She's making New York City a better place.
Brooklyn mom and hotel pastry chef Julia Kiski, 38, transforms the iconic Dakota Apartment into a towering, delicious treat for the third annual Gingerbread New York City: The Great Borough Bake Off. was crowned the winner. Posts can be published exclusively.
This incredible and edible version of the famous Upper West Side building is made with approximately 13 pounds of dense gingerbread cookies, dozens of clear gelatin sheets, and countless pieces of whipped marshmallow piping. Masu.
“There were a lot of long nights,” Kiski, of Midwood, told the Post about the monumental feat.
Nearly two months after the Museum of the City of New York opened Kiski et al.'s submissions to the public and asked visitors to vote for their favorites, the oven-mitt-wearing mother won the contest's coveted title this week. I got it. A mouth-watering creation.
Kiski had a lot of competition. Dakota was up against 20 other entries featuring New York City landmarks, including bite-sized garbage trucks (too pretty to be real) and the Empire State Building.
Jerry Gallagher, the museum's chief operating officer, said Kisky received about 20 percent of the more than 11,000 votes cast, enough votes to win the contest.
“Dakota is one of the special pieces in the gallery and clearly resonated with many visitors,” Gallagher told the Post.
“It's just monumental. She used every area we allowed her to use, and she's as tall as Dakota and has her details on every window, door, and driveway. “, he said, referring to Kiski's work.
“What a lot of people don't realize is that she actually has this Christmas tree in the center of her apartment building in the courtyard. …If you have young children, you can lift it up and look inside. “She did a really great job. And it's very wintry. Everything is covered in snow and ice and it looks really magical,” he said.
Mr. Kiski had originally set his sights on recreating the Con Ed building in Manhattan's Madison Square Garden, but wondered if the slender structure, shaped like a cookie, might not be structurally sound. He said he was concerned.
At that time, Kiski was at the famous West 72nd Street and Central Park West area where legends from Lauren Bacall to Judy Garland to Connie Chung called home, and where John Lennon was brutally murdered. I found myself drawn to Dakota, the co-op.
“I knew about it, but it was more about the history behind the actual building. How it was built, how it was put together, and how it was actually built on the Upper West Side. It was the first building built for people to live in.''It was in the middle of nowhere. It was very interesting,” Kiski said.
“My father-in-law also likes it. He actually loves John Lennon, so he introduced me to the building.”
Kiski estimates it took about 200 painstaking hours to make Dakota from dough, from the design stage to baking the gingerbread and assembling everything.
The process was exhausting, as she could only tackle the task after working full days as a pastry chef at a midtown hotel and while fulfilling orders for her own home-baked goods business, Oui Bakely. said.
This project was a labor of love for Kiski. Kiski's passion for baking was born during childhood summers spent in Ukraine with her grandmother, who worked in a bakery.
After immigrating to the United States in 2008, Kiski honed his skills at the International Culinary Center.
She said participating in “Gingerbread NYC: The Great Borough Bake-Off” was her biggest job to date.
“I like challenges and I like trying new things, but I'm a little scared to do them. But when I'm faced with difficulties or under pressure, I work really hard. ” she said.
Kisky completed Dakota on October 28, 2024. We're just one day away from celebrating 140 years since the actual building was completed.
The baker said he was dazzled by his victory, which he humbly accepted as a “huge honour.”
Runner-up entries in this year's contest included Irma C. Salmon's stunning Prospect Park Boathouse and Christina Napolitano's stunning depiction of Yorkville.
Gallagher said other items up for sale included pizza boxes and a subway car made by two different chefs.
“It was really great to see people think about not just those iconic buildings, but what's iconic about New York,” Gallagher said.
“Generally, it’s great to see visitors come into this space with no expectations,” he said. “Kids can be overwhelmed by sugar and icing and candies and so on, and they are, but I really enjoy watching the older adults come in because they look at the displays and , because they see buildings they know. They grew up in neighborhoods and around iconic structures that they always visit.
“And they see them through someone else's eyes in a fun and creative way.”
