A tiny house made of gingerbread anchors the lobby of Grande Lakes Hotel in Orlando, Florida — and includes an interior that visitors can tour.

“We have a kitchenette, a fireplace, a kitchen table, and a Christmas tree with gingerbread ornaments,” says pastry chef for the hotel, Maggie McAndrews.

Look for details like piping around the windows and, of course, tree ornaments — candy canes, snowflakes, and bells — “that we all roll, cut, royal ice and decorate just as you would with your tree at home,” she says.

Though the hotel has created an elaborate lobby gingerbread display for nearly 20 years, this is the second year with this structure that Maggie describes as “quaint.” And yes, people try to eat it: “More than you know,” she says. Other challenges to the house include changes in temperature that melt the icing grout and cause candy to fall off. “We’re always going up and repairing our house.”

The 26-person pastry team — that’s still baking for hotel guests and parties as well as building essentially a lifesize house — starts planning in late August. In late September, they’re baking gingerbread bricks and by November they’re building the house.

The decorations are displayed until the first week of January.

Happy Holidays from Broken Palate

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