My girlfriend lives in the area and invited me to bring my Little along for a kiddie gingerbread house baking class. We're taking a break from homeschooling for the holidays but I want to make sure that she does plenty of activities in her free time. Purchasing her spot for the class was easy and can be done on the business website. The classes are normally held on Sundays but this one in particular, was on a Friday, since the kids are out of school.
Upon arrival, I scored parking right in front. There is plenty of street parking as they are located on a pretty busy shopping area street. The owner, Jenay, greeted us upon arrival. She directed us to hang up our coats and get comfy. They have a huge shared space. This is a woman-owned business and Jenay is currently using her space for various classes as she prepares to open her café next month. She also offers baked good via her online bakery, making items that can be picked up at this location. She has some interesting events coming up, including both Encanto and Black Panther cake classes for the kiddos, as well as a Cake and Sip Queen Bey class for adults.
Once everyone arrived for the class, she provided each child with an apron. The kids will get personalized aprons with their names on them, along with baker's hats. She had a small issue with her custom order and will send us all our swag directly, but did have back-up aprons that worked well. After donning their aprons, the kids washed their hands and then we all headed to the kitchen.
Some pastry dough needs to be prepared and chilled for some time before handling, but Jenay had pre-made dough all ready for the kids. She did prepare one batch of dough in real-time, with the help of every child, to show them how to follow a recipe and read the ingredients. I liked that she took the time to give each kid some one on one attention. My kid was the only girl, super reserved, and the boys were very active, but Jenay made sure she got involved and was able to enjoy the experience as well. She did a very good job bringing my kiddo out of her shell.
After mixing some dough we all went to our stations to roll out the dough. Jenay demonstrated first and then the kids followed suit, with the help of the adults. We cut out the gingerbread house pieces and put them on our trays, placing them in the oven. During the break while we waited for them to bake, the kids were given cookies, brownies and cocoa. The parents were offered beverages as well, which I thought was nice. We listened to Christmas music and watched Christmas shows on a projector. It's a very cute setup.
When the house pieces were all ready and cooled, Jenay helped the kids construct the houses and then we set off to our individual stations to decorate. We had all kinds of candy, along with icing already prepared in a piping bag. The kids were able to be heavily involved in decorating their houses, eating the candy and socializing. When we were all done, Jenay helped us to pack up our houses for transport.
This is a great event to take the kiddies to or to even attend yourself. I look forward to visiting the café once it opens. She will offer coffee, teas, pastries and sandwiches. Jenay also mentioned that she would be bringing a NYC style brunch set-up to the space on Sundays with music and a bartender, so definitely keep a lookout for that. read more