Life's sweet competition for Christmas: Engineer a Gingerbread House 27 November 2020
Life Science Centre in Newcastle has cooked up the perfect competition for fans of The Great British Bake Off, with Andrew Smyth, an Aerospace Engineer and a former finalist of the TV show, launching its Engineer a Gingerbread House competition today.
For the chance to win £250 to spend in Life Science Centre's gift shop and café*, bakers will need to share a photo of their gingerbread house creations on Instagram by midday on 14 December with #EngineerGingerbreadHouse and tag @ScienceAtLife.
Andrew and Life's Chief Executive, Linda Conlon, will then meet-up virtually to judge the edible entries and pick a star baker.
Linda said: "This year has been difficult for everyone, so we wanted to bring some festive cheer to people's homes. With another weekend of lockdown ahead of us, it's a great time to head into the kitchen and be creative."
Andrew was a finalist in series seven of The Great British Bake Off – where he impressed the judges with his mechanical cog-wheel pies – and returned to the tent in 2018 for The Great Festive Bake Off. He was also a guest maker at Life Science Centre's Maker Faire festival in 2018.
Andrew said: "Engineering is all about creativity, so I’m thrilled to be teaming up with Life Science Centre for such a fun competition. I love using the tasty world of baking to illustrate the fun of problem-solving with engineering, and what better way than with building a gingerbread house?
"In the winning design, I’ll be looking for sturdy engineering, attention to detail and, most of all, a fun and creative design!”
If you've never made a gingerbread house before, or if you've struggled to keep your building upright, then check out Andrew's top tips, plus a downloadable recipe and construction template.
For more activities to do at home this Christmas, follow @ScienceAtLife on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter, with lots of festive-themed fun planned for its #LifeGoesONline programme.
*Terms and conditions apply - visit life.org.uk/GingerbreadHouse for details.
