Looking Glass

Tastefully Decorated

The Broadmoor’s annual giant gingerbread creations delight guests with over-the-top designs.

THE BROADMOOR’S BAKING AND PASTRY TEAM MAKE LIKE elves each holiday season, working from detailed drawings and a supersized list of ingredients to bake, construct, and decorate a life-sized gingerbread creation in the upper lobby of Broadmoor Main.

The team has made everything from a recreation of Santa’s Workshop—complete with multicolored gingerbread bricks and poured-sugar windowpanes—a race car celebrating The Broadmoor Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, a train engine in honor of The Broadmoor Manitou and Pikes Peak Cog Railway, and a fanciful take on a Broadmoor cottage. While each year’s theme is a surprise until it’s unveiled in the weeks leading up to Christmas, the meticulously detailed creations never fail to entice visitors to stop for a closer look.

“It wows you in its size, and then you start paying attention to the detail work—all the trimming, the decorative dough work, the poured sugar, and the giant carved chocolate piece over the mantle,” says Executive Chef David Patterson. “It’s a real showpiece for a baker’s art.”

It takes about a month to bake, measure, and cut all the pieces, and another five days to assemble. Everything, the baked goods to the candy canes and pulled-sugar ribbons, is made in-house by The Broadmoor’s culinary staff. The team didn’t rest on its laurels once the final gumdrop was placed, however. They immediately began sketching next year’s even larger design while ideas are fresh.

Says Chef Patterson: “We hope it will be a new tradition for years to come.”