rectangle facing you vertically, draw a horizontal line across the paper 1 inch below the top edge. Then draw 1-inch vertical marks at 1-inch intervals from the top edge of the paper to that line. Cut off every other tab, starting at the left edge of your paper.

Make a pattern for the tower floor: draw and cut out a square - 4 inches on all sides.

Roll out gingerbread dough to a thickness of 1/2 inch.

Use the pattern pieces you've just made to cut out four castle walls (big rectangles), eight tower walls (tall rectangles), and four tower floors (squares).

Make a drawbridge on one of the castle wall pieces by cutting a rectangle out of the bottom center: measure 5 and 9 inches in from one side and 5 inches up from the bottom edge and cut out this hole. Set the drawbridge away from the wall when you bake it so all the edges crisp up.

Bake as directed in the related eHow, "How to Make Gingerbread for a Gingerbread House."

Spread your frosting "mortar" thickly along the short edges of the castle walls.

Join the walls of the castle at 90-degree angles (with the crenellations at the top) and stand the open-topped structure up on a tray. Add more frosting as needed and let dry for 30 minutes to an hour.

Stand an 11-inch paper towel roll inside each corner of the castle, about an inch away from the walls. Use frosting to secure each roll to the tray.

Spread frosting thickly along all four edges of one of the floor pieces (the squares). Set it on top of one of the paper towel rolls and slide it into place until it joins up with both walls (it will look like a weird little deck).

Spread frosting thickly along the long edges of two of the tower walls.

Stand the tower walls up around the deck you've just constructed (with the crenellations at the top) and join them to each other, to the inside walls of the box, and to the remaining edges of the tower "floor." Add more frosting if necessary.

Repeat steps 14 to 17 for the three remaining towers.

Place the drawbridge in front - if you made holes, use string or cord to tie it.

Allow to dry for several hours.

Decorate your castle with candy, using the frosting mortar to secure it to the castle. A coat-of-arms over the drawbridge is a must, as is at least one flag. Other than that, it's up to your whimsy. Stick candy makes good flagpoles, as well as framing material for the bottom edge or the drawbridge. Candy canes will come in handy.

Consider a repeating pattern on the crenellations (with contrasting trim for the tower crenellations?), frames for the windows - anything regal and impressive will do.