If you’ve upped your baking game during the pandemic, it may be time to go for the gold—build a holiday gingerbread house! And no, we’re not talking about the 10-dollar grocery store kit kind.
ABC11 morning anchor Barbara Gibbs started creating the holiday houses five years ago; she’s got a talent for gingerbread baking and building but says she still has much to learn. “I am truly a beginner, and there are wildly talented gingerbread artists and I admire them greatly, “ says Gibbs. She credits her success to “some crazy good gingerbread friends” and their tips, which she shared with us below.
Use construction grade dough Instead of using traditional gingerbread dough recipes—which can be more fragile—there is a “construction grade” gingerbread dough that is perfect for building, but not for eating! It gets hard as a rock and will hold up when you want to make a sturdy piece. Google “construction grade gingerbread dough” and you’ll find various recipes online.
Use clear, edible glue for a clean finish Using “Royal Icing” is the traditional way to glue gingerbread pieces together but it can be messy or very difficult to achieve a clean final product. Many gingerbread artists use a clear, edible alternative (as many competitions require ALL ingredients be edible). I am not at liberty to give the recipe (gingerbread experts are extremely proprietary) but I’m absolutely convinced googling ‘edible Tylose glue’ will find you various recipes online. (Tylose is a powder used to make sugar pastes).
Make ginger friends For those interested in the world of gingerbread (and it’s a huge and fascinating one), there’s a Facebook group called “Gingerfriends.” Submit a request to join the group and you’ll see all kinds of conversations, photos, help, tips and discussions.
WEB EXCLUSIVE The December 2020/January 2021 issue of Raleigh Magazine will be on stands around town and delivered to your doors and mailboxes in just a couple of days! If you can’t wait until then, here’s a quick look at some of the stories we have in store.
Roadmap to Romance
Take holiday date night to a new level this season. Venture out safely to one of the Triangle’s most romantic bars and restaurants: Our Roadmap to Romance rounds up the best rendezvous spots around town for you and your significant other to delight in holiday-themed cocktails, seasonal small plates and merry atmospheres—mistletoe not included.
Dropped Acorns
Well, 2020 was a wild one, folks. Fires, floods and pestilence across the globe had it looking like the end of times, not to mention peaceful racial justice protests and subsequent rioting, and a #MeToo reckoning, that took place right here at home. As we draw the catastrophe-stricken year to a close, Raleigh Magazine reflects on the good, the bad and the ugly.
12 Days of Local Bites & Sips
Count down to the holidays with these 12 food and beverage gifts that are sure to satisfy anyone on your list—plus, it’s an ideal way to give back to local businesses and purveyors. We’re talking toffee, cider, salsa, cheese, ham, cookies and more.
Bring Down the Boards
It’s been more than six months since protests on a Saturday night in May in downtown Raleigh led business owners to board up their storefronts in order to avoid more damage. If we want our local businesses, the fabric of city and of our downtown, to rebound, we have to get rid of the plywood.
WEB EXCLUSIVE Happy National Women’s Entrepreneurship Day! Throughout the year, Jennifer Martin, executive director of Shop Local Raleigh, has been highlighting female Raleigh entrepreneurs in a monthly column in our magazine. These features tell the inspiring stories of how these women got to the successful positions they’re in today. Today, we take a look back at some of these leading lady entrepreneurs who are getting the job done; click the photos below to read their full story.
Whether you’re still not comfortable leaving your house or just too lazy to get up and make breakfast, Krispy Kreme has you covered with no contact delivery through DoorDash. Just download the app or place an order online. In Wake County, you can order from the Person Street, Wake Forest, Knightdale and Fuquay-Varina locations. For now, you have to order by the dozen (and why wouldn’t you want to?!) but that means no singles. Coffee brew boxes and bottled beverages are available as well; there’s also a $5 delivery charge. Oh, and they only deliver to a five mile radius, so be sure to keep that in mind when you need a sweet treat stat.
Vegan doughnuts? Yep, it’s a thing, and they’re available at Lousy Hunters Doughnuts in Oakwood. Tonya and Joshua Baldwin accept pre-orders, pickup orders and deliveries (a $10 minimum is required) for their fried vegan doughnuts daily. Flavors rotate often and include s’mores, cookies and cream, snickers, dirty chai and more. You can find their vegan treats, along with others from Anisette Sweet Shop, in the Little Sweet Shop at 222 N. Bloodworth Street.
The only thing that could possibly be better than regular doughnuts are mini doughnuts, specifically Sola‘s Hot Minis. The North Raleigh coffee shop and cafe makes their beloved mini doughnuts fresh to order on the daily in delicious flavors such as cinnamon sugar, powdered sugar, birthday cake, strawberry and espresso. Additionally, every Tuesday in November they’re selling apple cider hot minis coated in pie spice sugar and served with homemade caramel. You can—and should—order them with their cinnamon plum apple cider for the perfect fall breakfast.
