New housing starts in Columbus saw a boost last week when more than two dozen sweet new “structures” got underway. But these miniature houses were more tasty than livable. They were the result of an assignment McKellar Technology Center Culinary Arts Instructor Jakiero Dismuke gave 10th- through 12th-grade students in his basic and advanced culinary classes. The project can be a fun family activity at home, too, especially when kids get to contribute to the decorating.
“The goal was (for each student) to create a Christmas house out of graham crackers instead of gingerbread,” Dismuke said. Using graham crackers may seem to simplify the task, providing ready-made walls and roofs instead of measuring, mixing and baking gingerbread. But there are challenges, all the same.
“It can be a little bit harder because (graham crackers) are so thin you can easily break them,” the instructor explained. “You have to be an engineer and a carpenter at the same time.”
Step One was for students to research designs online and come up with a plan. The teens bought their own gingerbread and candies for decorating, from gum drops to Sour Patch Kids. Advanced students who did this last year had an advantage, having worked through some of the trial-and-error last December.
“One of the hard things is to get (the walls) to stay up, hoping your icing dries fast enough,” said Dismuke. “You gotta get the walls up first, then the roof, which is probably the hardest because it could cause everything to collapse when you add more weight.”
That was the challenge for first-time home builder Ashuntee Harris, 15.
“It was the hardest part, getting the roof on, because we had to make sure the roof covered both the front and the sides, and it was hard to cut the graham crackers to fit and to stay up,” the 10th-grader said.
Students used two different types of icing, their instructor explained: cake icing, which is thicker, he said and used mostly for building; and Royal icing, typically used to decorate. Over two and one-half days in class, structures took shape, each demonstrating the builder’s creativity.
Tenth-grader Madisyn Turner started out to erect a basic house.
“But then I started improvising as I went, and I put two towers beside it,” she said. “People were calling it a castle.”
Her primary challenge was “making sure everything stayed up and didn’t tumble over,” she said. Did it? “Yeah, like five times,” she admitted. But that’s one of the lessons Dismuke wanted students to get from the assignment: If everything collapsed, it was time to rethink.
“They’d give it another try, and they’d actually know what they did wrong that made it collapse,” he said. The process embodies what being a chef is about, he added — “to think outside the box.”
Students decorated their houses with flair. Ice cream sugar cones were turned upside down to make Christmas trees. White coconut was used to make snow. With a bit of green food coloring, coconut was also transformed into grass.
“Some actually used some blue (coloring) to make a frozen pond with coconut,” Dismuke said.
“I really enjoyed decorating the trees and putting the details on the outside of the house,” said Harris. “I used ice cream cones and used a piping bag with a star tip, and spray-painted (the trees) gold and used candy pearls on them.”
If you’d like to try graham cracker houses at home, there are several YouTube videos to illustrate the steps. They include tips, like using a sharp serrated knife to very lightly cut the crackers, and how to use icings. For decorating, sky’s the limit — miniature candy canes, M&Ms, Kisses, sprinkles, confetti, peppermints and more. Kids — young and old — will love it.
It’s just fun — messy and fun,” Dismuke said.
And those leftover graham crackers? Read on for a way to make use of them, too. Merry Christmas!
GRAHAM CRACKER SANTAS
Prep/total time: 20 minutes
Makes 1 dozen
1 1/4 cups vanilla frosting, divided
Red liquid and paste food coloring
6 whole graham crackers, halved
36 miniature marshmallows, halved
24 red-hot candies
6 small gumdrops, halved
(Source: tasteofhome.com, Ray Taylor)
Jan Swoope is the Lifestyles Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 44 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
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Related Photos
From left, Briana Williams, 16, Culinary Arts Instructor Jakiero Dismuke, and Stephanie Edmond, 16, show some of the graham cracker houses Dec. 13 that students made at McKellar Technology Center in Columbus. Williams is the daughter of Walter and Monica Edmonds. Edmond is the daughter of Carlis Bolton. Photo by: Jennifer Mosbrucker/Dispatch Staff
From left, Briana Williams and Stephanie Edmond, both 16, demonstrate how they iced their graham cracker homes last week at McKeller Technology Center. The students used royal icing to glue each piece together. Photo by: Jennifer Mosbrucker/Dispatch Staff
