Baker’s Craft Dough

INGREDIENTS

INSTRUCTIONS

Mix together flour, salt, and alum. With a big wooden spoon, slowly
stir in the water, oil, coloring, and scent. Keep mixing until the
dough follows the spoon around the bowl and then knead with your
hands until smooth. The initial kneading will only take a minute or
two to get the dough going and to make it pliable. After that you
will knead as you work into smaller pieces and the dough will stay
soft.
Store dough in the refrigerator until ready to use. It will remain in
good condition for up to 4 weeks. Let it warm to room temperature
before using.
To Use: Generously flour the work surface and pinch off just enough
dough to mold with. Leave the rest in a plastic bag until needed.
Fill a small bowl with water to use as glue when you want to stick
pieces together. When you have made an item you want to keep, place
it on a floured cookie sheet and bake in the oven at 250 degrees fo
at least an hour. Baking time varies considerably depending on the
thickness of the object. It's a good idea to check for doneness by
inserting a toothpick into the thickest part of the item. If you
think your ornaments aore getting too brown, cover them with aluminum
foil, turn down the oven, and compensate by cooking a bit longer.
After the item is completely dry, you can paint ti with acrylic
paints and then either paint it with shellac or spray it with several
coats of acrylic fixative.
Ideas: This dough is used quite successfully for creating
homey-looking Christmas ornaments.  When my kids were little, I
helped them make their own creations each year for the tree and now I
treasure these ornaments. Try helping children create their own
handprints by outstretching their hands shile you carefully cut
around their fingers with a dull paring knife. Or they can press
their handprints into a plaque-size circle of dough.  All sorts of
kitchen implements can be used to gi e interesting textures to the
dough. By far the most interesting effects can be created by forcing
the dough through a garlic press. The resulting threads can be used
for a bird's nest, hair, animal fur, and of course, spaghetti. Just
remember to "glue" the strands together with water as you go. Add
teeny little eggs to a nest or roll out some meatballs for a bowl of
spaghetti. Another natural creation for Baker's Craft dough is to
make a bread basket, bagel, or pretend muffins out of it. To make a
basket, roll out and cut thick strips of dough. Drape several, close
together, across and inverted, heavily floured loaf pan or baking
dish.  Weave strips in the opposes direction through the original
ones. Create a lattice work design and finish off the edges as if you
were creating a fancy pie. Bake your creation, pan and all, in the
oven and lift the basket off the pan when it is completely cool.
Hints: A rolling pin is extremely useful for flattening the dough,
but if you have many little hands around the table at once, cans of
soup or veggies will work just as well.  You can finish the smaller
items by coating them with clear nail polish. Or try brushing them
with evaporated milk if you want your creations to look brown and
golden, like baked goods.
File ftp://ftp.idiscover.co.uk/pub/food/mealmaster/recipes/mmkah001.zip

A Message from our Provider:

“If God were an impersonal force we’d be superior to our Maker”