Canadian Christmas cookie creation takes over Moncton hotel lobby

Inside the Delta Hotels by Marriott Beausejour hotel in downtown Moncton, N.B., a truly Canadian Christmas scene has come to life.

“It took us a total of about 250 hours from making the dough to rolling, cutting, baking and assembling and making the little men, painting, putting all the goodies together,” said Stefan Mueller, a retired executive chef for the Delta and gingerbread creator.

Inspired this year by the 2023 IIHF World Junior Championship, the gingerbread house is tall enough to stand up in and the assembly alone took two people about two weeks to complete. 

It’s a tradition that’s been 10 years in the making, with classic characters like The Grinch and the gang from The Peanuts making an appearance in years past. However, this year after a two-year break due to the pandemic, the display was all about the game.

“I think that this [one] is probably my favourite,” said Mueller. “There’s a lot going on. Every time you come and look at it, you can see little things, like there’s a little kitty cat on top of the door for example, and all of the little hockey pucks.”

General manager Ray Roberge say it’s a display that families look forward to each year.

“We wanted to create a ‘Wow.’ Something that would bring the community together,” he said.

“[It’s] absolutely open to everyone,” he adds. “We encourage all the families in Moncton to come here, take your family pictures.”

Not only is it a great backdrop, but Roberge says that Santa is sometimes caught in the lobby between 4 and 7 p.m. on Friday and Saturday’s for extra special pictures.

This year’s display is also a scavenger hunt of sorts, where kids can search for sweet smiley faces and hidden hockey pucks.

“When we were building it, we had a curtain up front and every year there’s daycare’s coming by, children walking by that want to see the gingerbread house and it was really hard for me to tell them, ‘I’m sorry, it’s not ready yet, you have to come back next week,’” said Mueller.

“When you see all the little children come by, 10 to 15 of them at a time as a class, and they look at it and just smile, it’s a really heartwarming feeling,” he said. “The smile you put on a child’s face, it’s worth the time.”

Believe it or not, Mueller says about 70 to 80 per cent of the display is edible. Although visitors can’t break off a piece to taste, the food used isn’t wasted.

“Any flour, sugar, food item’s that are damaged… let’s say you get a bag of water that has water damage, you cannot use it for human consumption, so we save those ingredients to make the gingerbread house,” he said, adding that the hotel saves food year-round for this project.

Everyone is welcome to visit the Delta to see the display or take pictures for free, however, donations are accepted for two important organizations. 

“The IWK plays such an important part in the Maritimes that we ask people if they could just make a small donation to the IWK or if they could bring a food item to the food bank for Food Depot Alimentaire,” said Roberge.

The World Juniors' games will be played on the TV that’s set up as the score board in the display and the entire creation will be up until at least the last puck drop of the tournament.

As for next year’s creation, Mueller says planning will start in late summer.