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Gingerbread Heavy Horse Tutorial by Karolina Cake Designer

My dear cookie friends,

 

I was asked about the heavy horse cookie that I posted here a few days ago: http://cookieconnection.juliau...com/clip/heavy-horse

 

So here it is again . . . in more detail for you.

 

medovnicky na leto 19

 

 

Last spring, after reading about the history of gingerbread making in Europe, I decided to recreate one of the oldest designs, a horse-shaped gingerbread, which was first sold at the town markets. In the old times, people used wooden forms into which they pressed the dough - no icing was used, not to mention fondant. Even though I thought about making the form myself (for a second or two), I decided to do it another way - a modern way, which was a bit easier for me, and hopefully will be for you, too. Here are the details . . .

 

I used a sharp knife to cut the horse shape out of the rolled dough. There's a little trick to cutting if the dough is soft (as it is when made with honey): cut it directly on the baking paper; then remove all the rest. Bake it, making sure it has flour underneath, so it doesn't stick. Or - as traditionally done - lightly grease the paper with beeswax. I could try to sketch an outline of the horse for you, but honestly, you can simply Google ANY animal shape, print it out, and use it as a guideline. Use your own creativity; the possibilities are endless.

 

Next, I covered the cooled dough with brown coloured fondant, thinly rolled (about 2 mm). I used lemon juice as a glue, because that dissolves the fondant a bit and "cements" it onto the cookie a bit better. I pressed in  a few "muscles" with my thumb, and I added a few details with a knife.

 

 

konik 1

 

Next, once the body was completely covered, I chose the particular breed of horse that I wanted to do -  a Shire Horse - and painted it in its typical colours . . . grey hooves, white legs, and the rest in black. (I use Sugarflair Black Extra.) Then I let it dry for two days, as the fresh paint looks glossy like this . . .

 

konik 2

 

Adding details was the most fun part of all. I had a few pictures of horses on my netbook. I tried to keep the theme together, so it made sense. Here's my final inspiration - Slovak (my country of origin) heavy horse shows, and their red and black equipment. I find them absolutely stunning.  

 

heavy horse

 

And the finished work . . . 

 

medovnicky na leto 20

 

medovnicky na leto 23

 

Most of these photos haven't been published anywhere else. I hope you find them inspiring, and I am looking forward to seeing more "sculpted" gingerbread animals (and cookies!) on this wonderful site! Happy cookie-ing! 

 

You can find more of my work on my Facebook page.

 

Feel free to ask any questions! 

 

[EDITOR'S NOTE: I want to personally thank Karolina for so generously sharing her talents with the Cookie Connection community! This is the perfect tutorial to help commemorate Gingerbread Month on Cookie Connection!]

 

 

Note: This article expresses the views of the author, and not necessarily those of this site, its owners, its administrators, or its employees. To read more Cookie Connection tutorials, click here.

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Images (6)
  • medovnicky na leto 19: Cookie and Photo by Karolina Cake Designer
  • konik 1: Cookie and Photo by Karolina Cake Designer
  • konik 2: Cookie and Photo by Karolina Cake Designer
  • medovnicky na leto 20: Cookie and Photo by Karolina Cake Designer
  • medovnicky na leto 23: Cookie and Photo by Karolina Cake Designer
  • Heavy Horse Inspiration: Photo by Karolina Cake Designer

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Comments (13)

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:-) hi to your husband :-) mine is the same, perhaps it's him who's driving me into such perfectionism - maybe just to impress him  this horse is a keeper in our house, and a few more works he likes, too. soon I'll fill the house with pieces my half wants to keep 

Wonderful cookie and wonderful post! Thanks for contributing to Cookie Connection, Karolina! I look forward to more of your creations and blog posts.

This is the most amazing cookie ever! I love advanced cookie tutorials, they are hard to come by (besides Julia Usher this cookie is truly art! Thank you for showing how you made it, now I want to try.

its is so beautiful and amazing all at the same time!  Great job! and thank you for inspiring me to think, yet another way, out of the box, I never thought of covering a cookie in fondant and molding it like that.  love it. 

Oh Wow Karolina, I just found this by accident - the words Heavy Horse caught my eye! How fabulous it is, and that you shared it with us. Covering the whole shape with fondant is a new thing for me to see, and you did it so beautifully I had to re-check the photo! Thank you for such inspiration, even after 2 years, you are still catching our eyes and teaching us things. Cheers, Kat

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