Gingerbread Project 2022

 

"We should do an aquarium this year," Krista suggested. "We can pile on lots of candy and it’s not too complicated to build."

So began the 2022 gingerbread project.

When I got to Laura’s, she suggested a diorama might work better for logistical reasons. Molasses and brown sugar is not readily available in Germany so I had to make the gingerbread with honey. This results in a very soft cookie. The lack of crispness and stiffness leads to construction problems because the big pieces bend and sag. I deferred to her experience from past years and we went with "Under the Sea."

The final solution was to bake 3 simple squares as background pieces and add lots of fish-type cookies.

Then I ran into problem number 2 - the royal icing wouldn’t harden during assembly.

This could have been because I used lemon juice instead of cream of tartar. It tasted delicious but didn’t have the same consistency I’m used to.

Or maybe it was because of the energy crisis in Germany. Laura’s house was so cold (14-16 C) that the icing wouldn’t set. It worked fine on individual cookies, thinly applied as decoration (and was surprisingly lemony delicious) but thicker applications would not harden enough to keep the big pieces connected. The background pieces in the picture are propped up against the window. I just hope the new kitten doesn't decide to investigate or there will be a tsunami.

Of course the fun part is decorating with the German g-kids for the first time! Lilli channeled her mom and made some amazing pieces including an oyster with a pearl inside and hand-painted some rays. Orson was into sharks and lobsters because they are “so cute.” My favourite element to decorate was the jellyfish. 

It was a weird dough where I started by melting sugar, butter and honey together

We cut out all our own shapes - except we used the Halloween bat for the ray 

It looked fine, so maybe the problem was the house temperature.

This is the recipe I used. Thank you Google translate.

I was going to use three different shades of blue but Laura had a better idea.
We used the same blue food colouring at different strengths.

Started with the lightest blue at the top

Not sure it was going to work at this point.

Looking pretty ocean-y with the third layer

Not to shabby!

My helpers!

Propping stuff up until it dries

The oyster is drying

An assortment of sea creatures