Gingerbread house roof overhang
The overhang is how far the roof sticks out past the walls. Most gingerbread templates leave it out or hide it in the roof panel size, so the roof just comes as two numbers. This page shows what each overhang does to the roof panels, the dough and the baking sheets, using the classic 6 × 8 in house with 4 in walls, a 45° roof and dough rolled to 1/4 in. For a house that size I would pick 1/4 to 1/2 in. That is my own rule of thumb, based on the numbers below.
What the overhang changes
Only the two roof panels change. Their width is the depth of the house plus the overhang at both ends. Their length is the slope from ridge to eave plus the overhang at the eave. The walls stay as they are. The last column opens the house in the generator with that overhang filled in.
| Overhang | Roof panel (2) | Eave reaches out | Eave hangs down | Dough with extra | Half sheets | Template |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 in | 8 × 4.24 in | 0 in | 0 in | 1,191 g | 2 | Open |
| 0.25 in | 8.5 × 4.49 in | 0.18 in | 0.18 in | 1,244 g | 2 | Open |
| 0.5 in | 9 × 4.74 in | 0.35 in | 0.35 in | 1,299 g | 2 | Open |
| 0.75 in | 9.5 × 4.99 in | 0.53 in | 0.53 in | 1,357 g | 2 | Open |
| 1 in | 10 × 5.24 in | 0.71 in | 0.71 in | 1,419 g | 2 | Open |
| 1.5 in | 11 × 5.74 in | 1.06 in | 1.06 in | 1,551 g | 3 | Open |
Half sheets are 18 × 13 in pans with 3/4 in left free at the edges. Dough includes 25% for trimmings. "Reaches out" is how far the roof edge sticks out sideways past the wall, "hangs down" how far it sits below the top of the wall, both for a 45° slope.
Going from no overhang to 1 1/2 in grows each roof panel from 8 × 4.24 in to 11 × 5.74 in and adds 360 g of dough. Check the sheet column before you settle on a number, because a roof panel that no longer fits next to the other pieces can cost you a second pan.
Which overhang to pick
With no overhang the roof ends flush with the walls. That is the easiest to assemble, since the panel lines up with the gable edges, but every joint shows and there is no ledge for icicles or a row of candy. I find a 1/4 in overhang already hides the top edge of the walls. At 1/2 in the roof casts a small shadow line and still sits firmly on the walls.
Past 1 in the unsupported part of the roof gets heavy, especially once it carries candy and icing, and the panels wait longer on their props before the icing sets. I would only go there on a bigger house. If you decorate the eaves with gumdrops or icicles, 1/2 to 3/4 in gives them room without making the roof tip.
The overhang also widens the footprint of the finished house. The base board page takes it into account when it picks a board.
What one published template does
The Food Network Kitchen peppermint house gives side walls of 4 by 7 in, front and back panels 6 in wide with 4 in walls and "4 1/2 inches slanted to a peak", and roof panels of 4 1/2 by 8 in. The page does not mention an overhang.
The numbers still show one. The roof is 8 in long and the side walls 7 in, so the roof is 1 in longer than the walls. The front and back panels sit at the ends of the walls, so the roof sticks out past the house at both ends by about 1/2 in minus the thickness of the dough if the gables sit outside the side walls, so roughly 1/4 in at 1/4 in dough. That is my reading; the recipe doesn't say it. The slanted edge of the gable is 4 1/2 in and the roof panel is 4 1/2 in wide, so along the slope the roof ends exactly at the eave.
Bigger houses
On a 12 × 14 in house with 9 in walls and a 45° roof rolled to 3/8 in, a 1/2 in overhang gives roof panels of 15 × 8.99 in and a 1 in overhang gives 16 × 9.49 in. The two roof panels are already large (15 in long) and heavy on a house this size, so I would keep the overhang at 1/2 in. Open it at 1/2 in or at 1 in. More sizes are on the large house page.
Metric
In centimeters the generator starts at 1.5 cm for a 15 × 20 cm house, slightly more generous than 1/2 in on the classic house. For a mini house 0.5 to 1 cm is enough. The cm and A4 page lists the printed pages each size needs.
Cutting and fitting the roof
- Cut both roof panels from the same pattern piece so the overhang matches on both sides.
- Trim them against the paper template while they are warm, as in the assembly guide. A panel that spreads by 1/8 in changes a 1/4 in overhang by half.
- Put the ridge edges together first and check that the overhang looks the same at both ends before the icing sets.
- A steeper roof lets the eave hang lower. The roof pitch page shows how the angle changes the panels.