BoomerGirl Diary

Lawrence, Kan. — Jodi Trast doesn’t build gingerbread houses. She builds entire subdivisions.

For 10 years, the sweet smell of gingerbread has permeated the Trast house for the month leading up to Christmas. Trast ends up making dozens of the structures each year — for her daughters’ Girl Scout groups and friends, for fundraisers, for her PEO group or for anyone else who wants houses.

“I don’t know how to describe it,” Trast says. “You get a group of people together decorating gingerbread houses, and you can relax and let your guard down. You really let your personality come out.”

Last year, Trast built nearly 100 gingerbread houses. She’s expecting to make at least that many this year, in part because she’s selling them for the first time through e-mail, at gingerbread2870@yahoo.com. The cost is $10 each.

“I want to get the word out, not because I want to make money,” she says. “I just want to hear people say, ‘That was my favorite part of the holiday,’ or, ‘I can’t wait to do that next year.’”

The gingerbread-house process starts with the dough, which, for Trast, consists of flour, sugar, molasses, cinnamon and cloves.

She presses the dough into a mold she purchased, then cooks it for 20 minutes.

After the gingerbread has cooled, Trast shaves off the corners of the walls and roof to make them even. She then connects the components with icing and props up the structure using aluminum cans until it’s sturdy enough to stand on its own.

Then, the real fun begins.

Decorating options

It’s a Friday afternoon at the Trast house, and the dining room table looks like a candy store.

There are holiday M&Ms, Jolly Ranchers, Mike and Ikes, red licorice, red hots, candy canes and ribbon candy, all in bowls.

The Trast daughters — Kelsey, 12, and Haley, 11 — are busy decorating a gingerbread house. Red and green M&Ms make up the roof tiles.

“It’s fun,” Kelsey says. “Not many people do this.”

The girls admit they pick off pieces of candy from their houses as the holidays approach. But if you want to eat the gingerbread portion, they say, do it quickly.

“You don’t eat it after a while,” Kelsey says. “It gets stale and gross.”

Jodi Trast has another take on that: “I’d compare it to a stale cookie, and those are more fun to dunk in coffee.”

Gingerbread Cupcakes with frosting

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1/2 teaspoon allspice

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 stick (1/4 cup) plus 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup unsulfured molasses

1 large egg, beaten lightly

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 cup boiling water

Frosting

8 ounces cream cheese, softened

1 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon freshly grated lemon zest

2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

1 tablespoon thinly sliced crystallized ginger

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Into a bowl sift together the flour, ground ginger, cinnamon, ground cloves, allspice and salt. In another bowl cream 1/2 stick of the butter, add the granulated sugar and beat the mixture until it is fluffy.

Beat in the molasses and the egg, beating until the mixture is smooth. In a measuring cup combine the baking soda with 1/2 cup boiling water and stir the mixture to dissolve the baking soda.

Stir the baking-soda mixture into the molasses mixture (the mixture will appear curdled) then stir the molasses mixture into the flour mixture, stirring to combine the ingredients well.

Line 12 muffin tins with paper liners and spoon the batter into the liners, filling them halfway. Bake the cupcakes in the middle of the oven for 20 minutes, or until tester comes out clean. The cupcakes may be slightly flat or indented on top. Transfer the cupcakes to a rack and let cool.

In a bowl, cream together the cream cheese and the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter, add the confectioners’ sugar and the vanilla and beat the mixture until it is fluffy and smooth.

Beat in the lemon zest and the lemon juice and chill the frosting for 30 minutes. Spread the frosting on the cupcakes and top each cupcake with some of the crystallized ginger.

Per serving: 309 calories, 3 grams protein, 13 grams fat, 8 grams saturated fat, 46 grams carbohydrate, 1 gram fiber, 53 milligrams cholesterol, 222 milligrams sodium.

Makes 12 cupcakes.

— Washington Post-Los Angeles Times News Service