A family from Aberdeenshire has created an incredible version of Dunnottar Castle – made entirely out of gingerbread and sweets.
Made from gingerbread, chocolate and cereal, the amazing structure was created by Eve Mosher, her son Reece and their family friend Kallan.
Creating gingerbread houses has become a tradition within the family, but this year they opted to make something a little more “challenging”.
Which is why they chose to take on the “tedious” task of replicating Dunnottar Castle.
Speaking to the Press & Journal, mum Eve shared how baking has become an annual tradition between both families.
“Kallan’s family has been inviting us to join their annual gingerbread baking and this year both Reece and Kallan were here with us, so it made sense to undertake a build,” she said.
Family makes giant Dunnottar Castle from gingerbread
When asked why they chose to create a replica of one of Aberdeenshire’s most famous landmarks, Dunnottar Castle, they simply said, “it was the obvious choice.”
Living in Gourdon, Eve said they regularly visit the landmark.
She added: “We love the drama of Dunnottar and it is such a fantastic castle to take visitors to.
“My eldest and I went just the other week as they are looking for inspiration for making a game that has castles in it.”
Although the family admits they “didn’t fully realise the scale when starting.”
How did they make it?
Before they got to baking, they started by looking at lots of photos, maps and drawings to get a sense of the scale of the castle.
According to the bakers, there were several structures involved in the making of the gingerbread castle.
The buildings were made from gingerbread, while the headland was made from rice crispies, chocolate brownie, green icing and coconut flakes – some of the ingredients were improvised as they began to run low on supplies.
But Eve thinks that this ultimately made the project more fun as it “led to some surprisingly effective materials” and her kitchen being practically off-limits for the week.
Kallan, a student at the University of Aberdeen said: “We wanted to make something recognizable, local and fun.
“We definitely underestimated the volume of confectionery we needed to create. We added several elements we were not planning on because we kept running out of others, but once it was all glued together with sugar those ended up being some of my favourite parts.”
After finishing the project, Reece and Kallan took a visit to Dunnottar Castle to compare their work to the real thing.
They said: “We paid so much more attention to the details of the buildings and took a note of what we got wrong and right.”
Despite it being a “long and tedious” task, they each loved every moment and shared how they “kept laughing about the challenges and disagreements.”
And the family are already planning their next project,
“We are already brainstorming and next year. We might build the two harbours in Gourdon complete with boats, birds, water and creels” Eve said.
“We had so much fun making it. It is the most difficult gingerbread house we have ever tried to make. We can’t wait to see what we make next year.”
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