Review: Gingerbread Mum meets the Gingerbread Man

'Run, run, as fast as you can; you can`t escape the claws of Poppy, Gingerbread man'

We received a DIY Gingerbread Man set from Gingerbells on the day we were due to leave for our trip to Canada. But that didn't stop us from putting it together. In fact, it was the perfect afternoon activity.

GingerBells' parent company, Cooking Art has been in Singapore since the 1980s. Its sub-brand, GingerBells, has been around for about 5 years, and is only available during the Christmas season.


We love that Gingerbells promotes the idea of fun and edible family activities. Any parent of a preschooler will tell you that fixing up an IKEA tv console (without the instructions) is a million times less challenging than baking or decorating with a active 3-year old. Which is why I was so grateful for the detailed instructions that were included in the kit.

Double yippee fact: Products are baked daily in their kitchen and no artificial preservatives are used. Lifespan of products are 2-3 months.

Poppy went to get her winter mittens to prepare for the session :)

Everything was easy enough for Poppy to follow, and she really did enjoy it all. I half expected her to run off halfway with her usual 'You finish up, Mama, I go play now!'. But no, she stayed on till the last button was put on.


The decorative items were all packed neatly into little clear plastic bags but I thought that laying them out would make things easier for little fingers. They were very generous with the portions. What you see here isn't even half of what we got but it already made me think about cutting down sugar for Poppy till her 5th birthday.



The first step was to mix an egg white (not provided) with the icing sugar to form the 'glue'. I told her it was 'edible glue' and she quickly corrected me, 'Mama, don't be silly. We cannot eat glue. You're the silliest billy, Mama!'. I guess I am :)

As we decorated, I realised that somehow, our ingredients kept disappearing. Note to hyperventilating mums: Yes, Poppy probably hit her annual sugar quota in that one hour we spent decorating. Please continue hyperventilating.

After decorating her Gingerbread Man, Poppy waited impatiently for the 'glue' to dry.

Ta da! Our completed Gingerbread Man. Poppy did all of it, I only helped with the squeezing of the 'glue'. She dictated where the facial features would go, that he would have to have 10 buttons, but I suggested colourful mittens and shoes (she chose the sweeties to lay on them).




If decorating is not your kind of thing (but really, why not? Is it the hassle? 99% of the materials are neatly included in the pack, except the egg, and it really isn't all that pricey), then do check out Gingerbells' other yummy products. Poppy ate most of the smaller pre-made and very undecorated Gingerbread Man (in above pic) all by herself. From the little piece I managed to wrestle out of her hand, I was glad to know that it wasn't overly sweet with just the right hint of the taste of ginger. The perfect afternoon snack!

My one and only bite of the cookie

And of course, what better story to read than this :)

They also have other DIY products. Their best seller is the Frosty's Gingerbread House. It's something that needs more than one pair of hands; the perfect family bonding activity! And, like the Gingerbread Man, all you need is the white of an egg, and you're ready to go. How simple is that, folks?

If you are interested to get a set for yourself (and why not!), you can order online at gingerbells.tumblr.com or check out the Gingerbells Facebook page. From there, you can find out where their retail carts are, to buy the products over the counter. For more information, email gingerbells@gmail.com

Products will only be available till end January, so don't take your time!


* Disclaimer: I received the products for this review, but did not receive any payment for this. All opinions expressed in this blog entry are entirely my own.