Winner Announced: 2021 Christmas Gingerbread House Competition

Le Cordon Bleu Australia has embraced the festive season this year with a Christmas Gingerbread House Competition, encouraging budding pastry chefs and those with a creative Christmas spirit to make gingerbread houses of sugar, spice and all things nice.

With entries ranging from snowy, white Christmas-themed gingerbread houses to Australian-themed gingerbread houses by the beach and in the outback, the imagination and originality from the gingerbread house entries were incredibly creative and festive.

---

The standard of the competition was very high, with a significant number of entries.
Competition Judge - Tom Milligan, Technical Director, Le Cordon Bleu Australia

Explore the top five finalists, alongside the winner of our 2021 Christmas Gingerbread House Competition...

#5. @linalize_39

Overall appearance & relevance to the theme: 7/10
Creativity & originality: 8/10
Detail, skill & precision: 8/10

Our top five finalist, Lina Kua created a gingerbread house featuring a Le Cordon Bleu icon: the Béchamel Bear.

“Wishing you a Béchamel Christmas and a Happy New Year from the Béchamel Mansion”, captioned Lina,  Le Cordon Bleu Melbourne student.

This original design showcases the Le Cordon Bleu bear dressed in a chef’s jacket and hat, a gingerbread mansion complete with sugar work and a display of festive confections.

#4. @ha_eun1411 & @andy.ye7203

Overall appearance & relevance to the theme: 8/10
Creativity & originality: 8/10
Detail, skill & precision: 8/10

Le Cordon Bleu Sydney students, Andy (Youngeun) Cho and HaEun Choi designed a unique and colourful gingerbread house with a Christmas tree aesthetic. The gingerbread house featured a staircase of edible presents, red and green piped icing detail, bauble decorations, a star at the top and a Christmas wreath on the door.

#3. Russell Morris

Overall appearance & relevance to the theme: 8/10
Creativity & originality: 9/10
Detail, skill & precision: 8/10

Taking the 3^rd spot on the Christmas Gingerbread House Competition podium is Russell Morris’s Christmas gingerbread hospital.

“This creation is a tribute to all the health care workers for their tireless and ongoing efforts in dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic,” Russell captioned.

A sentimental Christmas reminder to us all during this holiday period, Russell’s unique design featured gingerbread medical staff wearing face masks, candy cane accents, edible snowflakes and of course, a QR code! The gingerbread hospital is accompanied by Christmas trees and is brightly lit from inside, bringing a festive glow of hope to the display.

#2. @fleurieubakes

Overall appearance & relevance to the theme: 9/10
Creativity & originality: 8/10
Detail, skill & precision: 9/10

The runner up of our 2021 Christmas Gingerbread House Competition goes to Luke Field for his amazing Christmas Winter Wonderland Gingerbread Creation.

Although this entry was not a house, the festive theme, effort and detail of the carousel made this entry a strong contender in the competition. The snowy carousel top, the cheerful gingerbread reindeer (plus one red-nosed reindeer) and the carefully piped white icing detail created a memorable centrepiece. Furthermore, the carousel rotates – making this an edible Christmas showstopper!

#1. @nathans_sweet_creations

Overall appearance & relevance to the theme: 9/10
Creativity & originality: 9/10
Detail, skill & precision: 9/10

Congratulations to the winner of the 2021 Christmas Gingerbread House Competition, Nathan Long!

A very close win by just a single point, Nathan’s incredible gingerbread house was intricately detailed with white piping work of snow and festive patterns from door to roof. The design and overall finish demonstrates amazing skill and precision. The unique double-storied gingerbread house shape and beautiful piped lattice fence around the front porch and balcony made Nathan’s creation a true stand out.

Complete with see-through coloured windows and a light display, it was a true testament to the skills Nathan is currently learning as a Patisserie student at Le Cordon Bleu Brisbane. Our judge, Tom, was truly impressed by the high standard of Nathan’s work.

Nathan will receive an amazing Le Cordon Bleu Australia prize pack, plus a copy of the famous Chocolate Bible, inclusive of 180 delectable Le Cordon Bleu chocolate recipes and techniques to develop his pastry skills well into the future!

Honorable Mention: @10bluedog

Captioned: “This is our original gingerbread house, it is titled: “2021 in Melbourne” a disastrous year, but we can REBUILD”.

Thank you to everyone who entered in the Christmas Gingerbread House Competition. Le Cordon Bleu Australia was very impressed by the quality and creativity of the entries we received. It was a great challenge to pick just one winner!

If you are interested in furthering your pastry skills in 2022, explore our Patisserie Programs.