LOVE GINGERBREAD? Join my Facebook Group, “Gingerbread Tips & Tricks”, where I post tutorials and videos for different techniques. It’s a great community of people talking about gingerbread! Share your project photos, ask questions, make suggestions, and laugh a little!
Gingerbread season is approaching and I am super pumped about it! If you follow me on Instagram @thecraftcrib, Facebook, or Pinterest, then you might know that I’m competing on the Food Network’s Season 2 of Haunted Gingerbread Showdown!!
The whole experience has been so much fun. Stressful, humbling, and bit draining, but still completely AWESOME!
Let me take a moment to talk about the show. It’s a competition style gingerbread house building format. The first round is three episodes with three contestants on each episode. The winners of the first three episodes move on to the finale episode where they will compete head to head for a prize of $25,000!
While I cannot reveal the results of the show, I will talk a little about my experience in the first round. The theme was “When Aliens Attack”. I got three weeks to prep all my materials and make all the parts of my structure. Then I had to ship it all out to the filming location where I was given one day to put everything together.
My extremely talented brother in law, Kolby, agreed to come with me as my assistant. He’s a carpenter and a highly skilled craftsman. Just check out his Instagram account @meticulouscraftsman. He has zero gingerbread experience but was able to apply his woodworking skills to the situation.
I can’t give away too many details. You’ll just have to watch the Food Network on October 13, 2019 at 10 pm to see what happens!
I will say that part of my structure was a barn, and I’d love to share the method I used to make it look as realistic as possible. I don’t have any finished photos that I’m allowed to share yet, but I have process photos that might teach you how to make your own awesome gingerbread barn. So, let’s get to it!
Materials:
Gingerbread (See my favorite construction grade recipe here)
Rolling Pin (This one is my favorite)
Silpat (Silicone baking mat)
Flour
Dusting Pouch (Optional but I highly recommend this one)
Wood Grain Texture Mat (I have this one and love it)
Fondant Cutter (Kind of like a plastic pizza cutter)
Scroll Saw (I love my Wen)
Tylose Glue (Recipe here)
Food Coloring (I prefer Americolor but Wilton works too)
X-Acto Knife (This is the one I use but any sharp knife should do)
Instructions:
First, make your gingerbread. This is my favorite recipe to use. It’s construction grade so it bakes hard and doesn’t rise. If you want the gingerbread colored, add the food coloring in when mixing the wet ingredients. My barn was colored red, but I didn’t have original process photos. I repeated the process to get some photos but didn’t add in the color.
Use your rolling pin to roll the gingerbread out flat on your Silpat. Use the flour dusting pouch to dust all the surfaces so nothing sticks. You can sprinkle the flour with your hands if you don’t have a pouch, but the pouch is pretty sweet.
Make sure the gingerbread is as flat as possible and get out your wood grain texture mat. There are a lot of options when it comes to texture mats. I prefer this one because the grooves are deep, so it penetrates the surface of the gingerbread better and leaves deeper cuts.
Press the texture mat firmly into the raw gingerbread. Be sure the gingerbread is well floured so the mat doesn’t stick to it. Slowly pull the mat off the surface of the gingerbread, careful not to tear it.
Once you have an area of gingerbread textured, cut the edges off with a fondant cutter or knife. I prefer to work with smaller surface areas, because I use my scroll saw to cut the planks, and smaller pieces are easier to use.
Bake the gingerbread at 325 degrees until the edges are slightly browned and the surface is hard. I think these took about 15-20 minutes. They can be baked directly on the Silpat, which is why I highly recommend them.
The next step is where the power tools come into play. I used my Wen scroll saw to cut my wood planks. There might be another way to do this if you don’t have a scroll saw, but my method does require that piece of equipment. Honestly, I use that saw for my gingerbread creations on a regular basis. It’s well worth the investment.
I didn’t have any photos of me using it for this project (ill advised selfie opp), but I have a photo of me using it for my entry in last year’s National Gingerbread House Competition. Essentially, draw lines on the back of the gingerbread where you want to make cuts, depending on the size you want your planks. Then use the saw to cut them as straight as possible.
The planks should all be the same width. Here’s where my pictures start of the actual pieces I used in the competition. I did color these red during the gingerbread making process. I cut SO MANY planks.
For my barn, I pieced the planks together in a random pattern. The slightly burned edges and differences in thickness really gave them a realistic wood look.
For the sides of my barn, I baked the walls with the same gingerbread I used for the planks. My sheet pans weren’t big enough for the walls, so I ended up baking them as separate pieces.
In retrospect, the way I cut the pieces was not ideal. I was constantly worried that the top was going to bend and snap off. If I could do it again, I’d buy bigger pans or cut them the opposite way to piece them together. Right down the center.
I used my tylose glue to adhere the planks to the gingerbread walls. Then I used my X-Acto knife to cut them even with the edges. The result was pretty amazing.
Like I mentioned earlier, I can’t share any finished photos of my work, but I’ll make some updates after the show airs. Tune in Sunday, October 13, 2019 at 10 pm EST to see if for yourself! Be sure to go back and watch episode one. So many talented people doing amazing work.
Gingerbread rocks!
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
In some instances, I may include affiliate links in posts where I recommend specific products. If you purchase something through one of my affiliate links, I receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. These links are always disclosed.