28 Dec 2024
Guesswork and creativity in equal measures go into the mix to create gingerbread replicas of St Albans pubs which have been produced every Christmas for the past three years.
They are the brainchild of American-born Nikki Willis, who immigrated to St Albans with her family in 2019 and wanted to give something back to the community for making them feel so welcome.
The author of books including Random Acts of Baking and Gingerbread for Beginners, Nikki uses a recipe from Hans Raffert, the White House pastry chef who started the tradition of making a gingerbread house for the President’s each year.
“I don’t know him or anything,” she pointed out, “he shared the recipe with a small, now-defunct baking publication called Mailbox News decades ago, which is where my mother got it.”
She draws on decades of gingerbread construction experience in creating her works of art, working out the dimensions using nothing more than the naked eye.
“I take reference photos of the actual pub, and use the satellite view on Google to get good overhead shots. But the creation of the template is just paper and pencil and ruler and gut feelings. Someday I’m going to tackle the St Albans Cathedral – where I’m a bell ringer – and I’ll be able to take advantage of the excellent floorplans and structural drawings that already exist. But for the pubs, it’s just me, guesswork, and creativity.”
The process takes about a day to make each pub, and she usually works on an average of three every year.
“One day is all about baking the pieces, a second about doing initial decoration and letting it dry, and a third about assembly and finishing decorations. So while doing three pubs is more overall work, it would take me three days to make one pub or three.
“As far as the creative process goes, I like to give myself new creative challenges, and the quirky old pubs definitely give me a serious challenge figuring out how to piece them all together! I also love the opportunity to try out new techniques: painting with food coloring, a second-bake with egg wash for colored gingerbread roofs, etc. It’s so much fun! But the best part is definitely being able to give them to the pubs each year.”
Nikki, 48, describes herself as an “Air Force kid”. Born in the Philippines, she moved around the US before finally immigrating, living in Ohio, California, Florida, New York, DC, Iowa and Arizona, but now counts St Albans as home, together with husband Drew, and two daughters, university student Ainsley, 21 and Niamh, 15, who goes to Samuel Ryder Academy.
“I feel more connected to this community than anywhere I’ve ever lived, and I think part of the reason is the amazing pub culture. You meet your neighbours and make new friends.
“It’s a remarkable, warm, welcoming, entirely new experience.”
She counts The Boot as her favourite creation to date: “Fun architecture, great Christmas decorations to use as inspiration, an absolutely iconic St Albans pub, and I loved the way the hand-painted interior scene turned out.”
Nikki says St Albans’ wealth of wonderful pubs will keep her busy with new gingerbread interpretations for many years to come, but is keeping quiet about what creations we can expect to see next year.
“It’s not exactly a secret, but I don’t let the pubs know ahead of time. It’s a surprise when I come bearing my gingerbread gifts. The look on their faces when they see the gingerbread replica of their pub is too much fun to miss!
“I try to choose pubs that have a mix of architectural styles, so that I get to create pubs with variety and visual interest. And I choose pubs I love! Pubs I haven’t done yet, don’t worry, I love you too, I just can’t make all of them in one year!”
