The Broadmoor takes the holiday tradition of gingerbread houses to an ambitious level with 32 years of practice building fantastical, oversized, cookie-laden structures. This year, they find architectural inspiration from the Pauline Chapel, a non-denominational place of meditation and prayer that still stands just West of the resort.
Under the leadership of Adam Thomas, executive pastry chef, and the massive bakery department, The Broadmoor creates a 12-foot tall, 150-square foot edible replica of the small, basilica chapel that was originally built in 1919. The 3,798,114 calorie construction is made possible by the work of 10 master pastry chefs and two carpenters, and totals over 220 hours of labor.
The gingerbread chapel contains the following list of ingredients:
- 958 pounds of powdered sugar
- 475 pounds of flour
- 650 eggs
- 19 pounds of holiday spices
- 200 pounds of honey
- 128 pounds of molasses
- 6 pounds of salt
- 78 pounds of assorted candy, gumballs and fruit jellies
- 164 pounds of dark chocolate
- 89 pounds of butter
- 3 pounds of baking soda
- 10 pounds of heavy cream
- 2 pounds of fresh yeast
A time-lapse video of the entire process can be viewed here.
*Header photo courtesy of Chad Chisholm
