Thursday, December 23, 2010

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.

2 comments:

  1. I love Wilton colours! Those turned out great...I especially like Mr. Darcy's jacket. :) Let us know how you place in the contest. I give you 1st. ;)

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  2. Wow - that is wholly awesome Valerie!! I love it. Every year we make Christmas cookies like crazy and then hand them our to people on 'our list'. Usually, the Bennets make their way onto the list, even though they don't "technically" exist.
    You did an awesome job - I'm rooting for you :-)

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