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Looking for ideas for gift giving??? I bet you have thoughts
of the perfect present in your head. You're probably thinking about toys, electronics,
clothing, and shoes. But I know of one gift that your kids will go absolutely
zonkers over. Edible Presents.
These edible presents are made from wholesome ingredients, look
amazingly beautiful, and kids love them. They take a little time to create but
they are worth it. Believe me, my kids went nuts over these whimsical presents.
They're still asking me when I will make them again.
Mini Pizza Presents:
Pizza Dough
Sauce
Pizza Cheese
Filling (We used pepperoni, green pepper, and mushrooms)
Egg Yolk
Food Coloring
1 square Mega Block
Don't know how to make any of the above? Visit All
Recipes.com to search for a recipe that tickles your fancy.
You need to know these things before you begin making
your mini pizza presents!
The most important ingredient is the square Mega Block. If you
don't have this you can use a small (preferably 1" square) cookie cutter,
block, or cardboard template).
Chop your filling ingredients into tiny pieces at least 1/4"
small. The smaller the better because if your ingredients are too big they won't
fit into your mini presents.
Have all your ingredients prepared before you start cutting
out your dough. Then cut your shapes all at one time. This will make assembling
your mini presents easier.
These gifts are dough heavy so you might want to use extra sauce
and cheese inside your present.
You should always end with the dry ingredients on top and make
sure that you don't over flow the present or it won't shut properly.
Egg yolk mixed with food coloring is what you will use to decorate
your presents. This adds a glossy sheen to the finished product. Remember, a
little egg yolk with a drop or two of food coloring goes a long way.
We placed our egg yolk in mini muffin pans and then added a
different drop of food coloring to each one.
Use a clean paint brush to brush on your color. Medicine droppers
work great to add designs to your gifts. To create really amazing gifts, paint
one color on and then bake your presents for five minutes. Remove them from
the oven and add dots, lines, spirals, and squiggles then continue cooking until
the presents are done. You'll end up with a fun, vibrant, and 3 dimensional
gift wrap.
How to assemble these amazing mini presents. Used the
following as inspiration while you work.
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Finished Product |
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Before you begin preheat your oven to 350
degrees.
1. Roll your dough out as thin as you can get it.
Try not to get holes in the dough. I got my dough a little less than 1/4".
It is best to let the dough sit at room temperature for awhile so that it is
easier to work with.
2. Create your pattern. I used a Mega Block and
made a center block with four blocks attached to each side. Press only hard
enough to make an indent but don't break through the dough. You will need to
cut each pattern out with a knife. Don't forget to cut out a seperate top block.
If you don't have a Mega Block draw the pattern above on cardboard and trace
around it with a knife to cut your pattern out.
3. Cut around the outside lines leaving the inside
lines intact. Then cut out one small square for the lid. You should end up with
the shapes above in the left hand image.
4. Start with your five square shape, take two
of the square flaps, bring their outside edges together, and pinch them tightly.
You should actually see a little line from where you pinched the dough. That
is okay because it will disappear when baking. Your main goal is to get a good
seal. Continue this until you have all four sides pinched together.
5. Fill with sauce and filling, top with the last
dough square and pinch all four sides together to seal up your present.
6. Repeat steps 1 through 5 until you have all
your presents created. We made a bunch of presents and then decorated them at
one time.
6. Paint presents with your egg yolk paint and
a kitchen paint brush. You can use multi-colors. However if you want designs
on your presents then bake them for five minutes at 350 degrees. Take out presents
before they completely cook and paint them with additional colors, dots, spirals,
lines, squiggles, and other crazy shapes. Thick yolk paint will actually rise
in the oven creating raised designs which look super cool on the finish product.
Return your presents to the oven for another 5-10 minutes. Oven times vary.
Cook these like you would a pizza but try not to burn them. Our presents took
15 minutes at 350 degrees. They came out looking done but not burnt.
7. Serve these to your family and watch them smile!
Candace Huber is the original creator of Onawhim.us an interactive art portal for kids. Candace left Onawhim to establish the dynamic graphic design firm, Speckle Hen Media. Take a gander on over to Speckle Hen Media to see what Candace is up to now.
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