Baker Sherry Kozlowskiās gingerbread house is more like a gingerbread block. She spent 40 hours crafting the gingerbread tribute to her Queens neighborhood.
āThis is my imaginary block of goodness. This is all the shops that I shop at regularly, if they were all in one block,ā said Kozlowski, who used melted gummy bears to keep the pieces of the house together.
Kozlowskiās Astoria creation was the āBest Overallā award winner in "Gingerbread NYC: The Great Borough Bake-Off." The Museum of the City of New York invited well-known bakeries and amateur bakers from around the five boroughs to participate, with the results now on display at the museum.
āIt was just the perfect way of highlighting the city and architectural monuments and places that are near and dear to everyoneās hearts,ā said Whitney Donhauser, director and president of the in East Harlem museum.
Other highlights include a Gingerbread Staten Island Ferry, from Brunoās Bakery on Staten Island, of course. Thereās also a scene from the Bronxās Little Italy on Arthur Avenue from Egidio Pastry Shop, which has been around since 1912.
John Kuehn baked up a storm to bring the Madison Square Park area to gingerbread life, including the Shake Shack and the iconic Flatiron Building. Kuehn has experience as both a baker and an architect, a seemingly perfect combo for this project.
āI wanted this to be recognizable, and I think for me what would make it recognizable and a sense of realness to it was really the scale and the proportion of the buildings to one another and the park,ā said Kuehn.
This was Kuehnās first gingerbread house, taking the prize for āGrandest.ā Kozlowski is a veteran of baking competitions, and loved being part of this one, which is really all about a beloved holiday tradition, the gingerbread house.
āItās whimsical it takes you back to a time that doesnāt exist anymore and it lets you enjoy the holidays as they are meant to be enjoyed,ā said Kozlowski.
The gingerbread creations are on display at the museum through Jan. 8. While you canāt eat them, you might want to plan a visit to get some gingerbread immediately once you leave.
Visit here for more information: mcny.org