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No one is more excited about the holidays than Chase Park Plaza's pastry chef Joshua House and his team of culinary artists. Using more than 80 pounds of flour, 150 pounds of sugar, and 1500 eggs, they've baked up their biggest St. Louis–style Gingerbread Village.
House says his team has been planning the village since last July and have put well over 500 hours of work into the construction. The festive display will be much larger than previous years, with 19 buildings plucked from the hotel's Central West End neighborhood. Look closely and you'll spot grand homes from Lindell Boulevard, the World Chess Hall of Fame, and St. Louis University's gothic style St. Francis Xavier Church.
But the real showstopper is definitely a 100-pound, five-foot tall, dark chocolate Gateway Arch.
"We had a go big or go home mentality," says House.
The pastry chefs had to build molds for the Arch from scratch. They started by creating a foam arch that could be used to make gelatin molds. Chocolate was poured into the molds and, after setting, build into the Lou's landmark. After the holidays they plan to melt the confection down and recycle it into other (non-edible) chocolate displays. Sadly, House says the chocolate wouldn't be safe to eat after sitting in the lobby uncovered for two months.
Chase Park Plaza will unveil its gingerbread village at a free holiday party, from 4 to 7 p.m., November 30, in the hotel lobby. Families are invited to visit with Santa and Mrs. Claus while sipping cocoa and snacking on fresh cookies.
The Gingerbread Village will remain on public display until January 1.
