Gingerbread houses without the frustration

For many aspiring bakers, building a house made from gingerbread is only slightly less difficult than building one from wood. Presuming they can even get the four walls standing and cemented with frosting, the roof could then collapse under the weight of its peppermint shingles, making the whole project a big, sticky mess.

“It’s kind of a pain in the neck,” admits Kathy Pettit, culinary coordinator for Sur La Table. That’s why the gourmet cooking store and school offers its annual Gingerbread House Workshops--so parents and children can experience the joys of gingerbread without the frustration.

In the two-hour class, the hard work of building the houses is practically done. Each parent-child pair receives a house in prefabricated pieces that fit together easily, leaving more than enough time to trim a window with butterscotch or decorate a door with gum drops.

The icing on the cake: They can bring their edible sculptures home when they’re finished.

Gingerbread House Workshops, Sur La Table, 301 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles. Saturday, 11 a.m. and 3 p.m.; Sunday, 11 a.m. and 3 p.m.; Tuesday, Dec. 17, 6 p.m.; $75; (866) 328-5412.

-- Susan Carpenter