I admit it, this is an essay on the joys of silicone. Silicone and beauty.
SiliconE, mind you, not silicon. My favourite Inorganic Chemistry professor, Tris Chivers, will be very upset if you get that wrong. Silicon is a brittle element, useful in electronics. Silicone is silicon bonded with oxygen, and is good for all sorts of things, from silly putty, to window sealant, to the craft my son made in school the other day, to... bakeware, pot lids, pot holders, and wonderful rubbery heat-proof spatulas! Three hallelujahs for silicone in the kitchen.
This is a cheap and easy way to make some lasting memories of beauty. You can even multi-task it while you're at home alone and create some fun little beauties as surprises for the people in your life. (give a few away at work? at school? to the baristas who make your daily latte?)
Here's the five-minute procedure.
STEP 1. Better living through chemistry -- buy one of these silicone baking pans with Christmassy shapes. We got one yesterday from the dollar store for $4. (Silicone bakeware is awesome all year round -- if you try silicone muffin tins, you'll never go back to metal! So easy to clean.)
Note: if you insist on being all old school, you can use tin cookie cutters. We did try one with a tin cookie cutter, but we had a silicone baking liner under it. I guess you can use waxed paper under it too, but then you're getting into the "mess and bother" school of crafts. Take my advice. Buy silicone. So easy. So nice.
STEP 2. Buy some Lifesavers or hard sugar candies, and put them in the forms.
Note: Correct and incorrect methods both shown above. The snowflake shape above is shown incorrectly -- more than one layer of candies is actually too thick. Just make a one-candy layer in the forms, as is shown in the other ones.
STEP 3. Bake the candies at 300F for 7ish minutes. Watch them after that. You'll see when they're ready. The LifeSavers got kind of bubbly. If you have the nerve to let them bake a little longer, the bubbles start to go away.
But bubbles can look nice too, when you hang them on the tree and the light shines through them.
I aim to try other hard candies and see if they bubble less. "Starburst" or pinwheel white candies were suggested by another page. (https://www.facebook.com/YumOola/videos/536982679802074/?theater You can see that she messes around with tin forms and wax paper -- ick. Just use silicone and you don't need to be so fancy.)
STEP 4: After the candies cool a wee bit, use a skewer or toothpick to poke holes in the tops.
Let the candies cool completely, then put a thread or ribbon through the hole.
Wrap them in a tissue and give them away with a note of love or thanks. Or hang them on your tree. Or give them away at parties.
If they break you have two options: 1) eat them (yum) or 2) put them back on the silicone baking pan and melt them a little bit again and use a toothpick to weld them together.
Merry Christmas.
SiliconE, mind you, not silicon. My favourite Inorganic Chemistry professor, Tris Chivers, will be very upset if you get that wrong. Silicon is a brittle element, useful in electronics. Silicone is silicon bonded with oxygen, and is good for all sorts of things, from silly putty, to window sealant, to the craft my son made in school the other day, to... bakeware, pot lids, pot holders, and wonderful rubbery heat-proof spatulas! Three hallelujahs for silicone in the kitchen.
This is a cheap and easy way to make some lasting memories of beauty. You can even multi-task it while you're at home alone and create some fun little beauties as surprises for the people in your life. (give a few away at work? at school? to the baristas who make your daily latte?)
Here's the five-minute procedure.
STEP 1. Better living through chemistry -- buy one of these silicone baking pans with Christmassy shapes. We got one yesterday from the dollar store for $4. (Silicone bakeware is awesome all year round -- if you try silicone muffin tins, you'll never go back to metal! So easy to clean.)
Note: if you insist on being all old school, you can use tin cookie cutters. We did try one with a tin cookie cutter, but we had a silicone baking liner under it. I guess you can use waxed paper under it too, but then you're getting into the "mess and bother" school of crafts. Take my advice. Buy silicone. So easy. So nice.
STEP 2. Buy some Lifesavers or hard sugar candies, and put them in the forms.
Note: Correct and incorrect methods both shown above. The snowflake shape above is shown incorrectly -- more than one layer of candies is actually too thick. Just make a one-candy layer in the forms, as is shown in the other ones.
STEP 3. Bake the candies at 300F for 7ish minutes. Watch them after that. You'll see when they're ready. The LifeSavers got kind of bubbly. If you have the nerve to let them bake a little longer, the bubbles start to go away.
But bubbles can look nice too, when you hang them on the tree and the light shines through them.
I aim to try other hard candies and see if they bubble less. "Starburst" or pinwheel white candies were suggested by another page. (https://www.facebook.com/YumOola/videos/536982679802074/?theater You can see that she messes around with tin forms and wax paper -- ick. Just use silicone and you don't need to be so fancy.)
STEP 4: After the candies cool a wee bit, use a skewer or toothpick to poke holes in the tops.
Let the candies cool completely, then put a thread or ribbon through the hole.
Wrap them in a tissue and give them away with a note of love or thanks. Or hang them on your tree. Or give them away at parties.
If they break you have two options: 1) eat them (yum) or 2) put them back on the silicone baking pan and melt them a little bit again and use a toothpick to weld them together.
Merry Christmas.
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