Think your gingerbread house is the picture of sugar, spice, and everything nice? That may be the case — but it probably doesn’t compare to the ones by Beatriz Muller. The high school teacher turned gingerbread architect has won gingerbread’s top titles (yup, really), thanks to her incredibly intricate (and not necessarily houselike) creations. That includes a 2-foot-tall “Dream House” (pictured above), a replica of New York City, and a late baroque style clock (Muller’s favorite). To learn more about her sweet dreams, we spoke to Muller. Here’s what she had to say… 

Q: Can you walk me through the process of creating one of your gingerbread pieces?

I mostly make buildings — my skills really lie in the construction side — so my inspiration comes from architecture around the world. Sometimes [a building] can lead to a thousand different ideas, and it can be hard to decide which one you like best. [In that case], I sleep on it, and [I’ll eventually get] a clear vision of what I want to do. That’s when I start drawing — [what that looks like] depends on what I’m [doing]. For the clock last year, I drew all the scrolls, the clock itself, and the details I wanted to pipe onto the piece. [After drawing], I create the [paper] templates, and there’s a lot of measurements [and] math involved, because there’s a lot of things that need to be very exact … [Then it’s onto] baking, which is probably the fastest part of the process. [Particularly compared to] piping and putting things together. I put a lot of very intricate and delicate details in my pieces, so it’s pretty normal for a piece to take 300 to 500 hours … When I’m doing something like that, I know I have to put aside two months for work. It’s a serious commitment.

Q: Wow. What’s been the most challenging piece?

One that I named “Perspective” ... which has all these buildings in different positions — some are upside down, some are on their right side, and some are on their left side ... It’s inspired by M.C. Escher’s “Relativity,” where the stairs go all over the place … It was [so] challenging, I actually did a model. I needed a really good visual for where the support should’ve been because a lot of the pieces were just hanging there. Plus, when I took it to the National Gingerbread House Competition, the drive was so long, and I needed to make sure it wouldn’t break on the way.

Q: Speaking of, what happens to the gingerbread after a competition? Have you ever eaten it?

Every piece is edible ... so you can eat it. A lot of people that order them do so. It’s pretty good — it’s like a normal cookie ... But when I bring back a piece that’s been on display for a while, I do break [it apart] because there just isn’t enough storage space. I’ve tried the cookie to see how it tastes. By then, though, it’s usually pretty stale.

Q: What’s still on your gingerbread bucket list?

It’s mostly complex buildings in Europe. Like Barcelona’s Sagrada Familia basilica. That’s something I’d like to tackle one day. It’d be such a challenge — [I’m not aware] of anyone who has tried to do something like that … There are also very modern buildings that don’t have intricate details, but the angles and the architecture make it very difficult to replicate. 

Q: For people making their own gingerbread houses, what are one or two key pieces of advice?

[Skip] construction gingerbread [like the stuff sold in gingerbread kits] and just use the real cookie. [But make sure to] bake it very slowly — meaning, longer and with a low oven temperature. I usually bake it at 300 to 315, max ... [That’ll] dry out the cookie, so you can build without it bending and breaking ... [Also], the biggest mistake [people make] is gluing walls, then trying to attach the roof right away. Don’t do that. [Instead], wait until the icing is so dry and sturdy that the walls don’t move. If a house collapses or becomes cooked, it’s [almost always] because the icing wasn’t dry.

Q: Is there a trick to making your gingerbread house look fancier than it actually is?

If you’re going to use candy, don’t use a lot of color — choose a combination of [two or three colors], like red, green, and white. And try to use very small candy. The bigger [it is], the tackier it looks. There are lots of different sugar pearls, [mini] mints, and candy that looks like holiday lights. Plus, [single color] sprinkles ... and anything that they sell for [decorating] cupcakes. That’s usually the right size for houses.