Fanciful Spring Images Add Charm to Spring Holiday Baked Goods, Gifts and Crafts

Press Release

House on the Hill, the premier U.S. maker of hand-crafted museum and private collection replica cookie presses and molds with 500+ themed varieties, offers a wide array of delightful spring, Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day and Easter-themed images. Using wood carvings created by skilled bakers in the middle ages, House on the Hill’s replica springerle molds can also be used to create castings in paper, paperclay and beeswax, perfect for homemade gifts, Easter basket decor, Valentine greetings and gift wrapping. Molds provide breathtaking images of classic hearts, florals, sweet bunnies in baskets, sheep grazing through the meadow and precious Easter eggs. Presses and molds range from $19.50 to $98.00, depending on size and detail.

“Springerle baking is a family tradition that was passed on to me from my grandmother. Baking serves as an artistic outlet, a vehicle to connect with multiple generations and a means of creating a delicious reward,” said Connie Meisinger, House on the Hill owner/springerle and gingerbread baking instructor (tutorial on springerle baking available at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SOYq82uOUoc). “Molded cookies are an age-old craft that combine skill, patience and a return to basics that is enormously appealing to time-strapped people who want to slow down and savor life. Baking is a full sensory experience, offering comfort through its aroma, craftsmanship, beauty and taste.”

Crafting enthusiasts can prepare greeting cards, gift tags, stationary, scrap booking, wishing wands and more with House on the Hill molds. For an easy-to-follow, 9-step instructional on paper casting with House on the Hill molds, visithttp://www.houseonthehill.net/crafts/.

History of Springerle and Speculaas

Springerle baking is a tradition dating back to 14th century Germany when most people did not read or write. Remnants of these practices have survived hundreds of years and have become a form of art and baking today. Likewise, molded gingerbread was first baked in the 13th century and coveted for its easy transport. Because most of the European community was illiterate until the 1800s, bakers were required to be expert wood carvers, creating molds and presses to imprint their cookies with detailed images to commemorate special occasions. According to Ms. Meisinger, “Gingerbread heart shaped cookies are a year-round favorite throughout Europe and particularly in Germany.”

About House on the Hill

House on the Hill creates molds, carvings, rolling pins, cutters and hard-to-source ingredients for springerle, gingerbread and speculaas cookie baking. The House on the Hill website,www.houseonthehill.net, offers a step-by-step video instruction on springerle baking with owner Connie Meisinger. Ms. Meisinger’s blog,http://www.springerlecookies.com/, offers expert insights on springerle history, lore, dough preparation and baking. Springerle cookies have been baked in Ms. Meisinger’s family for four generations and she travels the country offering springerle and gingerbread baking classes to keep the tradition alive (visitwww.houseonthehill.netfor a complete list of classes Connie will be teaching at House on the Hill in Elmhurst, IL and around the country). House on the Hill offers the broadest array of baking supplies for springerle and speculaas bakers in the U.S. Custom molds, carvings, cutters, time saving tools and hard-to-source ingredients such as luster dust, decorator paints, and baker’s ammonia (Hartshorn) provides bakers with a large selection of baking supplies to create the beautiful cookies.

About Connie Meisinger

Connie Meisinger, owner of House on the Hill, is a Springerle/Gingerbread baking instructor, decorative painter and crafting enthusiast. Connie, who has appeared multiple times on television and radio programs, provides an insightful, whimsical look at how holidays have been celebrated since the Middle Ages through Springerle and Gingerbread cookie baking and how her unique molds have since evolved into the ideal crafting vehicle for making elegant cake toppers, painted cookies and a myriad of fanciful crafts. House on the Hill molds and Connie’s recipes have been featured numerous times in Martha Stewart Living and other top lifestyle magazines, as well as on multiple television and radio programs.

Spread love and spring merriment this year with a lively, visual story on the use of House on the Hill molds with Elmhurst, Illinois’ own Connie Meisinger.