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GINGER CLAY!
Ginger clay rocks!!! It’s easy, versatile, and edible. Perfect for those gingerbread creations.
Let’s start with a little history. Ginger clay was created a number of years ago by Pat Ashley Howard (@patashleyhoward), who is a three-time National Gingerbread House Competition Grand Prize Winner. She’s been featured on the Food Network on the show Gingerbread Giants 2, and Holiday Gingerbread Showdown.
Pat Ashley changed the landscape of the gingerbread world with her recipe. Artists all over the country use it for their creations, including ME (@thecraftcrib)!
Copy cat versions of the original recipe have surfaced for years. My favorite is Meghan Morris’s (@fresh_young_challenger) version. Meghan is another fellow gingerbread artist. She was also featured on the Food Network show Gingerbread Giants, and she competed against me on the finale of Haunted Gingerbread Showdown. SHE WON!
Meghan’s usage of ginger clay on the finale episode of Haunted Gingerbread Showdown really showcased the awesomeness of ginger clay. Not only did she sculpt a life-sized Freddy Krueger out of gingerbread, she then covered it in ginger clay and truly captured the terrifying nature of Freddy’s injuries.
It was disgusting.
Now that you have a little history, let’s break down how to actually make ginger clay.
Ingredients:
4 Cups Ginger Crumbs (I’ll explain)
2 Tablespoons Gum Arabic
4 Tablespoons Tylose Powder
1 Cup Warm Water
Instructions:
First, we need to make the ginger crumbs. As far as I know, there is nowhere you can just buy ginger crumbs. They are created by grounding up cooked gingerbread (or ginger snaps). Meghan’s recipe calls for 4 cups of ginger crumbs ground up to a powder using Great Value brand ginger snaps. That’s the Walmart brand of ginger snaps. She has a reason for using that specific brand. Something about the ingredients and chemical makeup of the cookies. I agree, that brand is the best, but I’ve made it with other brands of ginger snaps, and ground up leftover gingerbread from former creations. All work.
My suggestion is using a food processor, then sifting the crumbs to get rid of any chunks. I don’t have a food processor, so I use myBullet and it works just fine. It’s small, so I can only do a few cookies at a time. The bigger food processors are way better.
Once you have 4 cups of crumbs, put them in a bowl. Add 2 tablespoons gum arabic and 4 tablespoons tylose powder. Both can be found on Amazon. I buy a lot of tylose because I also use it for my edible glue.
Mix the dry ingredients together really well. Then add one cup of warm water and mix everything with your hands or a spatula.
Now would also be a good time to add color if you want the whole batch to be a certain color. Otherwise, you can add it later to smaller batches. The color mixes in easily.
The result should be a big mass of moldable gingerbread. Depending on what cookies/gingerbread you used, it could be a little greasy.
Now let’s talk about ginger clay uses.
As you can see from the photo, the clay shapes really well. You could make just about anything with it. However, it does not hold its shape well on its own. For instance, I made a gingerbread man with the ginger clay in about 10 seconds, but he isn’t going to stand on his own.
I could lay the gingerbread man down on a flat surface and let it dry for a few days. Once he’s dry, he will probably stand on his own. The clay dries hard eventually. The bigger the piece, the longer it takes to fully dry.
In my opinion, the ginger clay is best used as an overlay. Instead of creating objects using only ginger clay, I create general shapes using baked construction grade gingerbread. Then I shape my details on top of the gingerbread with ginger clay and let it dry out for a few days. Silicone clay sculpting tools are great for this!
You could also use a dehydrator to dry out the ginger clay faster. Dehydrating can turn a several day drying process in a several hour drying process.
STORAGE
As for storing the ginger clay, it’s best to keep it in a ziplock bag in the freezer when you are not using it. It will defrost fairly quickly, especially if you run the bag under some hot water before using it. If you keep the dough out on it’s own, it will harden over time. If you keep it in a ziplock bag at room temperature, it will start to mold within days. Keeping it in the refrigerator will prolong its shelf life, but it will also eventually start to mold after a few weeks. In the freezer, it can last for years.
As for as eating it, I wouldn’t. It’s technically edible, but it’s not very tasty. It’s more of a science experiment. A product created by competitive gingerbread artists to use in competition entries. Made with edible materials, but not intended for consumption.
I used this method with a few items on my “Viking Santa” entry at this year’s National Gingerbread House Competition at the Omni Grove Park Inn.
My Viking ship masthead was a solid piece of gingerbread with features sculpted out of ginger clay.
Meghan used the same method for her Freddy Krueger.
That about does it. Test it out and report back with your photos! Email me at craftcribcreations@gmail.com and I’ll feature it on my social media accounts.
Instagram: @thecraftcrib
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Thecraftcrib
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/craftcrib/
Other Gingerbread and Edible Art Project Posts:
Construction Grade Gingerbread Recipe (for building, not eating)
Gingerbread Recipe (for eating and building)
Reindeer Playing Poker – National Gingerbread House Competition 3rd Place Winner
Santa’s Gingerbread Mountain Chalet
Cardinal Family Christmas – Gingerbread Birdhouse
Gingerbread House Construction Tips
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