Ottawa pastry chef finishes second in North American gingerbread house competition

For Catherine Beddall, making gingerbread houses is an art.

The Ottawa pastry chef recently placed second in a North American gingerbread house competition in Asheville, NC. 

Beddall's entry was a gingerbread antique clock that housed a family of mice making their own miniature gingerbread house inside. She said her idea was to make a gingerbread creation based on the nursery rhyme, “Hickory Dickory Dock.” 

“I consider it more artwork than pastry,” she told 1310 NEWS' The Rick Gibbons Show. “I like to say you can eat it and enjoy it, but it really is to me an art and gingerbread is a medium that is so versatile. You don't have to build a house. I've built motorcycles.”

Listen to the whole interview: 

Beddall signed up for the competition in the summer and immediately set to work. Since September, she worked on her gingerbread house every day and estimated it took 150 to 200 hours to build, including the time it took her to research and plan. 

The competition, which has been an annual event since 1992, saw entries from across the United States and Canada. One of the rules Beddall had to follow was that everything used in the display had to be edible. She made candles out of white chocolate and used gum paste to make flowers, ornaments and the indoor mouse scene. 

Beddall teaches in Algonquin College's culinary arts program and has run gingerbread courses in past years. She said she tells students to make their houses over the course of a couple days. She said taking your time is key when working with gingerbread as people often get frustrated when their creation collapses and they can not get their walls to stand up straight. 

Her gingerbread house for the competition was made out of the same kind of cookies she makes for people to eat. But no one will be eating her entry, as it will be on display among others until New Year's Day at the hotel in Asheville where the competition took place.