PHOENIX (3TV / CBS 5) – A group of bakers from downtown Phoenix recently won the National Gingerbread House Competition, held annually in Asheville, North Carolina. This is the second year in a row that the Merry Mischief Bakers take home the grand prize in the 29th annual competition at the Omni Grove Park Inn. This year their gingerbread house resembled a carousel. Courtesy: The Omni Grove Park Inn “So our story is that this is Santa’s carousel and all the elves play on it on Christmas Day because all of their toys have been delivered and the carousel celebrates every continent in the world that the toys are delivered on So animals represent the different continents of the world, “said Ted Scutti, one of the sugar artists. Scutti said he and Adam Starkey have a bakery in Scottsdale that specializes in high quality wedding cakes and other large party cakes. In 2020, however, their shift focused and they decided to put this business on hold and focus on gingerbread – and their full-time jobs. Scutti and Starkey are both in IT. “In IT you do a lot of work that is on the computer or on the phone, that gives us the opportunity to put something into our hands and work with the dough and at the end of the day you have something visible to do with that you’ve worked, “said Starkey. After their first year in the national competition, team members Tim Stewart, Sachiko Windbiel and Evonne Darby joined them. “Everyone has a specific task and brings something to the table,” explained Scutti. “You bake the gingerbread cookies, grind them into flour, I’ll send them back to him and he’ll make some kind of gingerbread putty out of them, and I’ll shape all the floorboards,” said Stewart. Scutti said they started planning months in advance and everyone came to the table with ideas. The Merry Mischief Bakers use Scutti and Starkey’s eat-in kitchen to create most of the carousel. They surprisingly said that they have to use a lot of power tools on these gingerbread houses. “Some of the tools are baking and some are not,” explained Scutti. “One of the most critical things is a level, because this thing has to be. So I level each level to make sure everything is perfect. “A kid,” added Starkey. “As a kid, you mold candy canes and mint teats and all kinds of good candy while we took this to a completely different place. We all shape our own pieces or shape them by hand. “Sugar artists say the hardest part is getting the gingerbread house around the country.” Because of the journey, one of the challenges, we had to make it break apart, so that it could be transported in pieces. this was traveling in another, and the base was actually checked, “Scutti said. The Merry Mischief Bakers are now busy preparing treats for their families this holiday season. However, coming February; They said they would go back to the drawing board to prepare for the 30th annual National Gingerbread House Competition. Copyright 2021 KPHO / KTVK (KPHO Broadcasting Corporation). All rights reserved.
[ad_2]
