SMALL CAKES AND BISCUITS
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Biscuits: Soften a small amount of dark brown clay, roll flat and cut out various shapes, prick some of the round ones with the tapestry needle. Make different shades of brown by adding a tiny amount of brown to white clay. Sandwich two shapes together with a little 'cream', made by mixing a tiny amount of yellow with 2/3 white to 1/3 transparent, place a tiny ball of red on the top of some biscuits for a cherry. Using the same cream colour make white chocolate fingers by rolling the clay very thinly into a snake, and cutting into 1/4" lengths, make dark chocolate ones the same way. Use your imagination in creating these biscuits. The biscuits can be placed on a plate and baked, or they can be baked in batches and then glued to the plate when cold.
Small Cakes:
Éclair: Make a sausage of light brown clay, slice in half, and sandwich together with a little of the 'cream', roll a very thin layer of dark brown for chocolate. Bake, brush the top with acrylic gloss varnish when cold.
Sally Lunn: Make as for the éclair, but use a white icing for the top, make this by mixing half and half transparent and white clay together. Bake, brush the top with acrylic matt varnish when cold, sprinkle with talcum powder.
Doughnuts: roll a small ball of clay, flatten slightly, make a hole in the centre with a knitting needle, gloss varnish dark brown doughnuts to make it look like a chocolate glaze. Matt varnish and sprinkle with talcum powder the lighter brown doughnuts.
Swiss Roll Slices: make a Swiss Roll (jelly roll in the USA) by rolling out light brown clay 3/4" x 1 1/4", roll out a piece or red clay (jam/jelly) a fraction smaller in length. Place the red on top of the brown, trim the long sides, roll up starting at one of the short ends into a roll. Dust with talcum powder or pastel before baking. These can be sliced before baking, but are usually best sliced after baking for 5 minutes, put them back in the oven for remaining baking time.
Chocolate Swiss Rolls can be made in the same way, but use dark brown clay, with a mixture of 2/3 white clay to 1/3 translucent for the cream filling.
Iced Fancies: Take small balls of coloured clay that have been mixed with translucent clay (2/3 colour to 1/3 translucent) flatten slightly. Yellow, peach, lavender, white, pink, light and dark brown are especially good colours. Make a swirl of cream using white with a micro speck of yellow, roll a tiny ball of red for a cherry, place on top of the cream, make tiny angelica leaves from green clay, push into the cream.
Roll out some of the coloured clay and slice into diamonds, decorate as before. Decorations made from tiny swirls of dark brown clay to look like chocolate and sesame seeds make good almonds.
Have fun making these items for your mini household, café or cake shop.