[ad_1]
Every year Helena Gustafsson purchases a new famous building to recreate in a ginger-scented dough. He has made the Kalle factory and the chocolate factory, the new Örgryte church and Villa villerkulla, just to name a few. This year, the choice fell on the palace in the Disney film Alladin.
– There have been many Disney movies since Disney plus was released. This palace is so iconic and it was fun trying to recreate it.
She describes working with the drawings as “quite a primitive process.” Cut and paste and trial and error is what counts. The hardest to come by were domes that required a great deal of baking testing before getting it right. All the towers are hand painted with food coloring.
– It took me a bit of time to get to the changes in gold, red, blue and purple. I would like to have some color in my houses. But this was still relatively quick construction, last year when I made the Greveholm Christmas calendar house it took eleven days. Now it took “only” seven.
GP Christmas Calendar
Christmas 2020 will not be like other Christmases. But while journalists write a lot about isolation, the spread of infection and closure, it is important that we do not forget that there is much to be happy about. People who defend each other and transmit Christmas cheer, family ties and friendship that are forged stronger and a society that stands firm during this test. To spread the heat during the Christmas season, GP will open a door with positive news every day from the first to the 24th of December.
For those who can barely put together a ready-to-go kit for unfinished gingerbread houses with crying and a sad pile covered in burnt sugar, it can be disappointing to see Helena’s fantastic creations. But she has a few tips to share. The first is to omit the melted sugar.
– It is much easier and becomes more durable if you use frosting. But it requires you to wait a little longer and allow it to dry properly. I also use a special dough made from rye flour instead of wheat flour and with lots of lemon and honey that is very durable, although not as good.
Domes were the hardest to come by and required a few rounds of testing before they became good. Photo: Lisa Thanner
Helena Gustafsson is a pastry chef by trade and also makes a lot of gingerbread houses at work.
– Some years I have been making gingerbread houses at work and then I went straight home and built them on my own, then you got a little tired. But this year I finished before I started working. And basically I think this is a lot of fun, that’s why I’m doing it.
The love for gingerbread houses stems from an almost pathological love for Christmas. Since she was little she has loved everything to do with the holiday and she really does not stop to celebrate.
– I have three Christmas trees at home, in my apartment, so to speak. The decoration should be extra of everything. I’ve seen all the Christmas movies a thousand times. Everything about Christmas is so wonderful!
Helena’s recipe for sustainable dough for house building
Ingredients:
• 15 dl of fine rye flour
• 1 tablespoon of ginger
• 2 tablespoons of cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon of cloves
• 1/2 tablespoon of cardamom
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/4 dl of lemon juice
• 1 egg + 1 yellow
• 60 grams of butter
• 1 1/2 dl of honey
• 4 dl of sugar
Do this:
Melt the butter and add the sugar and honey (the sugar doesn’t need to melt).
2. Beat the eggs + the egg yolk with the lemon juice and add.
Mix together the flour, spices, and salt before adding again and again. Knead until you get a very firm dough. It is ready to use immediately.
4. The parts are baked at 175 degrees for about 20 minutes.
5. Leftover dough is stored in a plastic bag at room temperature. If the dough feels too hard when it is going to be rolled, you can mike it as quickly as possible to make it softer.
Do you want to know more about how GP works with quality journalism? Read our ethical rules here.
[ad_2]
