Aisha Kerala never made a gingerbread house before, but on Saturday afternoon at the University Place Mall in Orem, multiple people approached her to ask how she made the icicles on her house, or the detailed bricks, or even if she’d consider selling it after the competition was over.
“Honestly I just entered (the competition) because I love Christmas,” said Kerala, of Spanish Fork, who won first place out of 30 entries at the mall’s second annual Bakers of Utah Gingerbread Competition.
University Place wanted to give local at-home bakers a place to present their work and promote themselves, said Cindy Nguyen, marketing director for University Place.
The 2019 competition grew immensely from last year’s, Nguyen said. Last year, there were only nine gingerbread house entries. Over 1,500 votes from the public came in over the last week, in comparison to just 500 last year.