Valentine’s Love Shacks

We have a fun tradition in our family. Every year, just before Valentines Day, we get together to make these candy “Love Shacks!” We use Chocolate Graham Crackers for the “shacks” and all kinds of cute Valentine’s candy to decorate them. I make the graham cracker “shacks” ahead of time so they have time to dry and then kids each get to decorate their own. (their parents like to get involved too! In fact, it has almost turned into a competition between the parents!) Scroll down to the bottom to see some of our Valentine’s Love Shacks!

Start by making a batch of Royal Icing. This is the best frosting to use to build the “shacks” because it hardens nicely and helps “glue” everything together. I use Meringue Powder and powdered sugar with a little bit of warm water. It’s simple to make by following the directions on the Meringue Powder container. It can be found wherever cake decorating supplies are sold or HERE on Amazon.com.

Start with a long chocolate graham cracker and using a serrated knife, (I visualize an “x” on one end of the cracker) “saw” back and forth gently until it cuts through the cracker (see photo above.) You will need 2 of these ends + 2 halves of the cracker for the walls of the “shack.”

Put some of the Royal Icing into a Disposable Icing Bag with a plain decorating tip or you can use a ziploc bag. (If using the ziploc bag, cut a tiny piece off of the corner to squeeze out the icing as shown.)

“Glue” one side on, then the other. See photos.

It doesn’t matter if it looks messy at this point, it will get covered up by more icing and lots of candy!

For the roof pieces, I like to slice off about 1/4 of the cracker to make it fit without much of an overhang. If you prefer a larger roof overhang, just glue the cracker on as it is.

Use more of your Royal Icing “glue” to attach the roof pieces.

The icing will set up within a few minutes. The longer it sets up the better. I like to use some icing to attach the house right onto to a cute Valentines plate!