Delightful Housework : Master Gingerbread Carpenter Shares Secrets of Sweet Creations That Aren’t Built to Last
Some had struggled on their own before, only to see their creations crumble. Others had never dared try the daunting task of building a gingerbread house.
But here they were, about 200 people gathered around the heavy wooden tables in a Costa Mesa bakery, assembling dazzling collections of gumdrops, pinwheel peppermints, plastic Santas, candy canes, licorice, miniature trees, cookies and pretzels that seemed in no danger of collapse.
Ute Chiu of Irvine and her daughter, Anna, 7, beamed as they delicately fastened a Santa to the chimney of their gingerbread chalet.
“I’ve always thought a gingerbread house was too difficult to bake, and I wouldn’t have anybody to help with it at home. Here, I can just show up and do it,” Chiu said.
That’s what Oscar Streit, 48, owner of the German Home Bakery, had in mind when he set up for the first time this year classes in the fine art of gingerbread construction.
“For years, we’ve done this for a few friends, but so many people asked for classes that I decided, why not--and opened it to the public.”
On this recent Sunday afternoon, Streit, a native of the Black Forest region of Germany and a baker since he was 14, scurried from table to table, praising, suggesting, demonstrating, encouraging and doing whatever he could to guarantee successful results.
For $25, those attending the class got gingerbread house pieces already baked, icing already mixed and buckets full of candies and other decorating doodads already amassed. No mess, no risk, just build and decorate under the tutelage of Streit and his baker assistants.
Streit and his crew are thoroughly qualified tutors. He said they will turn out from 800 to 1,000 gingerbread houses this Christmas season. These are the size to fit the average dining room table. But some are immense structures, buttressed with cardboard for strength and illuminated with tiny electric lights, destined to grace hotel lobbies throughout Orange County.
At first, however, most artisans labored over smaller but equally ornate masterpieces.
Jutta Kogel, of Irvine, placed what looked like small, polished multihued stones in the icing “snow” around her gingerbread house.
“They’re candy,” she said. “We call them kieselstein. It means ‘river stones’ in German.”
Kogel put the finishing touches--stamped white chocolate wafers--on what will be a surprise for her two children, ages 5 and 6.
“They’ve never had one before; until now, they were too little for so much sweetness. But this year, I decided to make one, and I’ll give it to them on Dec. 1 along with a Christmas calendar, the kind with the little doors to open.
“That makes it easier to wait for Christmas. They can sneak a little something sweet each day.”
Jeanene Bartel of Irvine and her daughter, Danielle, 7, cautiously surveyed their intricate handiwork, crowned with a Santa doing a headstand in a snowdrift on the roof.
“The hardest part was putting the pieces together. One of the walls caved in,” Bartel said. “But we saved it.”
Jeanie Smith of Irvine, with son, Travis, 5, watching intently, squirted a dab of icing on the roof of their candied manse in an effort to reattach a fallen chimney.
“I’d read magazines and cookbooks, but I didn’t think I could do it properly. You know, you work so hard and then cry when it falls apart. I heard about this class from a friend and said, ‘Yes, let’s do that.’ ”
The chimney back in place, Smith took out insurance by jamming a toothpick through the chimney and into the roof. Streit had told the builders that the toothpicks could be removed the next day, but, Smith said, “I think I’ll just clip off the ends and leave them in. I don’t want to risk a collapse.”
