Medieval Gingerbread Tower

I just turned 30 and spent the week making an edible dollhouse

I accidentally started a tradition of gingerbread baking around Christmas. I say “accidentally” because it was never a set plan but something I naturally came back to again because it was so fun. Over the years I’ve made tiny houses, a big haunted house with my friend and now this medieval inspired tower. (If you don’t care for my ramblings, the images are at the bottom).

The week after Christmas (and my birthday, which was the 23rd) I took (mostly) off from work. I spent a lot of my time watching iZombie and making this gingerbread tower. It was nice to have an entire week to do the project because I have a tendency to underestimate project times. Or rather, I wish something would take only a day so I tell myself it will, but I just get angry when it clearly needs longer. The beauty of this tower is there were no expectations. If it takes a week? So what? There’s no deadline! It’s literally for FUN - not for selling on [insert date here].

Before I show off the final product below, here are some reference images that inspired my design and creatures. They’re medieval illuminations or woodcuts.

The lack of expectations also allowed me to savor the creative process and give the materials the time they needed to rest. I literally could not push forward because the dough wasn’t cool enough or icing dry enough (sometimes I force myself to keep going when a project clearly needs me to step away from it). Plus, working with a new material that has no ties to monetary gain is such a relief. That’s why I enjoy decorative baking. Yes I can share it on social media, but the actual object can only be shared intimately, with those in my direct personal life. 

If you struggle with professional creative burnout, but want to still be creative, I suggest finding an activity completely untied from your professional medium. Maybe that’s knitting or embroidering or like me, baking. Also for the record, please see below to see a baking failure.

I am NOT always pleased with the result. But that is also part of the fun. The cake below was supposed to look like the left image, but my creation was the right one. 

It was for my wife’s birthday and my artistic audacity somehow thought my creative skills would transfer well to baking despite the fact that the recipe included multiple techniques I had no experience with (really it’s just the decorating part I’m better at than non-artists). Obviously, it was a disaster. The textures were all wrong and it was ugly as shit BUT it did still taste good! I laughed so hard at it and my wife was a good sport (because it still tasted good). 

Baking is a great exercise for me to break my perfectionist tendencies and cultivate patience. Even if a bake goes bad one time, you learn and know what to do different next time. Trying to be perfect every time is only setting yourself up for failure. Maybe it’s hard for others to notice, but I feel a subtle change inside with how I think about certain endeavors and set up my expectations because of doing projects like this over the years.

Part of me cringes at showing off my disastrous cake, but I think it’s important to share all aspects of the creative process. It is not always being lost in the flow. Sometimes it’s frustration and adapting and just knowing when you’ve been beat. Sometimes you just have to admit that this time’s shot, come back another day. The picture-perfect part of social media contributes to a lot of my anxiety of not “doing enough” so I don’t want to contribute to that if I can help it. It’s so freeing to accept and admit that we all mess up!

Anyway, here is something I am happy with: the Gingerbread Tower and all the creatures that inhabit its grounds:

I used this Spicy Pepperkaker recipe from Northwild Kitchen (which is tasty as it is sturdy).

The icing is just a basic royal icing and I used a brush and black food dye to draw.