How to make do-it-yourself gingerbread molds: options and tips

2024 Author: Isabella Gilson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:14

Many hearth keepers (and sometimes their stronger halves) love to pamper their loved ones with delicious gingerbread - fortunately, their recipes are quite numerous and varied. But first of all they are usually baked for children. And what is more important for them is not a refined aroma or exquisite taste, but an unusual appearance. Of course, the usual forms soon become boring and no longer cause the former delight. Here the question arises - how to make a mold for gingerbread with your own hands? Let's study it in more detail, fortunately, the task is not at all as difficult as it might seem at first glance.

Why is this needed?

Some readers may have a question - why bother with this question at all? After all, molds for baking gingerbread today are sold in any special store, and the choice is quite large.

This is true, but still, hardly anyone wants to buy new forms several times a month. And the choice is still limited. It is not always possible to find exactly the design that the children ask for.

Finally creating my ownform, you can show maximum ingenuity - with a minimum investment of time and effort, even a not very experienced fan of working with his hands can easily make a mold of almost any complexity. So why not make one that will allow you to bake gingerbread cookies that will definitely delight children? For example, in the form of your favorite characters from a fairy tale or cartoon?

Of course, the easiest way to cope with the task is to make a metal mold, with which you can cut a suitable silhouette from a sheet of dough, which fits on a baking sheet lined with baking paper. Let's study the issue in more detail.

Preparing materials

To make a beautiful DIY gingerbread mold, you need to prepare the appropriate tools and materials, as well as take care of a certain safety.

It is advisable to stock up on everything you need in advance so that, having started work, you do not have to interrupt it in order to search for the missing tools. So, for the manufacture you will need:

• metal tape (steel or tin, mounting tape also works);
• pliers;
• metal scissors;
• ruler;
• tight gloves.

As you can see, the set is quite small - almost every home has one. With all of the above, you can safely get to work.

Where can I get a template?

One of the most important steps in making molds for gingerbread is choosing the right template. After all, you want to please your children, which means you need to givespecial attention to this point. For example, bake gingerbread in the shape of some cartoon or fairy tale character.

The most obvious and easiest way to cope with the task is to take a coloring book as a template. This is really a good decision. Usually in the coloring pages the characters are presented in the most simple poses. In addition, there are clearly drawn boundaries - contours. In ordinary pictures, they do not look so contrasting and noticeable.

You can find a suitable coloring book on the Internet in a matter of minutes - any search engine will help here. Finding the right picture is not difficult. As a last resort, if you have artistic skills, you can always arm yourself with a pencil or marker and draw a suitable drawing yourself - this will only benefit the form, as it will turn out to be completely unique.

And when the template is found, you can safely start making a mold with which you will get gingerbread that can impress any child.

Getting Started

First, take a metal band. Make sure it is clean as the material will be used for cooking. In extreme cases, it will be useful to thoroughly wash it with ordinary liquid soap. And then wipe dry with a simple towel or disposable paper.

Now you can start making the mold. Measure the distance on the template with a ruler and, having measured the same area on the tape, bend it in the right direction at the appropriate angle. Sometimes, to check the accuracy, you can applytape to the template to make sure everything is working as it should.

The work is quite simple, especially if you arm yourself with pliers that allow you to bend a rigid metal tape to the desired angle. If there is a need for smoother contours, for example, when making Smeshariki or Kolobok, then it is better to use a rounded object - a glass bottle or jar, a rolling pin or any other suitable diameter and available in every kitchen will do.

Of course, do not forget about safety - it is advisable to protect your hands with thick gloves so as not to cut yourself on the sharp edges of the tape or press it with pliers.

Usually a few minutes is enough to more or less accurately recreate the outline of the desired pattern.

You should not rush after this - you need to carefully cut off the excess tape with metal scissors. And to do this not in the place where the two ends meet, but with a slight indentation - about 10-15 millimeters on each side. What for? Let's talk about it now.

Now we move on to one of the most important points - securing the two ends of the tape. There are several ways to do this.

Easiest lock

Perhaps the simplest lock is a slot lock. For him, you will have to leave a small margin of tape on each side - about one centimeter. After that, carefully bend the tape so that the end almost touches the rest of the surface. Moreover, on the one hand, you need to bend inward, and on the other, outward.

After that, put one lock into another,make sure they fit right into each other. It remains only to firmly clamp them with pliers - now you can separate them only with a very strong effort.

There is only one drawback of this lock - a significant thickness. However, this will not create any problems in further work. Unless the aesthetic side of the form itself will suffer a little. But this can hardly be called a serious disadvantage.

The most secure lock

Now let's talk about another do-it-yourself gingerbread mold lock. It is also very important to leave a margin on the metal tape here. Moreover, its length should be maximum - about 15-20 millimeters. It is necessary to carefully fold the ends overlapping and, holding them in this position with pliers, carefully make an incision 3-5 millimeters deep, and 10-20 millimeters - another one parallel to the first. At the same time, it is very important that the ends of the tape do not move, but retain their original position - that is why you need to use pliers as a clamp.

Now you need to carefully use pliers (and if you have it on hand, it is better with round-nose pliers) to take the incised section and bend it, pressing it close to the main surface of the tape. After that, using pliers, firmly press it so that it does not protrude. It is almost impossible to separate such a lock - rather, the metal of the tape itself will simply tear.

But there is a serious drawback here - it will be possible to use the form only on one side. Turn it over to get a gingerbread with a mirror image, no longersucceed. In addition, sharp edges remain here - it is advisable to process them with a small file so as not to get hurt.

The highest quality lock

Now let's move on to the last kind of locks. It is only a little more difficult than the above, but at the same time it boasts high quality grip and no flaws.

Here, as in the previous case, you need to leave a margin of about 10-15 millimeters. After that, it is necessary to cut a corner at one end - half the length of the stock and the width of the tape. At the other end, make a vertical cut - about 1-2 millimeters deeper than the width of the tape remaining after cutting. You need to step back from the edge by 4-6 millimeters.

It remains only to insert the remaining "tail" into the slot made, bend in the opposite direction and firmly clamp with pliers. Such a castle has really many advantages. On the one hand, there are no thickenings in the form of four layers of metal. On the other hand, the form can be used to prepare mirror images. At the same time, there are no sharp protrusions and edges that can be cut or scratched when working.

Avoiding small details

Now it's worth giving one simple but useful tip that should not be forgotten when making gingerbread molds with your own hands. When choosing a template, try to avoid drawings with long and thin details that protrude strongly beyond the main mass. Otherwise, you will have to face a number of small but unpleasant surprises.

They will start inin the process of creating a workpiece - it will be very problematic to transfer a piece of still raw dough with thin and long elements - they will tear and fall off. During baking, such areas dry out the fastest, and then begin to burn - it will not work to bake such cookies evenly.

Finally, thin parts often crumble when removed from paper. As a result, having spent a lot of time and effort on making a complex shape, you still won’t be able to get a suitable cookie. Therefore, it is better to immediately abandon such an undertaking.

Using a beer can

Some resourceful people who decide to make their own gingerbread mold use beer cans. The solution is really good. It is only necessary with scissors (even ordinary scissors are suitable, not necessarily metal scissors) to cut the jar into rings about 2-3 centimeters high. Now you can bend the resulting ring, giving it almost any shape. And there will be no need to puzzle over the lock - the strip of metal is already looped, which means there will be no problems.

However, such forms are usually not very strong - you need to work with them carefully so as not to wrinkle.

Can I use glue?

Sometimes experts recommend not to puzzle over the choice of the lock for the form, but simply to use glue. However, this is actually not the best idea. To begin with, not all types of glue are waterproof. But the form will have to be washed - if water gets in, the glue can simply get wet.

In addition, there are very few adhesives thatwhich are completely safe from an environmental point of view. It is unlikely that anyone would want to treat their children with cookies that have come into contact with toxic substances. Therefore, the mechanical connection of forms is still the safest and most reliable.

Conclusion

This concludes our article. Now the reader knows everything it takes to make a beautiful, durable and completely unique DIY gingerbread pan.