Home-baked luxury Christmas creation with VeryFirstTo

Would you spend almost Dh300,000 on a gingerbread house? Well, if you want it adorned with pearls and a ruby, that's the price you will have to pay.

A Dh286,206 gingerbread house covered in 150 South Sea pearls and a five-carat Mozambique ruby. Courtesy Georgia’s Cakes

At first, £49,750 (Dh287,580) sounds like a ridiculously reasonable asking price for a house – until you realise it’s made from gingerbread, not bricks.

But then again it will be covered in 150 South Sea pearls and a five-carat Mozambique ruby, and made to look exactly like your own home.

The idea was dreamed up by a luxury goods company and will be produced by the London-based, Le Cordon Bleu-trained baker and patisserie chef, Georgia Green, 23, who has been described as a “baker to the stars”.

“The gingerbread house concept was proposed to me by the company VeryFirstTo,” says Ms Green, who set up her London-based business, Georgia’s Cakes, just over a year ago.

“They came up with the idea and asked if I was interested in being the chef who would create it. Obviously I jumped at the opportunity.”

And it is by no means the first luxury Christmas creation from VeryFirstTo, a members-only service which allows users to be the first to know about and purchase luxury items. It sells both products (such as bags, cars and watches) and experiences such as holidays.

Last year the company was selling what it claimed was the world’s most expensive Christmas wreath, worth US$4.6 million and adorned with 16 rubies and 32 diamonds. And in 2012 it sold the world’s most expensive Christmas dinner at $195,703.

This year’s offering, the gingerbread house, which has an option to add more pearls for an additional cost, will be made using eggs produced by Prince Charles’s company, Duchy Originals, in addition to Sri Lankan cinnamon and Echire butter from France.

Ms Green estimates that it will take five working days to produce the house, which will measure roughly 65cm by 35cm by 45cm. The order must be placed three weeks before Christmas to give her enough time to make it. And delivery is extra.

However, if you cannot afford the gingerbread house, Ms Green can make one – minus the jewels – for a fraction of the price.

“People can order anything they like from me – so yes, if someone would like a house without the jewels they are still able to have one,” she says.

“I would say personalised gingerbread houses would start at least at £150.”

q&a that takes the cake

Georgia Green reveals more about her fledgling venture, Georgia’s Cakes (georgias-cakes.co.uk):

How long have you been a baker?

I have done baking professionally for two years, however being one of six children I had to come up with a lot of ideas on entertaining my siblings and found that cooking cakes was the best way.

How long have you owned your own business?

I created Georgia’s Cakes just over one year ago when my cakes became very popular. I don’t have a shop of my own but I work from a delicatessen where I create all sorts of baked goods and savoury food.

You were in the news after you created a cake for supermodel Cara Delevingne and are described as a baker to the stars. Which celebrities shop at your store?

Our regular customers have included Helena Bonham Carter, Tim Burton, James Corden, David Mitchell and his wife Victoria Coren. All of them have said how much they enjoy my food.

It has been reported that you can order the gingerbread house to look like your own, is that true?

Yes, before I pursued my career in cooking I was going to study architecture at university. I think and work very logically and [in a] mathematical way, which is why I match with patisserie and baking quite well. Therefore I think that building any shape or form out of gingerbread would be a challenge, however, I will be able to do it.

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