Cutting The Panels

Cutting The Panels

My good friend Pam was absolutely AMAZING and BRAVE! She and her niece, Selena, rolled out most of the dough and completed all of the preparations for me to cut each panel.

Dough Thickness

The dough had to be rolled out – EVENLY – to about a little thicker than 1/4 inch. First Pam placed a piece of parchment paper, a little longer than the baking sheet on the counter, and began to roll the dough out on the parchment. Pam would check to see if the size of the dough was correct by gently placing the template on the dough and judging if it would fit. If not, she would add more dough to the sides to 1) increase thickness, or 2) add length to the dough so to fit the template. Rolling over the dough after the dough has been added, smooths out the lines of the newly added dough. The baking soda, when baking the panels, will also smooth out lines and wrinkels. (Only works on dough-sorry!) The cut panel on the parchment paper was then moved to the baking sheet.

Windows

After the cut panel had been placed on the baking sheet, then the process of window installation began. We unwrapped all of the candies, placed them in a brown paper bag, and crushed the candy using the rolling pin. We then took our fingers and began filling up each square with candy, being careful to fill the space to all of the edges (height and corners). The panels went into a 200 degree oven until they are rock hard!

Meanwhile…

Dinner, champagne, and candy were overflowing! We all had such a good time!

Cooling & Drying

Once the panels looked complete, they were set out to cool. Once they were cool enough and stable enough to move, the panels were placed in other cooling locations (the table, fridge, fire place). If the panels are not strong – they bend or are a little soft – place them in the oven again until they are stable.

This was enough for now. More to complete the next day.

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