Get Ready For a Sugar Rush on Rush Street!
Chicago Marriott Downtown Magnificent Mile Crafts 'Chicago Hot Dog Factory'
Out of 1,400 lbs. of Gingerbread, 600 lbs. of Candy, and 500 lbs. of Sugar!
Executive Pastry Chef Cheryl Brookhouzen of the Chicago Marriott Downtown Magnificent Mile has been elbow deep in molasses, ginger, and sugar for the past seven weeks. Next Friday, November 22nd at 4:45 p.m., Chef Cheryl will unveil this year's holiday masterpiece: a Chicago Hot Dog Factory made completely of gingerbread, sugar, and candy!
According to Chef Cheryl, "The holiday’s are 'going to dogs' with this year’s gingerbread theme entitled 'Hot Diggity Dog for the Holidays!'" The display will feature elves working in a comical Chicago Hot Dog Factory!
The hotel has been creating whimsical and incredibly oversized gingerbread displays for the past 8 years, and the masterpiece circa 2013 will undoubtedly outdo previous years. “Our Pastry Team wanted to come up with an idea that was completely unexpected,” says Chef Cheryl. “We also like choosing something that features a Chicago treasure and what is more Chicago than the Chicago Style Hot Dog?”
Elves will be adjusting knobs and levers on a large “Chicago-dog-o-matic” machine that will be processing sport peppers, onions, pickles, and more that appear to be for a 10-foot hot dog. The display will even boast a large faucet pouring mustard into a bucket (no ketchup used here!)
Planning for the display began with the concept sketches and inspiration board back in August. Since the project uses such incredible quantities of gingerbread, the pastry team at the hotel began making dough in early October. The gingerbread is baked in slabs and then cut into a variety of shapes after it comes out of the oven. Once cut, these slabs are prepped for hand poured “windows” that will be made of hardened melted color sugar which will be lit from behind.
Fun Facts On The Chicago Hot Dog Factory:
Raw Materials: 1,400 pounds of gingerbread, 600 lbs. of candy, and 500 lbs. of sugar were used in the construction. The gingerbread dough alone takes over 10 gallons of molasses and 15 lbs. of ground ginger plus 500 lbs. of powdered sugar on the display!
Decorations: The decoration features over 20 different candies including 400 red gummy bears, 10 pounds of green and white gummy candies, 15 pounds of peppermint balls, Mars candies, crackers, and much more.
Helping Hands: The project involved 26 people: 9 pastry cooks, 1 pastry chef, 2 electricians, 1 carpenter, 1 engineer, 3 audio visual experts, 3 purchasers, and 6 volunteers.
Timing: Planning began in early September, construction started October 1, and it will be completed on November 21.
Edible: While everything used to make the display is completely edible, the construction has been going on for the last two months and all of the items get hard and dried out.
The Chicago Hot Dog Factory is open to the public, free of charge, and will be on display through the first week of January in the lobby at the Chicago Marriott Downtown Magnificent Mile at 540 N. Michigan Avenue.
The hotel is hosting a Holiday Kick off event “Eat, Drink and Be Merry for Charity” on Friday, November 22 from 4:30 to 7 p.m. in the lobby. For a suggested donation of $10 per person, participants can visit three holiday food and beverage stations and see the gingerbread display with all proceeds benefiting the Children’s Miracle Network. The event is sponsored by the Chicago Marriott Downtown Magnificent Mile and the Boston Beer Company.
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