Bowen Island treat-makers Burle Konopa and Jessica Skett have been wowing islanders with the beauty of their cakes and cookies ever since they launched The Sweet Stand several years ago, but their work is currently on display for a much wider audience.
The Grouse Mountain Gingerbread Village Challenge showcases the work of bakers and gingerbread makers, supporting BC Children’s Hospital and offering great prizes to winners.
Konopa and Skett had never made a gingerbread house before taking this project on (aside from the ones you buy in a kit), but they decided to do it anyway.
The bakers say they learned a lot, but most importantly, this: there are no rush jobs when it comes to building gingerbread houses.
First of all, they were assisted by Burle’s husband, Martin, who got on the computer and created a 3-d plan for the house prior to it’s construction.
After baking their gingerbread, the bakers let each piece dry for two weeks before attempting to build.
They filed the edge of each piece of gingerbread in order to make the edges perfectly straight.
They used wooden supports to keep the upper tiers of the house in place.
Skett and Konopa also figured they’d need more support for their structure than icing , so they opeted for super-glue as their binding agent of choice. So, if you head up to Grouse for a look, don’t touch and DO NOT eat the gingerbread…
Be sure to vote for the Sweet Stand Gingerbread house and give these island entrepreneurs a chance at gingerbread-building fame.
