Incredible gingerbread replica of 1800s English manor is an edible masterpiece

With the holiday season just around the corner, the U.K. National Trust commissioned an exquisite piece of gingerbread architecture. The exceptionally detailed confection is a miniature edible replica of Waddesdon Manor, one of the National Trust’s most popular properties for visitors. More than 300,000 people visit Waddesdon each year just to gawk at its splendor.

The Neo-Renaissance, French-chateau-style country estate was built in the late 1800s for Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild, who kept his extensive art collection there. The home is often used in movies and TV shows. The interiors were used in The Queen, while the exterior featured in season 2 of Downton Abbey.

But the gingerbread version of Waddesdon is almost as spectacular as the real thing. This is no fake-icing-and-cardboard trick. The entire thing is made of real gingerbread and icing. The icing design alone took more than 15 months of planning. The gingerbread components took 500 hours to bake, using more than 66 pounds of butter and sugar and 240 eggs.

The creative engineers behind the edible replica come from the London-based bakery Biscuiteers. The company cleverly recreated the home’s details with cookie and icing, even going so far as to make icing versions of the famous paintings hanging on the walls.

The gingerbread masterpiece will be on view at Waddeson Manor until January 2nd. This one’s going to be hard to beat.