Like everything else in this upside-down 2020, there was a
time when the holiday gingerbread house was an iffy proposition.
Someone from our Food & Beverage team asked the question
aloud at one point: “Hey, are we doing the gingerbread house this year?”
Some people just assumed it wasn’t happening. But then came the green light to proceed
with one of our most cherished holiday traditions, which involves a couple
hundred pounds of gingerbread, dozens of pounds of icing and sugary accents, and
about 300 hours of labor from our tireless duo of pastry chefs.
It’s not Christmas at French Lick Springs Hotel without the
gingerbread house, and fear not: 2020 isn’t gonna take that from us.
The initial uncertainty made for a bit later start than
usual, but French Lick Resort pastry chefs Deven Corona and Brittany Fisher got
rolling in mid-September with blueprints for the house and baking the first
batches of gingerbread. From the floorboards around the welcome mat to the red
brick chimney, everything is gingerbread of different shades — even the sides
of the house that look like a sparkling sugar cookie. (There’s a reason you get
that unmistakable whiff of gingerbread from a mile away.)
You’ll notice a different color scheme this year — instead
of the traditional Christmas reds and greens, it’s cool colors for a frostier feel.
“We came up with the idea of Winter Wonderland — an icy, wintry scene with
snowflakes and more of that look, and we’re making icicles out of sugar to go
on the house,” Brittany explains.
There’s still plenty of heat involved early in the process
with the windows of the house. This is done with sugar that’s colored and heated
to 328 degrees to make it pliable before it’s baked into the windows for that
stained glass look.
This is just like your house, too. Things break and require repairs.
It happened to some of the blue shingles. And a couple of the windows. “Even
though the windows are so stressful, they’re my favorite part,” Deven says. “Everyone’s
eyes go to the windows first.”
The best part to Brittany? “The little details are my favorite,”
she says. The snowflakes, holly, leaves, poinsettias and all the other little accents — everything
you see on the exterior, from the gingerbread to the decorations — it’s all
edible. (Nibbles, though, are discouraged.)
It’s ready for our French Lick Springs Hotel tree
lighting ceremony this weekend in its customary spot on the second level of the
Event Center. Follow your nose to it, take some pictures, admire all the miniscule
details — and marvel in our gingerbread tradition that never takes a year off.
