Best natural colorant for a gingerbread color

Soapmaking Forum

Help Support Soapmaking Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

soapsydaisy

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jul 30, 2011
Messages
319
Reaction score
238
Location
San Diego
I'd like to make a gingerbread soap. Any suggestions for a natural colorant? Coffee and cocoa are too dark.
 
Cocoa would work if you just put in about 1/4 teaspoon in about 1 kg of oils. It would give you that light colour you need for a gingerbread colour.

I make gingerbread scented and coloured candles and just use a tiny amount of brown to get the colour I need, so I can't see why the cocoa wouldn't work the same way in the soap.
 
Chamomille-infused oil will give you a nice light gingery color.

Will you be using a fragrance oil? If so, foody scents tend to contain vanilla and that will darken the soap towards brown.
 
I use cocoa and turmeric but I don't have my notes to tell you how much. With both of them they show a little darker while soaping than once the soap is finished, but only a little.
 
I did a chai tea soap tonight and wanted some color in it so I used cinnamon and nutmeg, the combination of the two gave me a very nice warm brown
 
I would say that any soap will probably discolor to a nice brown if you use fragrance oil containing vanilla.
 
I would do some cinnamon and clove, both for the color and the scent. You could also try using coffee or cocoa in small amounts. I like to use instant coffee granuals. I dissolve them in a little hot water and add a bit at a time to the soap batter. I tend to think of gingerbread as being a bit more of a reddish brown than a flat brown, so maybe a little rose clay.
 
THank you everyone. I usually use EOs so I didn't factor in the vanilla discoloration. I will try a little cocoa and spices.
 
I know this is a little late... But the soap I made today is gingerbread in color. Should un-mold it tomorrow. I infused black walnut hull powder in OO and added a bit of kaolin clay.

It turned out really pretty!
 
Turmeric and a little coffee for your liquid.

Judymoody - my chamomille infused oil makes any recipe I do into instant soap on a stick, cream coloured soap on a stick. What's your trick?
 
My pumpkin or carrot soaps both turned out a gingerbread color -- I used a bit of turmeric in them also, and a bit of nutmeg. Between the spices and the canned pumpkin or carrots, they're more of a gingerbread brown than a pumpkin/carrot orange. :)
 
Oh, sorry, I didn't mean that the nutmeg was used to color.. the pumpkin and turmeric did that, but the tiny bit of fresh ground nutmeg i mixed in for scent gave it a bit of a speckled look, which I found interesting, instead of being just creamy looking, it made it look like pumpkin bread or gingerbread, and was less than .25tsp in a 3lb batch though. Probably closer to an eighth of a tsp, and even that amount was more than enough for you to smell it in HP soap. Nutmeg, even the powder and not the oil, is DEFINITELY strong!

And I need to reread my posts before posting, especially before coffee. LOL thanks for catching that. :)

---------------------
My tablet has a wonky on-screen keyboard with a mind of its own -- ignore the typos :-/
 
It came out a very lovely color. I used 1/3 gm as my liquid with a little honey and a 1/2 teaspoon of baking cocoa. ImageUploadedBySoap Making1384320091.866899.jpg


Sent from my iPhone using Soap Making
 
Beautiful! I love gingerbread. :)

---------------------
My tablet has a wonky on-screen keyboard with a mind of its own -- ignore the typos :-/
 
I'm no help there! LOL I can't pipe icing, always either too thick or too runny. I tried paying around with it tonight a bit with some soap batter, and guess what? Too runny! *sigh* BUT I'm determined... to watch all y'all do it. LOL
 
Back
Top