Gingerbread Exchange Community

There are several ways to create the look of a pool, pond, river or stream for your Gingerbread House.

My favorite method is using the Hard Candy Recipe method.

Place a piece of blue construction paper onto a non-stick cookie sheet; or place blue paper directly onto your gingerbread house base/yard.  Cook a batch of clear hard candy as below (please note - this hard candy is VERY hot and not recommended for children to make):

    1 cup granulated cane sugar
    1/3 cup hot water
    1/3 cup light com syrup

Combine sugar, hot water and corn syrup in a heavy saucepan. Place on high heat and stir with a wooden spoon until all sugar crystals are dissolved. Clip on thermometer. Continue cooking, without stirring, to 290F, then remove from heat. Entire cooking process takes about ten minute.

While hot, pour a puddle of clear hard candy onto the blue paper. This provides the look of depth, as you look through the clear candy onto the blue paper.  Let harden (about 20 minutes).  If using a cookie-sheet remove the paper/hard-candy pond from your cookie sheet and place on your gingerbread base/yard.  Spread frosting around the edges of the clear hard candy to form the desired shape.






Other methods

• Place a mirror onto your Gingerbread yard, spreading the frosting around and/or onto the mirror to form the desired shape.
• Spread blue frosting onto your Gingerbread yard, spreading into the desired shape.
• Tint piping gel blue and spread onto your Gingerbread yard, spreading into the desired shape. This is a nice effect, but the gel does stay sticky.
• If using a wood base, paint the area to be water blue and then spread clear piping gel onto blue area. Again, this is a nice effect, but the gel does stay sticky.

Very cool. Never thought to use blue paper underneath. I usually use blue food colouring and pour right onto the foil base.