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Kim's Project Page |
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I don't know about you, but I have always felt the best
part of any meal is the dessert. In fact, sometimes it was only the thought of that brownie cooling on the stove
that made that one disgusting last bite of brussel sprout somehow choke down a little easier. Nowadays, however, we have to
deal with the food police. If they had it their way, we would find nothing but unimaginative and sometimes
tasteless "eat it because its good for you" desserts on our plates (if we were even allowed anything at all). Well, I am here
to say we must fight back! Make these wonderfully gooey, fatty, cholesterol rich, nutritionally challenged treats
for your mini household...they will love you for it!
Supplies
Crayola Model Magic (tm) air dry modelling material
Children's watercolors
Acrylic caulking (I have used Elmer's Sqeez-N-Caulk)
Waterbased varnish
Instructions
Take a small piece of modelling medium, and roll into a cylinder about 1/2 inch long by 3/16 inch wide by 3/16 inch high. Round both ends. Set aside and allow to cure for several hours.
Mix chocolate brown and mustard yellow watercolors together until you get a golden brown wash. Paint mixture over cylinder. Experiment a little until you get the right shade. The modelling clay can be painted many times, and washed off if you make a mistake. Allow paint to dry thoroughly. Let the cylinder cure completely overnight.
With a sharp exacto blade, cut cylinder in half. Apply a little caulking to the middle of the eclair, then put both halves together again. You will not need glue, as the caulking is an adhesive. Squeeze slightly to get a little bit of "whip cream" to peek from the sides. Set aside to dry.
Choose a watercolor shade for your icing. I used chocolate, as it is traditional, but there is nothing to say that you can't use a different flavor frosting! Paint icing on top of your eclair. Allow to dry completely.
Apply a small amount of waterbased varnish to the icing to make it appear shiny. Set aside to dry.
Finally, your eclairs are ready! Serve a couple on a plate or tray, garnish with a juicy red strawberry.
Crayola Model Magic (tm)
Fimo (red,green and transparent)
Acrylic Caulking
Chidren's watercolors
Instructions
Sponge Cake
Form a cylinder from modelling medium which is 1/4 inch in diameter, and as long as you want to make it. These directions are for single portions. If you want a cake, make cylinder with those dimensions in mind.Set aside to cure for a few hours.
Mix together brown and yellow watercolors...the wash should be more on the yellow side than the brown side. It helps to have a sponge cake next to you, or at very least a picture of one so you can check the color. Paint cylinder, experiment until you get the right shade. Set aside to dry overnight.
With a sharp exacto blade, slice pieces off of the cylinder...about 1/8 of an inch wide.
Strawberries
Mix three red portions of fimo to 1/4 portion of transparent. Knead colors together well. Roll fimo into thin snake and break off small portions. Most of my strawberries were about 3/16ths of an inch long and 1/16th of an inch wide at the thickest end ( a fairly robust store bought Strawberry). Roll portion into a ball, and place on a ceramic tile. Place your finger on the lower half of the ball and roll with gentle pressure until ball begins to look like a strawberry.
With an exacto blade, gently indent strawberry with seed holes. When you are finished, use the flat side of the exacto knife to push in the fat end of strawberry. This squishes the strawberry up a bit, and in my opinion looks a little more realistic.
Knead a portion of green fimo. Take a very small pinch and make the thinnest snake possible. Bend a short piece in half, and push it into the fat end of the strawberry for the leaves. It helps to have a pointed tool (like a needle) to do this.
Bake strawberries on a ceramic tile for one hour at 250 degrees F. Let cool.
Putting It All Together
Take one slice of shortcake and add a dollop of caulking for whip cream. Take three strawberries and push them gently into the caulking, pointy ends facing each other. If you want, you can also stack more than one layer of sponge cake and strawberries, or add a sauce of ruby red glass paint. Remember, this is your fantasy dessert, anything goes!
Supplies
Polymer clays like fimo or sculpey (chocolate brown, yellow/mint green)
Instructions
Knead well a portion of chocolate colored polymer clay. Add a small amount of fine brown craft sand
to the polymer and mix. When done, place polymer/sand onto a piece of clear plastic sandwich wrap. Place a
second piece of wrap on top. Flatten the portion, then roll it until it is appropriately thin.
Knead yellow or mint green polymer. Flatten, place in food wrap, and roll as for chocolate/sand polymer.
When it is suitably thin, take one layer of food wrap off the yellow and chocolate. Lay the yellow on top of the chocolate. Cover
once again with food wrap and roll slightly over the two layers to make them stick together.
Knead a second portion of chocolate polymer. Once again, flatten and roll inside food wrap. Add to top of the
chocolate/sand and custard layer and roll together once again.
Take food wrap off bottom layer, place on ceramic tile. Remove remaining food wrap.
Bake at 250 degrees F for an hour. Cool.
Cut into squares and arrange on a tray. If it seems that you find that the edges of the bars have a chalky look to them, add a dab of matte varnish to it.
fine brown craft sand
clear food wrap
Brayer roller or rolling pin (do not use a rolling pin that you might want to use on food again)
Copyright April 1997 by Kim Bulback.