Each year The Benson unveils a giant gingerbread creation. But who’s the chef behind it all?

Published 10:00 pm Wednesday, December 4, 2024

Chef David Diffendorfer has done it again.

Year after year, turning what most buy as a ready-made kit, into a luxe piece of art.

His workspace — what appeared to be a former conference room — had the scent of gingerbread embedded into the carpets, filling the room with a sweet and spicy aroma.

Only a few half-filled sheet pans of cookie scraps were left in the room hours ahead of the big gingerbread masterpiece unveiling on Tuesday, Dec. 3, at The Benson Portland, Curio Collection by Hilton.

Diffendorfer started crafting these confectionary creations in 1994, working as a pastry chef at the hotel. The tradition started about 20 years before he took over.

“When you pivot you pivot big.” He said that’s what his wife has always told him of his career changes.

For years he’s worked as a home inspector, and recently went back to school to become a diesel electric technician.

Growing up, Diffendorfer took a liking to castles and architecture, so when he got the job and was told he had to make an annual gingerbread display, “it just kind of fit the bill,” he said.

All year he seeks out inspiration for his next design. Between Google searches of castles, finding interesting images in bookstores or calendars, he gathers crumbs for what to make.

Despite a love for building — which can in-part be credited to the many Lego sets he received as a kid — he originally set foot studying biology and geography at the University of New Mexico.

“That just kind of stopped working for me,” Diffendorfer said.

That’s what brought him to Portland.

Diffendorfer loved cooking, so he decided to pack his things and head up to the Pacific Northwest for culinary school.

After learning the ways of the kitchen, he headed back to New Mexico to work in both savory kitchens and bakeries, ultimately choosing to become a pastry chef for the better hours.

In other words, he would rather be an early bird than a night owl.

Diffendorfer was interviewed over the phone for a position at the hotel following the former pastry chef’s heart attack.

Three days.

That’s how long it took him to hop in the car to take the job at The Benson Hotel.

“I was the new guy in the kitchen and I didn’t want to rock that boat,” he said of his first year creating the display.

A number of pieces from the previous year’s creation were stowed away in the freezer. At the time, the gingerbread masterpiece only spanned the size of a service tray. It sat off to the side in the corner of the lobby.

It followed a more traditional Swiss style, which looks like coating the gingerbread in dark chocolate and decorating it with a few wreaths.

“It was rather dark and gloomy,” Diffendorfer said, describing how he remembered the remains of the defrosted display.

A newbie, he still cobbled them up and put it out for show.

By the next year, he said he found his wings. Still holding close to the traditional Swiss style, he put his own twist on it by expanding the size, creating a large Swiss chalet.

But by his third year, Diffendorfer was ready to spread his newfound wings.

Marzipan and veneer became his best friends.

Diffendorfer continued creating displays with intricate details for years to come before quitting his role as the hotel pastry chef, but his gingerbread masterpieces couldn’t end there.

Since, he’s been contracted by the hotel to create the annual displays, securing his own room in the building during the monthslong project.

“I’ve worked through a lot of gingerbread catastrophes,” he said.

Humidity has often been his biggest nemesis. It’s caused solid structures to turn crooked overnight, or wrecked his Jolly Rancher stained glass windows, turning them to liquid goo.

Not to mention the time his 20-building village was demolished as the table legs collapsed just hours before showtime.

After shedding a few tears, he grabbed his piping bag, sealed all the cracks with ivy décor, and the show went on.

The easy part is coming up with a vision.

Diffendorfer said he didn’t want to sound arrogant, but he has a natural knack for design and spatial awareness. Apparently a childhood of Lego building can do wonders.

“That weirdly comes very easy to me,” he said of the mental images he creates of his displays.

Most of the process is trial and error.

This year’s German-castle-inspired display weighs nearly 200 pounds. It was made out of 150 pounds of gingerbread, 10 pounds of Rice Krispies treats, another 20 or so pounds of royal icing and more.

The castle it’s based on was one he spotted about 10 years ago, and he’s not sure why it took him so long to getting around to bringing it to life.

Nerve wracking was how he described the feeling leading up to the reveal.

“There’s always that chance of something getting dropped or something breaking loose,” he said.

Over the decades, Diffendorfer has met a number of folks who fly into the City of Roses — from as far is Alabama — just to take a firsthand look at the annual creation.

“It dawned on me today that there’s people out there who come see this gingerbread display who were first brought here as an infant, and now they’re 30 years old and have their kids coming,” he said. “It’s kind of mind boggling.”

What he has learned from 30 years of gingerbread masterpiece making is that, no matter how hard you try, you simply cannot make a hot air balloon out of gingerbread.