Padma Lakshmi Schools AD on How to Make the Best Gingerbread House Ever

It’s no surprise that Padma Lakshmi takes cooking and baking seriously. But when it comes to preparing holiday treats, the cookbook author and the longtime host of Top Chef—currently in Kentucky for its 16th season—takes it to another level. How? Well, she caught up with AD at the Kellogg’s Holiday Baking Challenge at Kellogg’s NYC Café in Union Square to not only reveal the winning dessert (it was a Frosted Flakes pear berry tart) but also share how she and her daughter take days to make their Martha Stewart–worthy gingerbread houses. Plus, Lakshmi divulges her secrets to hosting flawlessly, and her favorite splurge item that she has in all of her kitchens.

Architectural Digest: You're here for the Kellogg's Holiday Baking Challenge—what attracted you to partake in a cereal-based baking challenge?

Padma Lakshmi: I’m really intrigued by using things that you don't normally think of in desserts as ingredients. I do it in my own cooking. Some of my best recipes have come out of me being in a jam and just using what I had in the cupboard. It's easy to make something that is just traditional. But, it's nice to be able to bring a dessert to a holiday function that's fun. Plus, we always have cereal in our pantry, so it's a good ingredient to incorporate into your cooking. I use it to make crumbles on desserts, the coating for fried chicken, or I’ll add Rice Krispies to my daughter’s homemade applesauce. It changes the whole game.

AD: Since this is a holiday baking challenge, what are some of your favorite holiday cooking traditions?

PL: [My daughter and I] love to bake cookies. We just baked a bunch of simple sugar cookies with a lot of cinnamon. I call them tea cookies. I actually like them to stay in the oven a couple of extra minutes so they get hard and crispy, then we just decorate them with sprinkles and some icing. Next weekend, we do a gingerbread house, and we get a little Martha Stewart about it.

AD: How so?

PL: We'll get a little paring knife and make little leaves out of green jujube candies. We get little red balls and make an apple tree. You can actually use Rice Krispies to create hay, sand, or a pebble driveway.

AD: Wow! I pretty much can just make icing windows.

PL: Here's a real tip. This took me years to figure out. Most of the directions that come with the kit tell you to make the house with the icing and then decorate. I'm telling you, you should not do that. Instead, get the different pieces—the sides, the roof, etc.—lay them flat on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and decorate them first. Because what happens is once you glue it, everything slides. We get every panel, draw it out on the pencil, lay it flat, let it dry, and then we come back the next day and add stuff to it because you can't do it all at once. It's like an oil painting and needs time for the layers. It takes several days for us to make gingerbread houses. I have no stake in this company, but I often felt like writing to them and being, like, you should really change the printed directions.

AD: Are you the holiday entertainer in the family or do you get to take a break from cooking over the holidays?

PL: Nobody cooks for me. My cousin will call me and say, "I have a Super Bowl potluck next Saturday. Can you make me something that I can pick up and take?" Usually, I have a big feast on Christmas Day, and it's served buffet style. It's very casual. It's usually a huge pork shoulder, and then we have all the fixings for tacos so that everyone can make their own. Or, one year we had brisket with a huge cauldron of polenta. We also usually make hot cider with an orange stuck with cloves.

AD: Impressive! What’s the key to being an excellent hostess?

PL: The biggest thing I have is to remember is to have fun. Because even if everything is perfect, if the host or hostess is frazzled or nervous or tense, that is very contagious and spreads very quickly. Also, when you're planning a menu, write it out. The act of writing something out makes you remember it. Make sure that 70 percent of your total menu can be done ahead and that some of the dishes are not temperature sensitive. Also, always be prepared to have things like cheese and some grilled bread when the guests arrive so that you're not stressed if things get delayed. Do all that and go have a shower or a hot bath where you wash your hair to get the cooking smell out. And have your first glass of wine or champagne in the bath.

AD: That's great advice. Is your kitchen your dream kitchen?

PL: It is pretty much my fantasy kitchen, although I have cooked some of my most amazing meals on a single induction burner or hotplate. But because of my cookbooks, I get a lot of things sent to me, whether it's earthenware pots or Italian cookware or weird gadgets from Georg Jensen. I have a beautiful iron olive oil pour that is fantastic. But I designed my kitchen to make it efficient. I actually think I made it too big.

AD: Too big?

PL: Yes! Because it takes you longer to walk from one point to another. I never thought about that because I never had a gigantic kitchen. This one is a really nice kitchen though. It's built into the center of the house. And the one luxurious thing I did splurge on was a British racing green Lacanche stove. I'm not so into cars, but this is my version of a Maserati. They're very old, very beautiful stoves that come from France. They've been making them since the 1800s. They're not too gaudy or flashy like some of those other brands. But they work so beautifully. I feel like now my oven works even better than when I first got it. I love them so much I have them in all my homes and even made my daughter’s father get one!

AD: Are there any other unique design elements you love?

PL: I had millwork done on my drawers to the left of my stove so that the spices sit at a 35-degree angle. That way I can see them all.

AD: Is the kitchen your favorite room in your home?

PL: Yes. I collect antique kitchen items and display them on the open shelves. So, I have a Chinese green grinder from the 1700s that never leaves the shelf because it's so heavy. The space is great because we have an open kitchen with the dining room on one side and the living room on the other side. When you walk in, there are these big antique Indian doors that you walk through into this beautiful kitchen. It’s amazing.

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