So, I'm working on what I hope will be an awesome gingerbread house for a local Christmas charity auction. It's a fairy house, made to look like a hollow stump with door, window, etc, and lots of fairies outside playing in the snow and decorating for Christmas. I'd planned to cover the stump in modeling chocolate and stamp it with a gorgeous (and pricey) silicone bark stamp I just purchased online.

Perhaps you have already picked out my problem. The base is assembled with gingerbread and royal icing. I can't attach the chocolate with buttercream, jelly, or chocolate because it will dissolve the royal icing over time. I can't put the chocolate directly on the gingerbread for the same reason. Maybe I could have attached the pieces together with melted chocolate, and solved my problem, but it is too late for that (and it would be pricey and possibly unstable).

What are your ideas? I've considered creating a fat-free soft icing out of marshmallow creme and powdered sugar to attach the chocolate. I think that wouldn't dissolve the royal icing, but it might not have enough substance or stickiness to hold up the modeling chocolate.I've also considered using a layer of melted marshmallow over the whole thing. Messy, yes, but maybe I could attach the chocolate to it. Or it could for a protective non-softening barrier between the royal icing and the buttercream needed to attach the chocolate.

Another sad option would be to forgo my gorgeous texture stamp and just decorate the whole thing in royal icing, which could be dripped and roughed up to look like bark and would probably turn out nicely enough.

Help me! I have to deliver the house on November 29th, and I'm actually trying to do an identical one for a contest as well. Lend me your genius!

Hi
I have done many gingerbread houses (won awards and made many replicas, etc) and have never had a problem attaching components with royal icing (when properly made, and I use egg whites not a mix). I also have used and sold modeling chocolate for 20 years (or more!) and ditto, no problem using royal icing and modeling chocolate - the only thing to watch for is bleeding....and that can be painted if necessary. I do not like to add a LOT of color to royal icing because that seems to weaken it at times. And yes, attaching modeling chocolate and gingerbread with chocolate also works - I am not sure why you say it is too late to do that.

If you would like you are welcome to give me a call, Peggy Alter @ 503 505 0481. Perhaps a conversation / brainstorming would help.