The easiest Christmas village {that tastes good too!}

Hello my friends! I found an adorable baking pan a few weeks ago and it immediately went into my online cart. I thought it would be SO cute for holiday baking. 

If you’ve ever tried traditional gingerbread villages and ended up with a crumbled mess…this method is for you! This baking pan is SO stinking cute and the little village turned out better than any other we’ve tried. 

This is the pan I found:

It’s the Nordic Ware village baking pan (you can also find it here!) and the detail is just adorable! You can see why I fell in love. 

I planned to hold off a bit before trying it, but when it arrived I was too excited to see how they would turn out. I read the instructions that came with the pan and it said to use a non stick spray with flour in it…this is important!

I found this flour baking spray at the grocery store and used a box cake mix to make the village: 

I sprayed inside the houses generously and then filled about 3/4 full: 

Well, a little more than 3/4, but it’s a bit difficult to determine that with these because of the shape. 

I did have some overflow, but that’s an easy fix! I let them cool for about 15 minutes before cutting off the bottoms: 

We immediately ate that part. 😉 

I took a cookie rack and placed it on top and then flipped it over…sweating while I did it because I was so nervous they would stick: 

No fear — they came out perfectly! Ugh…so cute!! I sifted some powdered sugar on top for a snowy look: 

If you’re fancy you could pipe some detail with frosting. I am not fancy. 😉 

I grabbed a pedestal and sprinkled some powdered sugar around that before placing them on. I mean…come on! How cute is this?:

They would be so cute sitting out at a Christmas party…but people may not eat them because they look so good: 

I grabbed a cloche and tucked it all under there so we can keep them for a few days: 

So simple! I made the cake mix as directed and the village was baked to perfection at 25 minutes. I had plenty left over that I used for a small round cake as well. 

As I was making these I wondered if the pan would work for a more permanent Christmas village — maybe with cement or polymer clay of some kind? (Of course I wouldn’t use it for baking after that.) I may have to try it with another pan sometime. 

What a fun Christmas addition! I had to share it with you. 🙂 

P.S. I used a pedestal and cloche I had, but this one is similar and this one is as well!