Huge Gingerbread House Shows Salvation Army Some Sugar

It’s not the largest gingerbread house ever built, but there’s plenty of heart and artistry in a huge gingerbread house in the lobby of the toney Royal Park Hotel at 600 E. University Drive in downtown Rochester.

The “house made of ginger” took a month and a half to create and was constructed as part of a fund-raiser for the Salvation Army’s annual Red Kettle Campaign, according to a post on the hotel’s Facebook page.

Executive Pastry Chef Mark Slessor told WXYZ-TV the vintage toy-themed creation has about 600 shingles of gingerbread and is 8 feet tall by 8-feet wide by 6 feet deep. It contains:

• 220 cups of sugar
• 300 pounds of gingerbread mix
• 110 cups of powdered sugar
• 90 gallons of water
• 240 eggs
• 300 pounds of holiday candy
• 400 candy canes
• 10 gallons of fondant
• 2,000 (approximately) hand-made holly leaves

“It’s all sugar decorations, airbrushing, edible fondant, and candy,” Slessor said. “It was a lot of work.”

The hotel donates $1 for every dessert sold from now until the end of the year. For a minimum $10 donation, guests at the hotel and others can sponsor one of the 600 shingles used to build it.

“What better way to bring in the holiday than to get something for yourself, a great dessert, but be able to give a piece back to the Salvation Army,” Slessor said.

Salvation Army Capt. Jeff Eddy said the hotel is an important partner in the organization’s outreach to help the poor.

“We served over 3 million meals last year in the Detroit metro area alone,” he said. “This is a great partnership with the Royal Park and the community.”

Though the fundraiser ends Dec. 31, the gingerbread house will remain on display through Jan. 4.

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Photo by Arising Images via Facebook. See more photos.