In 2009, I received The Gingerbread Architect as a gift. It’s a great book, and it comes with recipes and ingredients for 12 different gingerbread masterpieces. Since then I’ve made a number of gingerbread houses, including Canuck Place Children’s Hospice in 2012, Waterfront Station in 2020, and Irving House in 2021.

My inspiration this year is The Winter Palace of The State Hermitage Museum. The palace is an historic art gallery and museum located in St. Petersburg, Russia. Designed by architect Bartolomeo Rastrelli in Baroque style, the palace has a green and white facade, and a tree-lined courtyard in the middle.

This is the largest gingerbread structure I’ve completed to date. This was a massively scaled-down design so that I could fit it onto the board. Challenging, but a fun project to complete!

The design included interior courtyard walls, as well as exterior walls. The decorations included innumerable isomalt windows decorated with mini M&Ms, and royal icing. The courtyard trees were made from Rice Krispie treats, on shredded coconut grass.