Speed Toward Christmas in this Life-Size Gingerbread Pikes Peak Race Car
It took 15 pastry chefs, two woodworkers, and more than one ton of ingredients to prepare this edible Pierce-Arrow.
Every holiday season, the team of pastry chefs at the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb's title sponsor, The Broadmoor, furnishes the resort's entrance hall with an edible centerpiece. Some years, you'll find a towering gingerbread cathedral, but not this year; 2019's pâtisserie de résistance is a full-scale model of one of Pikes Peak's oldest surviving race cars: The 1918 Pierce-Arrow "Broadmoor Special."
Executive pastry chef Adam Thomas was able to use the Broadmoor Special as his muse thanks to its preservation in the nearby Penrose Heritage Museum, which was named for The Broadmoor's proprietor and the PPIHC's founder, Spencer Penrose. Penrose's chauffeur Harry McMillen, and the resort's mechanic Angelo Cimino, converted the Pierce-Arrow into a racer for the 1922 event. Between its first outing and 1932, the Broadmoor Special raced eight times, summiting each and every time, and achieving a best result of fourth place twice (1926 and 1930).
Recreating the Broadmoor Special in confection form took 15 pastry chefs and more than 2,100 pounds worth of ingredients, not including the materials used for the underlying wooden frame. Here's a list of all the ingredients used, arranged by weight.
- 482 pounds of sugar
- 412 pounds of butter
- 375 pounds of all-purpose flour
- 300 pounds of dark chocolate
- 200 pounds of brown sugar
- 100 pounds of white chocolate
- 100 pounds of honey
- 700 egg whites (approx. 60 pounds)
- 425 whole eggs (approx. 50 pounds)
- 47 pounds of molasses
- 8 pounds of salt
- 6 pounds of "Secret Holiday Spice"
- 2 pounds of yeast
- 1.3 pounds of baking powder
- 1 pound of baking soda
- 1 pound of activated charcoal
The Broadmoor's recipe also lists "10 pounds of Joy" and "3 pounds of Holiday Cheer" among what it took to build the delectable race car. As for who'd consume this delicious-looking antique, as The Broadmoor is located in Colorado, we'll leave what that means to your imagination. *cough, cough
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