Hi Britta,
I have been looking at your fabulous Hogwarts Castle step by step photos since it was first published. I am continually amazed as I look at the photos! My 11 year old granddaughter is now in love with the books. We do projects in gingerbread each year. I am going to try a very simplified version of your Hogwarts with the grandkids this year. (Don’t think I can handle all of that rocky-cliff chocolate cake work you did though! Wow!)
I am wondering how you did the rounded towers. I saw the photos of the aluminum foil covered pieces. Are you baking cylindrical halves at a time and then gluing the halves together? I just cannot seem to keep mine from cracking during baking. What is your most-creative-person advice? Are you baking cylindrical halves at a time and then gluing the halves together?
I baked those small towers molding raw dough around foil-covered paper-towel tubes standing upright in the oven, and they only slumped a little bit while baking, but when I tried doing that same technique again for later gingerbread, the dough all melted into a puddle instead. Two halves would have better chance of staying in shape, and you might have the best luck by baking them flat then immediately placing them over the half-cylinder form to cool. That worked well for the open sugar cookie Bertie Botts boxes for Piper’s Potter Party cake.
I used a box covered in foil for the main cliff, so the cake was just glued to the sides of the foil-covered box…but it still took 10 cake mixes to cover the whole cliff!
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Hi Britta,
I have been looking at your fabulous Hogwarts Castle step by step photos since it was first published. I am continually amazed as I look at the photos! My 11 year old granddaughter is now in love with the books. We do projects in gingerbread each year. I am going to try a very simplified version of your Hogwarts with the grandkids this year. (Don’t think I can handle all of that rocky-cliff chocolate cake work you did though! Wow!)
I am wondering how you did the rounded towers. I saw the photos of the aluminum foil covered pieces. Are you baking cylindrical halves at a time and then gluing the halves together? I just cannot seem to keep mine from cracking during baking. What is your most-creative-person advice? Are you baking cylindrical halves at a time and then gluing the halves together?
I baked those small towers molding raw dough around foil-covered paper-towel tubes standing upright in the oven, and they only slumped a little bit while baking, but when I tried doing that same technique again for later gingerbread, the dough all melted into a puddle instead. Two halves would have better chance of staying in shape, and you might have the best luck by baking them flat then immediately placing them over the half-cylinder form to cool. That worked well for the open sugar cookie Bertie Botts boxes for Piper’s Potter Party cake.
I used a box covered in foil for the main cliff, so the cake was just glued to the sides of the foil-covered box…but it still took 10 cake mixes to cover the whole cliff!
Good luck with your gingerbread!