40 kilos of dough will become Sweden’s largest gingerbread house.
The artist Erik Olof Wiklund has two weeks to break his own house record – of over three meters.
– It can go well, I’m cautiously optimistic, he says to Efter fem.
In Umeå it is now fully baked. The gingerbread house must be ready by the first Advent when it will be displayed at the County Museum in Gävle, something The light reported on. But then there was the small detail – the three-meter-high house must be transported 47 kilometers from Umeå to Gävle – without breaking.
– It will be incredibly exciting and it can go well. I am cautiously optimistic, says the artist Erik Olof Wiklund.
“Trying to keep it together”
The baking has been going on for over a week and will continue until the exhibition. The artist tells Efter fem that there is a certain magic about gingerbread baking.
– It’s such a family project when you gather around the house, you fight and it collapses and you try to hold it together.
Tips for building a house
It will be the third time that he has entered the fight to build Sweden’s largest gingerbread house. In 2021 and 2023, the gingerbread houses measured just over three meters – and this year it will hopefully be higher.
– I try to have as much edible food as possible. But make some extra frames underneath and some cheating with glue to keep it together throughout the trip, he says.
Last year’s Gingerbread House is also highly topical, as it (and Erik Olof Wiklund) is featured in the latest episode of David Batra’s TV show First Lady on SVT. And ahead of the building season, perhaps Sweden’s best gingerbread house builder sends an unexpected tip.
– You eat it all at once, so you don’t have to build.