Gingerbread making and candle dipping

Gingerbread making and candle dippingGingerbread makers use flour, honey and sugar syrup to bake richly adorned figurines. Shaping and decorating gingerbread required the use of moulds carved by masters or their helpers. The best-known shapes are the hussar on his horse, the baby wrapped in swaddling bands, and of course, the heart. Large, multi-colored hearts with a small mirror in the middle were treasured marketplace items and functioned as love tokens exchanged by peasant youth for centuries. As honey for these was usually bought in its natural state, the wax was used to make candles; they also produced mead. The shapes for making the gingerbread figurines had to be carved in wood, usually by the bakers themselves.

Zsuzsanna Angyal Csupor

Zsuzsanna had wanted to become a potter since she had been a child, and was recognized with the Master of Folk Art title in 1983. She chose to specialize in making dishes and molds used for baking, as well as pots for candle dipping. Subsequently, she expanded her fields of expertise to baking gingerbread cakes and dipping candles. In order to decorate the gingerbread she began to make molding tools. As a consequence, she also learned to carve and use various wooden tools. In her free time, she teaches these folk crafts to folk art aficionados.

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