I used the sugar free gelatin last night - it still is not dry, so I am PATIENTLY waiting for it to dry.......
I also did some little "drops" - they look like tiny jewels, I am going to add some pixie dust to the gelatin today and see how that works out.
I hope it works for you! It really took a long time for mine to dry. Ive tried it 3 times now with the SF and all 3 times it took at least a good 12 hours. BUT it does eventually dry totally. I really really hope it works for you. Please tell me what you think when you have a chance to work with it. I just want someone else to tell me this idea works so I dont feel like I gave everyone bad advice. lol
The s/f jello did work! I haven't made the bow yet, I tried it on two different impression mats, one was way too deep for this technique (or I need to put the gelatin on a lot thicker?) The other one turned out fine - I will make the bow this evening - it was black cherry s/f jello - boy it sure did smell good!! (and it is a beautiful cabernet color!)
I didn't make the "dots" big enough - when they were finally dry, they were too flat. I need to work on that one. I am thinking maybe a candy mold (a small one that looks like jewels??) It will be really pretty and very cool if we can figure out how to make it work right.
You rock for coming up with the flavored stuff!!! NOW the bows really are edible and they would actually taste good!!!
Just caught the end of this thread WOW love those bows and butterflies. Did anyone see the cake contest on food network Saturday? Well if you did one of the contestants made "glass tiles" out of sugar, and I was just wondering if you could do that with the jello. Just pour into ice cube trays that are shallow, and she used the tiles around a fountain, turned out simply beautiful and the judges really like them. If anyone tries this with the jello let us know. Now Ihave to go to the beginning and see just how do do all these things.
Gelatin squares........I have some leftover black cherry.....tune in tomorrow for an update on this one!
ok so still don't know what I am doing wrong. made a bow sheet and a butterfly sheet yesterday around 12 noon....still has not popped off mat. It has been very humid so I thought that had something to do with it. But tonight when I got home I got impatient and just peeled off the gelatin on the bow sheet. seems dry to me. does it need to be thicker? r you putting it on thincker than like a sheet of paper or can anyone reference how thick they put the gelatin on?
If your gelatin came off the mat and didn't rip or anything, you should be good to go. IMO, the thinner the more realistic the stuff looks.
It is now humid here in Ohio and mine dried a little different, it didn't "crackle" and "pop" like it did when it wasn't humid. It still dried ok - just like you, I had to kind of "peel" it off the mat. (but then again, I used the s/f gelatin this time, not the plain gelatin like I have been using.)
ok! I had just been sitting here at the egde of my seat waiting to here that POP and instead heard nothing its pretty thin but didn't ri so I think I will try to make a small bow tomorrow! thanks for all the help!
The s/f jello did work! I haven't made the bow yet, I tried it on two different , one was way too deep for this technique (or I need to put the gelatin on a lot thicker?) The other one turned out fine - I will make the bow this evening - it was black cherry s/f jello - boy it sure did smell good!! (and it is a beautiful cabernet color!)
I didn't make the "dots" big enough - when they were finally dry, they were too flat. I need to work on that one. I am thinking maybe a candy mold (a small one that looks like jewels??) It will be really pretty and very cool if we can figure out how to make it work right.
You rock for coming up with the flavored stuff!!! NOW the bows really are edible and they would actually taste good!!!
Loucinda, did you mix the s/f with the knox?
Okay, so I got my sheets today, but no time to play with DD's first ball game tonight. I also got the bug body mold and upon looking at it I'm wondering what all I can make the bug bodies out of.....gumpaste? fondant? gelatin? Anyone know which mediums will work and which won't? Thanks!
Okay mine's drying! I only had the big package of SF jello so I measured out half and used two envelopes of gelatin. It never would film or firm up so I reheated it and added the rest of the jello to it. It never did film but I could "paint" it. First few strokes showed holes but persistence paid off and I finally got a solid sheet of it. I'm using a cutting board because I don't have an impression mat yet. It sure smells good and you know I had to try it...it tastes good too! So off to bed I go crossing my fingers that I'll have added a new trick to my caking experiences.
My stuff I did last night is still drying, as soon as it is ready I will post a pic of it if it worked!
As far as the recipe I used with the s/f jello- I (being anal here) measured out what was in the jello box and added the plain gelatin to make the 4T. needed for the recipe (12 T. water to 4 T. gelatin)
It is still very humid here in Ohio right now, so I am not sure if that is the culpret for mine not drying overnight or if it is the s/f jello mix that just takes longer. I did't have time last night to make up the plain gelatin to see if it took about the same amount of time (to see if it is the humidity or not)
Okay I am missing something here. I understand that you paint the jello on to the impression mats or something flat but then what are you using to paint all of the details on?? Can someone explain that to me? I want so bad to order mats and try this!! Everyone of you have done beautiful work on this. So grateful for all of you!
For the details, you can do it several different ways. You can use a tiny paintbrush and paint the details (airbrush colors work the best) or you can use edible markers (americolor has a really fine tip on them) For the sparkles, you can either paint on a tiny amount of the warmed gelatin or you can use thinned piping gel - then dip into the sparkles.
You have to be careful not to get the items too wet, it is gelatin and it will dissolve if you get it too wet when doing the detail work. I like it to do that somewhat on the butterflies, it really gives the wings some movement, they will "curl" up some and it looks like they are moving their wings!
The bug body mold - you can use gumpaste or fondant for them - I let them dry in the mold for a little while, then pop them out. I use an exacto knife to trim up the edges if they need it.
You can use just a small part of one of the butterfly wings for the bumble bee wings!
This is Justdi's ORIGINAL instructions on how to do this technique:
"Basically, you mix 2 1/2 parts water and 1 part gelatin (unflavored - like Knox... NOT Jello! ) Warm in microwave, then let sit 5-10 minutes to allow the scum to raise to the top. Peel the scum off (photo below) then gelatin is ready to use (you'll need to rewarm to liquify at this point.) "
I used the same ratio of water to gelatin, I just really wanted a flavored recipe so this is what I came up with.
For my SF jello recipe , I used 2 packets knox gelatin mixed with 1 packet SF gelatin.
I added 13 tbsp HOT tap water, mixed it until it was all dissolved. If it was too thick I nuked it in the microwave for a few seconds until it thinned out, then I spread it.
I HAVE, however, been having problems with little bubbles. This recipe did not seem to foam or anything if I let it sit, so I omitted that step. I wonder if that has anything to do with it.
Just a note, mine never popped off my mat either. I just gently peeled it when it was dry. For some reason this recipe takes a LONG time to dry, so be patient. This was just an experiment really. I never tried it with regular jello because I assumed the sugar would probably make it sticky. The flavor and color of this is pretty strong. I was thinking of trying it again using more knox and less jello. Maybe something like 3 parts knox and 1 jello. Maybe it would help the drying time and still have a decent flavor to it.
Just thought Id re-type some of this so you guys dont have to try to search all over this thread. lol.
Loucinda I am SO glad it worked for you! WooHoo!
I still haven't formed the bow out of mine yet. I am waiting for the newest experiment to dry - which is taking a lot longer than I thought. It may not be done till tomorrow.
Thanks J for posting what worked and the measurements. It sure does smell a lot better this way! I like the idea of manipulating the color by the strength of the s/f jello too.
Okay the results are in! It did great! Drying took 14 hours and it never popped up. I just peeled it off. This is really neat stuff. Thanks for all of the inspiration
This forum keeps getting better and better! Thanks Lou and Bob! your tips are awesome!
GORGEOUS!!!! I really LOVE that last one, what mat did you use for it (and colors??) I am so glad everyone is having so much fun with this stuff - I can't wait to see the jewels, my experiment is still not dry yet. I am hoping it works out....
For the last one I had used a silpat mat.
I really like making these bows. They are so much quicker. I don't even have to wait 15 mins. for the loops to dry, and I don't need to paper clip them either. Just make the loops and start arranging them into the bow immediately! Fun, fun, fun.
A always put a little shimmer dust in the gelatin to bring out my colors. The last bow is copper with a little bit of champagne dust.
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