Gingerbread

Another husband-and-wife team, British pond skippers Jason and Dawn Bowman, started a home baking business in January 2020. With help from Pound Ridge neighbor Booksy, they were able to sell their pastries, cookies and bread curbside during lockdown. 

“We promised loyal customers we would get them through the pandemic, one pastry at a time,” says Dawn. 

And they did – opening BreadsNBakes, their dual storefront/bakery, right up the street in July 2022. 

One of their signature holiday offerings is their homemade gingerbread house kit which includes baked gingerbread panels, frosting ingredients, a variety of candies and decorations, a tiny mini light that glows through the cut-out windows and instructions. If you’d like to make your own gingerbread panels, they’ve shared their gingerbread recipe with us.

“Every Christmas, when we take the children home to England, we take over the kitchen of whatever relative or friend we are staying with,” recounts Bowman. “We create a group baking afternoon, modeling the gingerbread house on wherever we are staying or a historic building.” 

Gingerbread 

Ingredients

1/2 cup butter, softened

3 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 tsp. ginger

1 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 cup water

1 Tbsp. molasses

2 Tbsp. golden syrup (or corn syrup)

Directions

Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and mix together with a wooden spoon. Once combined, use your hands to knead to a soft dough. Sprinkle in additional flour if it gets too sticky.

Cover the dough and refrigerate for one hour. Meanwhile, preheat your oven to 350F.

Knead the dough gently with your fingertips until it is pliable but still firm. Roll out on a floured surface to 1/4 inch thickness.

Cut out shapes using your preferred cutter. Place on a baking tray covered with baking parchment.

This article was published in the November/December 2023 print edition of Connect to Northern Westchester.