Entries in the 2020 Holiday Gingerbread-Smackdown contest
We used Poppy Sticks and sliced gumdrops in half for a different look on the roof
Edible Butterflies, Necco wafers and plenty of royal icing
I looked online for inspiration for a cottage with a curved roof and found a drawing posted on Pinterest "A Casa Dos Ursinhos" that I played around with. I built the house using foamcore first and using a scalpel, put slits in the roof so it would bend and follow the curve of the house. I laid hot gingerbread on top of the roof and it then took the shape of the roof. One side turned out better than the other. Beans are used to mimic stone walls and the windows are just square pretzels. Red licorice pieces are on the roof and the hedge is made out of rice crispies. I found the giant pink marshmallows in an Asian foodstore and the pig is out of marzipan. The gingerbread shutters and doors are left over from previous years. The jury is still out on using this technique for the roof. Last year I bent metal roofing shingles to get the curve I wanted and laid the hot gingerbread on top of the shingle. It was difficult to keep the gingerbread from sliding off on the foamcore roof but I didn't have that problem with the metal shingle. This house is 11 inches tall and the base is 11 X 6.
I took template from Gingerbread Exchange Community, Waterford house. This house was made as a display house for our local supermarket, as they allowed me to sell my gingerbread creations during Christmas holidays. It has candy glass windows, the fir trees made with ice-cream cones and green icing. And a bit of cake decorations. Snowman is made from fondant. Roof is made with cereal. I did not use any artificial candies to decorate this house. I made it simple)It has 5 LED lighting zones, so in the dark it looks very amazing.
I decided to build the hotel I work at for a Gingerbread Competition. I built in in 5 days (little sleep was had). I did not use much candy on the piece, I did use modeling chocolate which is quite tasty. My dogs also found the gingerbread pieces very tasty, I lost a wall and a statue to them. All in all it was a crazy undertaking that left me with little sleep for almost a week. All in all, I am happy with the end product.
I thought this was the perfect year to go all out on a gingerbread house since we don’t have holiday parties and other festivities. This house uses the Waterford pattern, which I first made in cardboard to adjust the design and ensure everything fit correctly. I used gum for the bricks and tried to recreate slate tiles using fondant. Since I used gelatin leaves for the windows, I decided I needed to decorate the interior with framed windows, a fireplace, tree, a couple of wreaths and some pretzel furniture. It was a joy to make and made this year!
Theme: swirly peppermint designs
Materials: gingerbread, royal icing, mini candy canes, peppermints
Methinks it's not a bad first attempt!
Candy Cane Lane is our interpretation of the Town Village Pattern on gingerbreadexchange.com. Once again, I was the gingerbread baker/assembler while my daughter was the designer and chief decorator. We used hard crack sugar for the windows (check out the bakery window with treats inside!), we melted jolly ranchers for the church stained glass, and used tons of candy canes and Big Red gum for paths. All trees and shrubs are made of royal icing. Check out our process on Meredith's TikTok, @meredith.eva!
Based on a house along the coast of the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland, I love to imagine that it was built by a retired sea captain who wanted to overlook the bay. It is fully edible including candy glass windows.
Plain gingerbread house with gelatin cross hatched windows sitting in the snow.
My Gingerbread house is homemade. It is filled with cinnamon flavored cake filled and frosted with chocolate ganache.
Gingerbread cookies individually decorated with royal icing, windows made with isomalt,mini m&m used for lighting on the front door,roof is decorated with fondant.
Started as a simple Old Mill with a lighted waterfall design. It soon took on a life of it's own. The base is ginger clay with isolmalt pond. The cottage and mill are gingerbread with sugar rods for support, royal icing, and cookies for roofing. The window is a gelatin sheet, and interior of the cottage has a candy rock fireplace, table and gingerbread "pie and cake". The ice blocks are rock candy, the gnomes are marzipan, and the 'fruitcake' is gingerbread and royal icing. Hope you enjoy, it was fun making it.
My treasure chest was inspired by a pirate ship I made in 2014. The chest is filled with some antique treasures, Christmas décor, plus a few 2020 treasures! Our traditional bear is there too - he jumped ship and is social distancing on the beach! The chest is 16"w x 8"d x 14"h, made from gingerbread imprinted with a wood grain look and "stained" with brown food coloring. The metal straps, treasures (except chocolate coins), sea shells, and critters are made from fondant, or fondant covered rice cereal treats, while the jewels are melted Jolly Ranchers. The sand is brown sugar with mixed with black, gray, brown and white sanding sugar.
My creation is based on a German candle arch . It consists of 10 gingerbread cookies cut with an xacto knife .The candle oldies and candles are made of fondant and the candle wicks are made of spaghetti. The back ground is painted with food color gel and sprinkled with edible glitter . The letters are stamped with cookie letter stamps and painted It lights up at night to make a shadow box
Self drafted pattern for a shop front with open display windows. Made from construction grade gingerbread, covered in homemade Royal icing. Includes gingerbread “pastries,” melted hard candy windows, Pez brickwork, Nerd candy rock steps, wafer cookie chimney, bubble gum strip roof top, fondant poodle, black royal icing fencing, gumpaste table and chairs, and lots of sprinkles
The theme was science fiction however perfectly fitting for 2020! The chair is made of gingerbread and the cushion is Rice Krispie ginger flour blend covered in fondant with Nonpareil’s as the buttons; the disc is gingerbread painted with food coloring and gold confetti sprinkles; pasta is used to support the control unit that is covered in fondant; pasta is also used as the wires behind the chair; the motor behind the chair is made of the krispie ginger mix covered in fondant; the walls are gingerbread covered with fondant as the floor tiles are also fondant; grass is colored coconut.
Who wouldn't want a puppy in a box for Christmas?
Our Logo dog, George is the inspiration behind this gingerbread creation. George BP is now an 8 year old Samoyed, weighing in at 123 pounds. He is a real show stopper when it comes to meeting him. We can hardly go for walks due to constantly being stopped by people we meet along the way that either want to pet him or have questions they want to ask about him.
Each side of this gingerbread creation has a puppy related theme. The first side has a puppy in a box tied with a bow setting on the front step of a house with sleeping children "dreaming" of different breeds of dogs. There is another window in which you can look in and see a Christmas tree along with fireplace complete with stockings.
On the back side is Santa Paws where dog treats are being made. Also a cat can be seen gifting a piece of cheese to a mouse next to where a snowman is being made.
On the roof a dog can be found decorating with a string of Christmas lights. The last side is where you will find a stable and Nativity scene made up of a Dalmatian family consisting of Mom, Dad and baby. Take note of the three gifts for the newborn puppy; a dog bone, dish and bowl.
We hope that this magical and meaningful gingerbread creation will help make all your Christmas Dreams come true. MERRY CHRISTMAS!
I had so much fun lining the roof with stars and red and green sugar pearls! M&M along the front trim (yes I ate more than I put on the house lol!) and Hershey's kisses along the top of the roof. Ty made fun of my house, saying "Why do you have so many chimneys?" Peppermint bark chips for the window awnings. Red Hots for the front step. Christmas lights along the gutter. The best part was the gingerbread people from Pepperidge Farms!
Candy Cane garland along the roof, peppermint candies and red gumdrops!
Inspired by the Wedding Cake House in New Orleans. Created a pattern out of cardboard. Roof is grey fondant cut in 1 inch squares, windows are gelatin sheets, siding and trim is all done in white fondant, columns are gingerbread covered with royal icing, bushes and 2 larger trees made with green colored rice krispy treats, fence is made with kind bars, white chocolate pretzel stars, tootsie rolls and sour cherries. Railing was made with royal icing scraped with decorating comb on wax paper until dry because there is no way I could pipe anything that straight, santa and snowmen made with modeling chocolate. Everything is edible except the wood base and the toothpicks holding my snowmen up straight!!
We used a combination of marshmallows and royal icing to create the smoke for the train and chimney
December 26th- Train Station by the Sea and Santa on Vacation
This house uses many candies purchased from the 99-cent store. The back of the house has a large garden with mushrooms, pumpkins and peas !!
My inspiration for this was to use up supplies that I had on hand. I did not let myself buy anything I didn’t already have.
I used gingerbread for the houses and covered them with fondant. I painted the houses with food color. Red licorice, gumdrops and white chocolate were used for street lamps. Foundation of the houses are chocolate rocks. Front steps are sweet tart lego like bricks coated with white Chocolate.
Windows are melted Jolly Ranchers.
Pretzel rods, gumdrops and spearmint drops were used.
The entire cathedral is made of gingerbread, royal icing and gelatin for the windows. Because of how 2020 has been I wanted to create something to bring the spirit of Christmas alive. It is a large piece at 18 inches tall and 18 inches wide and is illuminated with lights.
The display is how I imagine my dog Taffy would build a gingerbread doghouse. Everything is baked gingerbread including the snowflakes and gingerbread buttons on her sweater. If you look in the mirror you'll see she had to use her bone to prop up her building and she's also left some powdered sugar footprints for me to clean up! The colors were added with dry and wet powder dusts.
This display is baked gingerbread with fondant figures. The magi and shepherds with their sheep surround the manger scene.
Our theme was a ski resort because I use to take my niece and nephews skiing Christmas Vacation. Sunday River is where I taught them to ski. The green trail, Broadway, was their first trail they learned on and Right Stuff was their first black diamond. We used sticks of gum cut and shaped for the skis, pretzels for the ski rack, a gingerbread mold for the skiers. Jolly ranchers for the stained glass windows. This was pretty
I am a home baker who was asked to design and build this for a baking kit company that started up in the UK, to promote mindfulness during lockdown.
This house was made to show what could be done with their top of the range gingerbread kit. The extensive kit came with design consultancy and support from the team and myself - soliciting interest from the pastry chef of an Arab Diplomat!
I decided to go with an English Georgian Manor design.
The build includes quality baking ingredients, including Saracino modelling paste, Saracino Isomalt, Squires petal paste and dragees from various sprinkle suppliers. The figures and decorations are all hand modelled and the finished house measures 18” tall. It makes a fabulous feature, especially when the LEDs illuminate the insides of the windows.
As this was my first foray into house building, I thank your community page members for tips and advice.
Silent night
The Gingerbread was made from scratch and is a tried & true recipe that Jim has perfected over the years. The stained glass windows are made from gummy bears baked into the dough.
The light shinning through the windows is an added treat!
All decorations are 100% edible . The house took 25-30 hours to complete.
This Gingerbread house has a working water fountain.
Everything is edible except the lights
This piece illustrates life living during Covid pandemic. Santa put on some extra pounds with his room full of toilet paper, amazon boxes, bread and wine bottles. Outside, the elves are doing Covid testing
Modern gingerbread home using the DWR gingerbread house template. A few touches to make it a little more interesting!!
Ferguson's Bakery is chalk full of goods,
and Eileen's greenhouse has poinsettia and Christmas cactuses.
My parents passed away - Dad Gordon in 2008, and mom Eileen in 2015.
I made this from scratch.
Merry Christmas
Hi Everyone,
My entry this year features 3 gingerbread kiddos anxiously awaiting customers for their hot cocoa stand at 36 Gingerbread Lane. Mom and Dad are keeping an eye at the top of the stone walkway. Three Christmas trees decorate the property while 2 festive dog houses can be found on the left side of the house just beyond the pond. A pointsettia fence lines the property.
The house windows were made with crushed butterscotch candy, and the pond is crushed jolly rancher candy. I used ice cream cones for the Christmas trees and Wilton royal icing decorations for the ginger bread family. The piping on the house and tower fence are Royal icing. The walk way is made of candy rocks and the pointsettia fence is made of gingerbread painted with royal icing. The roof tiles are hand cut fondant. Thanks for looking and Happy Holidays!
Gingerbread covered fondant with royal icing; decorations made from thyme, dill and rosemary.
My creation goes to a children’s hospital for their lobby holiday display. Knowing that people cannot linger in the lobby to look at tiny details - I decided to go with BIG color and candy so that even people hurrying by would be able to appreciate the whimsy of a candy house!
My entry was inspired by my travels to Provence a few years ago. Many of the older buildings feature French Provincial mansard roof lines. A Parisian law had been in place since 1783, restricting the heights of buildings to 20 metres. The height was only measured up to the cornice line, making any living space contained in a mansard roof exempt.
The gingerbread house and fencing is all hand piped, featuring no store-bought candy and no non-edible internal structure.
I hope you like it!
Pulling into station, it’s The North Pole Express! Our gingerbread train carries homemade confections through the snowy mountains. Built by The Gingerbread Sisters, Kyndall & Laurel, this display is made using gingerbread, royal icing, & isomalt windows.
Because of Covid19, my granddaughter was not able to help me this year so I decided to work with a simpler template. The beautiful turn-of-the 19th century greenhouse in our village was the inspiration. The "orangerie" is a minimally decorated gingerbread greenhouse with surprises inside. The windows are gelatine sheets; some of the trees use ice cream cones coated with green royal icing and other greenery is created with pressed and sculpted green rice crispy treats. The poinsettias are made with gum drops. The orange tree is made with a base of grape stems, covered in brown royal icing and pressed with green rice crispy treats and orange balls. Grass is colored coconut and pebbles are red quinoa.
The gnomes are not edible. They are made of terracotta and come from Germany.
My structure represents a small town church in the quiet, candle lit contemplation before parishioners gather.
gumdrop penguins, fondant narwhal, 100 gingerbread blocks!
Inspiration: Spike pit, eye of Sauron Tower(s), peril like unto Lord of the Rings
Candy used: dummies, belly beans, candy canes sharpened into spikes, jelly beans
From 2008-2016 I made a display gingerbread house at work as encouragement for Toys for Tots donations. Since retiring, I have been displaying them in North Carolina at my local library, basing the GBH theme on a children's book.
This year I used Chris Van Allsburg's The Polar Express as my inspiration and Calvin & Hobbes as my anti-heroes. The train is an actual toy (with a large Christmas bell on board), but the house is construction-grade gingerbread. The roof tiles are gingerbread cookies and the seams & lights are lined with marshmallows. All icing including ground cover is Royal icing. Other ornaments (windows, door, bulbs) are real as I spent 8 LONG years in southern Florida dealing with humidity and melting candy. The snowman on the train tracks and snow Godzilla are fondant. The mask on the toy Godzilla is a nod toward COVID-19.
I love using Calvin & Hobbes in my displays as their humor offer a counterpoint to all the sweetness and give adults viewing the house something to smile about.
There is a house in Springfield that is similar to the Heidi's Haunted House pattern. I used that pattern with some adaptions, including moving the tower to the front of the house, to make this year's gingerbread house. I always think Hansel and Gretel and try to use as many different candy types as I can.
I was bored and thinking of not bothering to make a gingerbread house because I had made everything I could think of. My granddaughter suggested I make a doll house, because I love to decorate doll houses.
Everything is gingerbread! I used colored sugar, sprinkles, gumballs, M&M's, red hot candies, fondant, royal icing, candy canes, graham cracker and spices (sand) and Swedish fish around the base.
Free tasty vaccines!
Laser cut gingerbread with Royal icing
Home. A place of refuge, rest, and care.
The last few years I’ve gotten away from the Gingerbread House. From monuments to monoliths, the themes got larger in scale and scope, and the thought of “just a house” was boring. And then came 2020. Where home became everything - to everyone. It was where we were safest. Where we fed ourselves and rested ourselves. Where we comforted each other and frustrated each other. Where we held everything from fencing lessons to choir concerts. Cocktails to scavenger hunts. Workouts. Talent shows. Birthdays. Weddings. Funerals.
The concept of the home is universal, but we all define it differently. Whatever your home has been through this time, I hope you remember it and cherish it for what it is—the creeky floors or the shiny knobs or the leaky roof that you never got fixed last year when contractors were still allowed inside and you were too lazy because it didn’t seem like that big a deal. As 2020 comes to a close and many of us find ourselves back in the confines of our home, I hope you will find all the joy and comfort your home provides. Happy Holidays!
Inspiration: Pink baby showers
Candy used: candy melts, gingerbread, royal icing, candy canes, cinnamon bears, peppermints, Good and Plenty
Gingersheen is a replica of the Glensheen Mansion in Duluth, MN. Everything is edible with the exception of the lights and the base. This mansion is loaded with Big Red Gum and even has Ju Ju Bee exterior lights that work!
It's gingerbread replica of Notre Dame de Paris. It's made of normal gingerbread dough and decorated with royal icing. There's a series of LED lights inside the building.
This was my first non-traditional gingerbread house! I painted the pieces with white food coloring to look like stucco and added Ivy and garlands. The brick is made of starbursts and the roof is made of fondant. I used gelatin sheets for the windows and added fairy lights to the inside. There are two Christmas trees housed inside. The double wraparound porches have almond slice flooring, candy cane support poles, and wrought iron fencing made from spaghetti covered in royal icing.
This was a bit tricky as I made my won template. I took my time assembling it and, thankfully, everything came together.
For a few years, we've been building a gingerbread house to decorate over Thanksgiving weekend. This year's house reminds me of the Renaissance carol "Down in Yon Forest." The house's stained glass windows include four in the traditional rose style, as well as a fifth larger rose window featuring its namesake flower. Some clear windows are bordered by colored candy glass tiles. Climbing ivy on the porte-cochère is echoed by festive swags and garlands. The house is approximately three feet long, two feet deep, and two feet tall. It is 100% edible apart from the lighting and the display platform.
This diorama includes a large gingerbread mansion, a gingerbread house constructed and decorated by my 11 year old niece, a gingerbread chapel and four chocolate houses. The theme is A summer Christmas in South Africa. Each of the fairies in the diorama is a flower fairy. The small fairies are made from a jelly bean and fondant and the larger fairies are specific flowers, namely, buttercup fairies, roses fairies and the autumn fairy.
I fell in love with this building the first time I saw it and decided to make it from gingerbread. It is completely edible except for the light system inside. All the gingerbread is covered with fondant, the windows are butterscotch candy, and the shingles are made of gum painted with food color. It was the most challenging roof system I've ever made, and so satisfying to complete! I began drawing the plan a month ago, and have worked on it in my spare time since.
Homemade gingerbread and frosting, Jolly ranchers windows, and various candies.
Went for an elegant design. Wilton sprinkles used to decorate flower boxes and door wreath. Fairy lights used to light up house and gelatine sheets used for windows.
This entry was part of a joint theme, thanking front line workers of many types in the fight against covid 19. This entry is the hospital, in thanks to the tireless medical staff keeping so many alive, and fighting this pandemic.
Mountain Cottage Theme
Chocolate Rock Candy for stone walls
Ice cream Cones for trees
Pretzel Chairs
Fondant Roofing, Shutters and Walls embossed with wood pattern
Royal Icing piped icicles
Royal Icing piped wreaths
Firewood logs made from pretzels
Skis and rack made from gum sticks and pretzels
campfire made from pretzels with a mini marshmallow colored orange for the fire and the circle of chocolate rock candy.
Dusted with powdered sugar for snow
We didn't have a local contest this year so a bunch of us put up a display at the usual restaurant thanking front line workers. I made the stores with signs saying thank you. Because it wasn't a contest I did add non-edible trees.
I saw this house (the Carson mansion in Eureka, CA) in 2006. I thought it would be cool to make, but I didn't know how I would ever do it. My daughter finally convinced me (dared me) to make it. It's about 98% gingerbread. Windows are isomalt with wafer paper shades. There's a little pastillage and splenda for snow
The theme started out as just a regular castle, but then the Superbowl hit so I changed the theme in honor of the RAMS. One of the NFL sponsors is Bud light and the "Bud Light Knight".(who is dressed in blue and silver) They have a sayings when they get a touchdown is DILLY DILLY. You will see on the banners outside the castle drawbridge it says Dilly Dilly. I played off the "Bud Light Knight"/ Castle theme.
Its all Gingerbread (except for the 'knights') I used dark molassas for the castle. Upside down Ice Cream cones for the top of Castle. Black licorice for the draw bridge. It was alot of fun to make on 4 rainy days in a row.
Thank you!
Lakeside Cabin Christmas is 100% edible, with the majority being gingerbread. The cabin is totally gingerbread, including the lattice. The beautiful blue color was achieved by brushing the walls with edible color dust. Fondant roofing covers the gingerbread ‘wood’ panels, and the landscaping was created with gingerbread crumbs incorporated in a basic rice krispy treat blend. Royal icing decorated sugar cones for trees and fondant water and snow. The Christmas lights are candy coated sunflower seeds. Chocolate rocks and a blend of breadcrumbs (including gingerbread) and pecans finished up the look and feel of the outdoors.
Inspiration: A nice black lab dog
Materials: Rainbow strips, dummies, peppermint candies, pretzels
Peppermint bark chips for roof shingles and red and green classic mints.
I was inspired by Belarusian people who rose up against the president Lukashenka, who stole the elections. Some people were killed and the opposition leaders are in jail.