Thursday 26 August 2010

Salt dough cup cakes!

I haven't made salt dough for years and the other day I felt the need to mix up a quick batch and PLAY!!!
It is so quick and easy and cheap and takes you back to the feeling of being at playschool....oooh it is FUN! I got heavily into it in the 1990's when I wrote a book about salt dough called 'Dough Craft in a Weekend'. Tony was getting exasperated about allthe salt dough I was producing and asked what I was going to do with it all and I told him I was going to write a book and I did! Oh how I wish I had that energy again....I can feel it welling up inside me......!

Last night I drilled it and glued wire into the back so that I can hang it above my desk....and hope it doesn't come crashing down!
Here is a close up. I painted it with acrylics (I used to use watercolours and gouache) and added touches of brassy bronze for fun....
It looks so wonky but who cares? Sometimes you just have to let yourself go and play.

If you fancy having a go, here is the recipe:
2 cups of plain flour
1 cup of salt
3/4 cup of water...
Make sure all measures are to the top and level off the salt and flour with a knife
Add 1 teasp of oil and the knead for 10 full minutes times by the clock. This bit is important! I use my Kenwood mixer and dough hook.
Cover with cling film and use straight away. Use water to stick dough together and then bake immediately on a lightly greased tray at about 80 -90 degrees in a fan oven for hours and hours and hours until it is ROCK HARD! This piece took 8 hours....
Oh...while it was cooking I cut up some of Tony's BIG tomatoes, brushed them with oil and added herbs and open baked them at the same time.....then I felt I wasn't wasting quite so much electricity!!!!! They came out like sun dried tomatoes without the sun.
YUM................

Have fun.

3 comments:

ShabbyChicShaz said...

Your cupcakes look fabulous, so bright and cheery, they have brought a smile to my face on this damp and dull summer's day :)

Unknown said...

Really cute cupcakes. I will have to hang on to that recipe for future use!

Marg said...

The cupcakes are fabulous, thanks for the recipe. I quite often make sudried tomatoes in the oven, so it's good to know that I can make double use of the oven next time.