It’s probably best not to eat this whole holiday treat in one sitting. Or 100 sittings, for that matter.
Last week, the Hilton Americas-Houston in Texas unveiled an enormous gingerbread house in its lobby, its biggest edible holiday scene ever.
The entire display weighs a whopping 2.5 tons — and clocks in at an incredible 7.6 million calories.
Ta-da! Hilton Americas-Houston in Texas unveiled an enormous gingerbread house in its lobby last week
Festive! The gingerbread brick house has lots of little details, including ‘snow’ on the roof
Eat the kids first: Children made of chocolate are seen playing on the front lawn, including this little boy who appears to be mailing a letter to Santa
Santa’s on his way! There are also several chocolate reindeer in the yard
Getting closer… Another chocolate boy is ready to hang up the lights
The recommended daily calorie intake for the average woman is 2,000, meaning that if a woman were to eat only this and stay within those health guidelines, it would take her 3,800 days to finish — or nearly 10 and a half years.
It didn’t take quite as much time to actually make the house, though it was a lengthy process. The entire thing was hand-crafted by pastry Chef Mahesh Weerasinghe and Sous Pastry Chef Glenna Artripe, then assembled in the hotel’s lobby last week.
The two chefs and their team spent more than five months working on the project, employing 1,850 man hours.
In addition to lots of time, they needed materials. The house is made of 750lbs of gingerbread, 726lbs of sugar, and 1,200lbs of dark chocolate.
Those ingredients went toward the reddish brick exterior and a thatched roof, which towered over the heads of the men who put it together.
The top floor features two windows, and frosting ‘snow’ covers the top.
Expert: The entire thing was hand-crafted by pastry Chef Mahesh Weerasinghe and Sous Pastry Chef Glenna Artripe
Outdoing themselves: The chefs make the edible display bigger every year
Yum! The house was carefully crafted out of 750lbs of gingerbread, 726lbs of sugar, and 1,200lbs of dark chocolate
Worth it: The team spent five months on it, working for nearly 2,000 hours
Come see: Visitors can check it out in the hotel’s lobby through December 28
Getting in the spirit: The display is only part of the hotel’s holiday decorations
The house has a porch with a white fence around it, with white filigree detailing on trimming the doors and windows.
Even the inside was crafted, and features a kitchen with a holiday scene and lights that can be seen from the outside.
The chefs also decorated the front lawn for Christmas, putting up an entirely edible snowman, a mailbox, reindeer, and playing children — who are all make from chocolate.
The Christmas tree in the yard is made of chocolate, too, with the snow on its branches made of sugar.
While certainly time-consuming, a few of the pieces from the scene — namely, some of the chocolate sculptures — are returning from previous years. The Hilton Americas-Houston unveiled its first gingerbread house in 2013 and has been building on it ever since, making it bigger and bigger each holiday season.
This one will be available to view in the hotel’s lobby through December 28.
Sugar rush: In 2013, the Traditions Club and St. Joseph Health System in Texas broke the record for the biggest gingerbread house
Massive: The group’s was made with 1,800 pounds of butter, 7,200 eggs, 3,000 pounds of sugar, 7,200 pounds of flour, and 22,000 pieces of candy for decoration
Huge: It was 60 feet by 42 feet and up to 20 feet tall in its highest parts
And though the house is certainly huge, it’s not actually the biggest gingerbread house ever made.
In 2013, the Traditions Club and St. Joseph Health System of Bryan, Texas nabbed the Guinness World Record for the World for that honor after constructing a house that was 60 feet by 42 feet and up to 20 feet tall in its highest parts.
that house requited 1,800 pounds of butter, 7,200 eggs, 3,000 pounds of sugar, 7,200 pounds of flour, and 22,000 pieces of candy for decoration.
It was put together by volunteers, and proceeds raised by visitors benefited the St. Joseph s Level II Trauma Center.