Doll Size Licorice Candy

Watch the video here.

This week I am showing you how to make yet another candy. I know, the dolls are going to get fat at this rate. I do promise to make some healthy food soon. LOL

I got inspired for this week's tutorial because of a huge display of licorice candy my grocery store had the other day. I am not a huge fan of licorice, I mean I did eat some of the ones I bought but it isn't a favorite. However, I love how it looks. There is just something about the red and black twists that I find so pretty.

Another reason for this tutorial was to introduce you to one of my favorite clay tools. I know this thing is ridiculously expensive but if you work with clay as much as I do it is a wonderful tool. This is called a clay extruder. If you are going to break down and buy one go for the style I show in the video. I know there are cheap ones in the stores that don't have the screw type plunger but in all the years I have been doing clay I have yet to find anyone that actually likes those. They are practically impossible to use. Even with really soft clay it takes a tremendous amount of strength to use. I did see a lady on Youtube one time that had figured out a way to use a chalking gun from Home Depot to make the clay come out. I just don't think they are worth the effort. I actually purchase two of those before I gave up. I bought one and had so much trouble with it I figured the one I got was defective so I bought a second one. Nope, not defective just poorly designed. LOL

This Clay Extruder that I have now is so easy to use. Since you screw the handle down to push the clay out it works like a dream. I still try to use a soft clay, this is one of the few places I actually prefer Sculpey III over any other brand.

The Clay Extruder comes with a bunch of design plates and I will be showing you other projects in the future that use some of those. For this one we are going to use a #14 open star icing tip from Wilton, the kind designed to use for cake decorating. I use this tip a lot for both this scale and for my dollhouse foods, it is really handy to have.

As for the clay mixture I am using 5 parts Sculpey III translucent along with 1 part color. For the red ones I used Premo Alizarin Crimson and for the black ones I used Premo Black. I was going to use my Sculpey III Black but I already had this black out so I used it. The two are pretty close to being the same. Just to let you know how far the clay will go, I used about ¼ of a block of the translucent clay with for each color and I got 22 of the red ones and 20 of the black ones.

After extruding my clay I cut it into 2 ½” pieces then twisted them and stuck them to my paper plate to bake. I baked at 250 degrees Fahrenheit for 10 minutes. I do prefer to bake any clay mixture that is primarily translucent at a slightly lower temperature than the package states. Sometimes these clays discolor even at the recommended temperature. After cooling enough to handle I cut off the flattened ends and the candy is finished and ready for your dolls to snack on.

Now it is time to clean the Extruder. I use a wooden skewer from the kitchen and a toothpick for most of this. Just go over the areas that clay has been and get off any that is left. I then carefully cleaned the icing tip with the same tools. I also used my new little brush that is made by Wilton for cleaning the tips. I worked really well but I think a chenille stem would probably work just as well.

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial be sure to join us on Facebook for the latest news. And be sure to show me pictures of what you are making.