Hilton Chicago gingerbread house took 300 hours to create
National Gingerbread House Day is December 12 and it’s not officially the holidays without a gingerbread house! This holiday season, Hilton is giving us a reason to travel and celebrate the national day with its three custom gingerbread houses.
Let’s be honest, we can all agree that putting together a gingerbread house is likely the most stressful part with pieces of gingerbread collapsing after you just attached the roof, loading it up with tons of frosting.
Perhaps the best part is eating all the candy and the pastry team at Hilton Des Moines Downtown might have the same thought as their team was on a constant sugar rush because of the amount of candy added to their creation.
Hilton Des Moines Downtown
Inspired by the Des Moines skyline, Hilton Des Moines Downtown’s gingerbread display is six feet wide and features iconic city buildings including the 801 Grand and the Ruan Center — the Midwest city’s two tallest buildings.
The six-foot wide confectionary creation has all the red and green holiday spirit incorporating gingerbread, gum drops and other sweet treats including Hershey’s Kisses Milk Chocolate candies and MIKE AND IKE® candies.
Sounds like we need to book a flight to Iowa ASAP.
This gingerbread house gives us all the feels and looks like it would make a great display in an Elf reboot!
Waldorf Astoria Chicago
Next up is Chicago! Introducing Coco’s Waldorf Sleigh inspired by the luxury hotel holiday spirit with a nod to fashion icon Coco Chanel.
This all black and white gingerbread display should be saved for years to come. The very chic creation was designed by Waldorf Astoria Chicago’s Pastry Chef Saber Rejbi and his culinary team.
In case you were wondering, Coco’s Waldorf Sleigh is made with 100 pounds of gingerbread cookies, 60 pounds of fondant, 50 pounds of candy, and 60 pounds of royal icing that took over 36 hours to create.
As an ode to Coco’s pearl necklace, black and white pearl candy and white piping was intentionally added along the sleigh.
“Planning for this Coco display took two months to plan and we wanted to create something completely unique to our hotel and pushed the concept of what a gingerbread ‘house’ could be,” we were told from a Hilton PR representative.
Honestly, is there a Great British Bake Off for gingerbread houses yet? Because this intricate work should not go unnoticed.
Hilton Chicago
And saving the most breathtaking display for last! Hilton Chicago gingerbread house stands over six feet tall and took three pastry chefs nearly 300 hours to create.
Using 380 pounds of flour, 16 pounds of ginger, 16 pounds of cinnamon and 16,000 gingerbread bricks, this display will be at the hotel until the end of the year.
“Creating life-size, gingerbread replicas for our guests to enjoy makes the unveiling a truly delightful moment to mark the beginning of this holiday season at Hilton Chicago,” said Wing Au, Pastry Chef.
Hilton Chicago gingerbread display includes a 6-foot replica of the hotel along with Chicago’s iconic skyline – John Hancock building, Cloud Gate and Soldier’s Field.
Pretty sure if Home Alone was to be taped again at Hilton Chicago, this beautiful display would be in the shot! Hilton Chicago actually has “The Kevin” package in honor of the scene from Home Alone 2 where Kevin wakes up on Christmas morning in the Conrad Suite. Hint, a whole pizza pie is involved!
Would you make a trip to one of these Hilton Hotels to checkout the elaborate gingerbread displays?