I’m the kind of person who sees a hack or craft on TikTok and immediately wants to try it, especially if it is holiday themed. There’s always a voice in the back of my head saying this could go terribly wrong, but I do not listen. This time it was the viral gingerbread man-shaped pizza, and I tried it, so you do not have to.
I used this TikTok for reference:
Looks cute and easy enough right? I went to Trader Joe’s and Target and got the pizza dough and all the necessary ingredients, and I was ready. Turns out, making pizza in the shape of a gingerbread man is a lot harder than it looks.
Now, I love myself some Trader Joe’s pizza dough, but I don’t think this was the brand for the job. In the end, I needed a dough that was a little bit higher quality and stretchier, so it could be manipulated into the desired shape. I am not even going to pretend to know how the girl in the video was able to give her gingerbread man a molding/barrier. In the end, I just got a super flat shape, and it was after 20 minutes of trying. I should have known it would have been a challenge when my two roommates decided two minutes in that they would just be making traditional square pizzas.
I became optimistic again when putting on the toppings. My little guy became super cute with mushroom eyes and smile, tomato buttons and a basil tie and outline. I took pictures with him and even named him Penney since earlier that night my roommates and I got Christmas photos done at JCPenney’s haha.
However, the oven completely ruined my child. When he came out, he was extra crispy on the sides, the sauce leaked, and he looked like a survivor of some tragic accident. My advice to anyone who is going to try this at home, try to make the dough barrier as the girl did in the video. It will prevent the sauce from going everywhere, or just use a smaller amount of sauce, so it’s less prone to spread like crazy. Also, be mindful of how the toppings you choose will bake. My basil tie and lining became extremely shriveled and not cute. The tomato buttons no longer had their shine. The mushrooms were okay but really blended in with the cheese.
Overall, I give my attempt at this activity a 6/10. I still had a lot of fun, and my pizza still tasted delicious. But, on the aesthetic side, I faced a lot of challenges and still have a lot to learn in the world of creative TikTok Projects. Maybe you’ll have better luck?