
2007 Gingerbread Grand prize winner made by Patricia Howard.
Photo Credit: © The Grove Park Inn.
I love visiting gingerbread villages during the holidays. Many of them are joint efforts between architects and pastry chefs who team up and spend countless hours in order to create idyllic miniature villages. Most of these villages are sold to benefit a variety of charities. I try not to let a holiday season go by without paying homage to this wonderful tradition.
Here are a few of the gingerbread displays around the country that you may want to check out before January:
Grove Park Inn (Asheville, NC)
Home of the National Gingerbread House Competition each year. This year’s Grand prize winner’s creation is shown above.
Holiday Gingerbread Village at Sheraton Seattle
Seattle’s top architecture firms team up with Sheraton Seattle Hotel’s culinary staff to design, bake and build gingerbread holiday creations benefiting the Juvenile Diabetes Research Fund. See http://www.nutcrackermarch.org/ for other Seattle holiday events.
15th Annual Gingerbread Village, Prescott, AZ
Over 100 edible & enchanting castles, estates, houses, electric trains, cookie decorating for the kids (Prescott Conference Center through Dec. 27)
Holiday Sugar Castle, St. Francis Hotel, San Francisco
The Sugar Castle is a 12-foot rotating castle which resembles a French Chateau. Weighing in at over 1,000 pounds of confection, the castle has more than 20 towers, 30 rooms and is surrounded by a quaint village and a running train.
Westin Annapolis
This gingerbread village features over 40 houses and historical buildings reminiscent of downtown Annapolis.
Las Vegas Four Seasons - This swiss gingerbread village uses 350 pounds of sugar, 180 pounds of flour, 90 pounds of chocolate and 360 eggs.
What’s your favorite place to see gingerbread displays?