MILLERSBURG, Ky. — People who say that “gingerbread houses are too fussy” clearly haven’t tried to build one.
“I started making gingerbread houses from kits about six years ago. And so every year, I have gone a little bigger, a little crazier, a little more detailed, and it’s just something that I really like to do,” said Tamara Sapp. Sapp is a contestant in this year’s gingerbread competition at Mustard Seed Hill.
“I decided to use white sprinkles for the A frame to make it look like our house because we have lights right now that are glowing,” explained Norah Kern.
Making a gingerbread house is one thing; judging a gingerbread house contest is something totally different. At the sixth annual gingerbread competition and exhibit at Mustard Seed Hill in Millersburg, gingerbread creations of all sizes and shapes stand ready to be judged.
“To judge this competition is probably the hardest thing you can do and the most fun thing you can do because the gingerbread houses are amazing, and the creativity is over the moon,” said Betty Ann Allen, one of the competition’s judges.
The creations are made with such imagination and detail that it’s hard to believe they’re made from food.
“Each piece is very unique, to say the least, and different. We have five criteria that we judge it on, and it makes you really look at the pieces to see the detail and the use of the product that they’ve had, the food product,” explained Lorrain Smoot.
For former gingerbread house competitor, Food Network contestant and now gingerbread house judge Lauren Jacobs, knowing the hard work it takes to create one of these works of art gives her a unique perspective on how to judge them.
“You can look at two gingerbread houses and they’re both fantastic, and it’s really hard to discern which one you should pick as the better one. So, I don’t compare myself with contestans here because I could not do what they do, but I understand a little bit more how judging works and how hard it is to pick a winner,” Jacobs shared.
So what exaclty are these judges looking for in a winning gingerbread house?
“So there’s neatness, there’s appearance, there’s creativity, originality, how many different edibles are in the arrangements,” Allen said.
“So you go look at all the houses in that category, then you step back and start looking for detail. You start looking to see how creative and neat it is. And the last thing we try to look for is overall appearance. When you walked up to it, did it have the wow factor?” explained Smoot.
A “wow factor” that the makers of these gingerbread creations hope is enough to bring in some prize-winning dough.