Chef creates candy town

The sweetest little community in Alaska can be found in Wasilla.

A gingerbread and candy community has sprouted up -- in Wasilla Chevron Foodmart along the Parks Highway. Andrea Westfall has worked for more than a month on the creation, which has drawn rave reviews from the customers.

"It took a lot of trial and error," Westfall said. "This is the first time I've done something like this."

Westfall has a five-star chef rating, and as she put it, "the educational background." Turning powdered sugar, egg whites and candy into a spectacular village was time-consuming, however.

"There were lots of interruptions and delays, but I'm happy with it," Westfall said. "I'm already planning next year's."

The list of ingredients alone is impressive, never mind the workmanship and attention to detail. The Westfalls used about 50 pounds of powdered sugar, 10 dozen egg whites, about 50 pounds of chocolate and at least 40 pounds of coconut in the village. And that doesn't even count the candies.

"Oh, we've got Skittles, gumdrops, chocolates, cookies, Tootsie Rolls and just about everything else on there," Westfall said.

Getting the roof on the candy church posed a bit of a problem. Westfall's husband, John, had to bust out the power tools. He drilled holes and had to use wooden pegs to support the roof, because candy "studs" aren't the best load-bearing building option.

"The roof alone weighs more than 10 pounds," John Westfall said.

The village will be on display throughout the holidays at Wasilla Chevron Foodmart on the Parks Highway.