Mr. and Mrs. Fitzgingerbread Darcy

Hmmm, I should have mentioned this earlier... Baking Bites, a cooking blog that I've followed for quite a while, is having a Gingerbread cookie decorating competition this Christmas season. The entry deadline in midnight tonight, which is why I should have mentioned it earlier, now that I think about it. Sorry. *dodges flying tomatoes*

Amidst the craziness of the Christmas season, I determined to enter, and since it will be judged on creativity instead of quality of picture (I confess I don't have a Canon Rebel like 90% of the blogging world!) I figured I might have a shot. I started sketching ideas on paper and a Victorian gent with a monocle very soon turned into a Regency gent with a high collar and... it was MR DARCY.



So naturally, Lizzy followed.




I made the cookies four days ago (I don't really intend to eat them, so I didn't care how old they would be!), using a traditionally gingerbread man cutter for the basic shape and just cutting out the modifications like Darcy's hat and Lizzy's skirt with a paring knife.


Using Royal Icing* and Wilton gel colorings I began the fun today! I had two sets of Darcys and Lizzies because I had a pretty good idea that I'd need a choice for final pictures. I was right. One Mr. Darcy resembled a Leprechaun more than anything else. And one Lizzy had a straying eye. Creepy.

For the record, Wilton colors are AMAZING. Black actually makes black icing. I can't express how over-joyed I am about this. Also, about twenty minutes into it, I gave up the pastry/decorating bag and settled for a ziplock bag with a finely snipped corner. It was so much easier to rinse out between colors, and I could make as fine a line as I wanted. Our finest metal tip was too large.

Between Google Images and my memory of the mini-series, this is what I came up with:




Nowhere could I find a picture of Mr. Darcy's green jacket (except perhaps under the gray overcoat in the picture above?) or Lizzy with her bonnet on, but I have vivid memories of both. I didn't have time to watch all 6 hours of the mini today just to make sure, so if there are costume flaws, I beg your forgiveness.




My mom asked me why I let them both be so pudgy. It's because this represents them after 25 years of marriage.