Executive Pastry Chef Anna Polyviou's giant gingerbread house will be unveiled to the sounds of a funky gospel choir with hip hop rappers, and will be open to the public on 3 December 2016.

Polyviou and her team of elves will work around the clock to create the life-size gingerbread house, edible lolly garden and colourful carousel to delight festive revellers this Christmas season.

Over 2,000 kilos of gingerbread bricks, 500 kilos of lollies, 100 kilos of fondant, 200 lollipops and oodles of icing will be used to build the house, created by Polyviou, her team, and 20 members of the Australian Cake Decorating Network, founded by Elizabeth Wright.

Members of the network will fly in from around Australia to work on this deliciously fun project, including Verusca Walker, who will create a motor-powered moving sweet carousel.

“This year, we're taking our epic gingerbread wonderland to a whole new level, as we want to create something Sydney has never seen before at Christmas,” Polyviou said.

She said she wanted a fun and festive fantasy garden like no other. “I love that people think we're crazy with creations like this, and I love that adults often get more excited than the kids once they see it,” she said.

GINGERBREAD HOUSE OPENING HOURS

The gingerbread house and garden will be open daily at The Lobby Lounge from 7 a.m. from 3 to 26 December 2016.

The garden will have delicious festive treats for sale, including Mini Gingerbread Lolly Bag Houses, a Ginger Ninja's Family, Fruit Mince Star Tarts, Mix 'n' Match Rocky Road, Christmas Pudding, Strawberry Candy Cane and Caramel Gingerbread Macarons, White Christmas Nougat and a Pastry Chef's Christmas Stocking.

FESTIVE HIGH TEA

Join the Christmas Parade with Polyviou's delicious take on yuletide fun. Guests will delight in the Cherry Pie, White Ozzy Berry Christmas, Santa's Hats, Merry Scones and Christmas Presents under the Tree.

The Festive High Tea is available at The Lobby Lounge, Shangri-La Hotel, Sydney, 176 Cumberland Street, The Rocks, from 1 to 31 December 2016, between noon to 2.30 p.m. and 3.00 pm to 5.30 p.m. Festive High Tea is $55 per person and $27.50 per child.

ABOUT ANNA POLYVIOU

Anna Polyviou, the mohawked, multi-pierced, sneakered “Punk Princess of Pastry”, has revolutionised desserts and pastries within the hotel and across the country.

In 2016, she took home the coveted “Pastry Chef of the Year” award at the prestigious Gault&Millau 2016 Awards, hot on the heels of her “Hotel Chef” win at the 2016 HM Awards.

The award-winning pastry chef has transformed the hotel's celebrated High Tea with her distinctive sweets and added a vibrant edge to the dessert station at Café Mix, along with a colourful take on The Lobby Lounge's cakes and pastries.

Polyviou is the mastermind behind Sydney's biggest dessert event of the year, Sweet Street, and she has initiated a Dessert Degustation series, partnering with renowned sweet creators in the hotel's pasty kitchen, including Reynold Poernomo from Koi Dessert Bar.

Her guest chef appearance on the 2016 MasterChef Australia season challenged contestants to recreate her delicious dessert, Anna's Mess, which has 74 steps, nine elements and an eight-page recipe.

Hong Kong-based Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts currently owns and/or manages 98 hotels under the Shangri-La brand with a room inventory of over 40,000. Shangri-La hotels are five-star deluxe properties featuring extensive luxury facilities and services. Shangri-La hotels are located in Australia, Canada, mainland China, Fiji, France, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Maldives, Mauritius, Mongolia, Myanmar, Philippines, Qatar, Singapore, Sultanate of Oman, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom. The group has a substantial development pipeline with upcoming projects in mainland China, Cambodia, Hong Kong, India, Malaysia, Myanmar, Saudi Arabia and Sri Lanka.

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PRESS CONTACT: Deane Brosnan
Director of Communications
Shangri-La Hotel, Sydney
176 Cumberland Street, The Rocks, Sydney 2000
Tel: (61 2) 9250 6151
Email: deane.brosnan@shangrila.com  
Website: www.shangri-la.com/Sydney 

For digitised pictures of the group's hotels, please go to www.shangri-la.com/imagelibrary.