Does anyone know how I can make my gingerbread pieces RED
I'm working or shall I say attempting to work on a barn but would like it to be Red and I'm having issues trying to figure out how to shape the roof
Any help would be greatly appericated.
Thanks
Taunti

The dough can be colored when it is made or you could use royal icing to "paint" the barn. I have used thin layers of pastillage to cover each piece and then scored and painted it to look like wood. You can see it in my gallery. The only thing with adding a layer of fondant or pastillage to gingerbread is that it can make sizing a little different. It makes the pieces bigger and things don't always fit quite right.

As for your roof, what kind of roof are you wanting to make? There are a lot of options. If you have a photo of the barn you are trying to make, attach it and then maybe some ideas will come to mind.

Good luck and I can't wait to see pictures of the completed barn.

Michele

Sugarflowers, how do you go about coloring gingerbread dough. I've colored sugar cookie dough and cake batter, but my gingerbread dough is brown due to the spices and molasses. Is there a gingerbread recipe that is lighter and could be colored? Also, do you just use paste colors? Thanks.

When I want to make colored dough I used white sugar or light brown sugar and corn syrup instead of molasses. The color won't be pure, but it will look pretty good. The color is usually added to the liquid before adding it to the flour mixture.

HTH

Michele

Thank you so much sugarflower for the input on the barn, I was thinking of making a blond gnger bread dough as you said using corn syrup instead of molassas , then I thought, I could make regular gingerbread, take vodka and red powder dye and brush it on to the gingerbread fora rustic look? What do you think?

On the roof, I wanted a roof like curved almost likea C or a horseshoe rounded, all I could think of was you had to put a straight roof on and build a layer kind of roof from that. I really have no idea.

I have so many ideas running around in my head I can't wait to get working on this, its my big project for the next few days and into the weekend, I'm sure I can pull it off

I love this site! Thanks again

For a rounded roof I would make an attic "floor" that would lay on top of the barn and then have rounded off rectangles attached in the center and to the floor. Make them a little bit more narrow than the floor to provide room for the pieces and "glue" make enough of them to be able to put planks of gingerbread on them and to give the roof some shape. Or, instead of planks, use pastillage or fondant across the pieces to get the base, let that dry, and then attach roof tiles. Unless you want holes in the roof (like my haunted barn), be very careful when adding the tiles if you use fondant or pastillage. Both will be very fragile. The tiles will help strengthen the roof.

I like the idea of painting the gingerbread with the powdered red and the vodka. Test it on a kind of large scrap before committing to the barn.

HTH
Michele

Forgive me for asking, I'm really new to the cake world so I'm learning little by little as I go. How would I make a attic floor? THe front and back are kinda cut curved adn the sides straight, Hmmmm

I know it will be a try, learn, try again process. Going to take me a while but it is well worth it.

I started all my little fondant pieces this afternoon.

Do you know how I can make a pond using hot sugar? I know how to get the hot sugar up to temp, but how can I pour it an d make it stay in the shape of a pond? I thought of using piping gel, but that can get icky so I think sugar will be best. I know it will be lots of fun.

Your great thanks for all the information I'll PM you later this evening
Cheers
T

For the floor, make a piece that is the shape of the barn. Whatever you will be using to line up the walls will be your outline. If the piece is large, the you might want to have some inside walls (like horse stalls) to support the attic floor.

I forgot to add that melted white chocolate (cheap almond bark) makes fantastic glue. It attaches quickly, holds faster, and is much easier to clean up the excess. A candle warmer keeps the chocolate the perfect temperature for melting and gluing without burning the chocolate.

HTH

Michele

Okay I see what you are saying, In fact I bet you can build the floor and also build on to it as to make like a hay loft, ect......

I'm really liking the white chocolate idea would you use that for putting your house together or just addingsmaller pieces?, I have a candle warmer so this will work great
Thank you for that tip.

Hay lofts are a great detail. Lots of little things can be put in there for added interest and points.

The cheap white chocolate can be used for the whole thing. A small curved clay knife works wonders for cleaning off any excess. It works best after the chocolate has cooled.

Michele

Michele~

If you use white chocolate to seal everything and glue everything ect... Can you color it with powder dye as well?

There is not need to color the chocolate. It acts as glue and if the pieces fit well together, it won't show. Even what does shoe is almost translucent. If there will be a lot to see inside, then you will want to clean that up as well when the chocolate cools. Otherwise, just leave it. The insides of most gingerbread houses are not very neat because of the icing used to stick them together. For those houses that have a lot of inside viewing area, there are things that people do to hide the seams. This really varies with what a person is wanting to do.

Good luck,

Michele