We’ve emerged from the fugue state known as Christmas Vacation with little to show for it beyond a bad New Year’s hangover that’s still around and 20 recently-gained pounds that we can’t exactly explain without feeling a little sick. But for Norwegian cake designer and artist Caroline Eriksson, this holiday season brought her some amount of internet fame. Why? Well, her gingerbread sculptures went straight-up viral thanks to a post she made on the r/pics subreddit. They’re most definitely not your average frosting-streaked houses, however: Her latest one is of the Xenomorph from the Alien franchise.
Posted first on her Instagram, the amount of effort that went into this hyper-detailed gingerbread… statue? … demands immediate respect. Take a look below.
In the comments on the Xenomorph post, Eriksson elaborates a bit on her process. “It took 3.5 weeks,” she writes, “1 for the structure, and 2.5 for making dough, baking gingerbread pieces and putting it all together with burnt sugar.”
She also adds: “It’s an iron structure inside with sculptured gingerbread on top: I made an inner skeleton with correct proportions, and then drew pieces/designs to fit on top of it. I’ve altered the usual recipe a bit to make it stronger — so I wouldn’t recommend for eating, but I’m using twice the amount of syrup, and no baking powder. It makes the gingerbread harder and gives it a smoother surface! There’s a whole lot of melted sugar to keep it together!”
Now that’s one hell of a way to celebrate Christmas!
However, a cursory look down her feed will reveal that she’s no stranger to the gingerbread arts. here’s her take on Optimus Prime:
And her take on Darth Vader:
View this post on InstagramA post shared by Caroline Eriksson (@caroline.d.eriksson) on
And, finally, her absolutely incredible rendition of Smaug from The Hobbit:
Thanks to the good folks at Bloody-Disgusting for bringing this to our attention!
Featured image by Caroline Eriksson via Reddit.