Every year around this time when the air gets cold and the colorful lights line my street, a spirited urge to make gingerbread houses as a fun, holiday activity enters my body. This is not by choice, and to be fair, it is something I look forward to doing in a therapeutic way. But in my head, my skills are way beyond than anything I can actually do. I go into thinking I’ll be able to create the most magical and spectacular little house, but what I end up making can only be described as rustic (in the messiest of senses) and sad.
But the gingerbread designs of TikToker Sofia Viola are anything but sad. In fact, they will bring a magical smile to your face, guaranteed. Each year, the amateur cookie artist creates a gingerbread house to be jealous of. This year, she made a sugary replica of Pufendorf Institute at Lund University in Sweden and is sharing each part the process daily on social media. This architectural marvel starts on paper.
With a ruler, pencil, and some graph paper, Viola draws out the different elements of the building, the windows, the roof, the doors, and the details. Then, she cuts them out. The total for the sweet Pufendorf Institute was 24 different stencils for 87 different pieces.
After that comes lots of rolling and cutting of the gingerbread dough before it goes into the oven. She uses a traditional Swedish gingerbread recipe cooked at a lower temperature for a long period of time to get it very sturdy. Then, she trims off the edges of some pieces to get super straight lines.
Next comes the glue. Viola uses a sticky, caramelized sugar to assemble all the pieces and cut pieces of gelatin as the windows. She has yet to divulge arguably the best part — decorating — but go follow her on TikTok @sofiaviolam_ to continue the journey. There you can see the finished home, complete with lit-up windows, colorful candy frames, and an icing-lined roof. Trust me, you’ll probably want to put an offer on this place and live in it forever.