Edible plastic!
Let me be clear… edible, in this case, does not mean “able to be eaten”. I mean, yeah, technically, you could eat it, but trust me, you do NOT want to do that.
You must be wondering why I’d possibly create a tutorial for edible plastic that can’t be eaten. Well… as a competitive gingerbreader (it’s a thing), I’ve had to find ways to create really cool stuff out of totally edible materials.
Construction grade gingerbread is a great source for wood. I have a cool recipe with instructions for edible glass. Modeling chocolate is super versatile. Tylose glue is the perfect adhesive. Even fondant, gum paste, and royal icing can be used for a myriad of items. Plastic was one of the missing materials in my arsenal. I had to get creative.
This process was born out of need. On my episode of the Food Network’s Haunted Gingerbread Showdown, I needed a bubble and a tractor beam. I wasn’t sure how to achieve those effects with edible materials. I tried my edible glass recipe, but the pieces kept cracking. I really wanted them to be translucent, so I had to test a new method. I decided to play with gelatin.
Materials:
1 Part Gelatin
2 Parts Water
Instructions:
Then I put the bowl in the Crock Pot and heated the mixture while stirring occasionally until the powder was fully melted. As you can see, the mixture is not clear. The gelatin I used was run of the mill. If you’re looking for a true clear effect, you can use higher quality gelatin. It’s just more expensive.
This is the point at which I add color. I added some Wilton leaf green for my tractor beam, but I kept my bubble colorless.
Once the mixture is heated, it forms a bit of a film on top of it. That film needs to be scraped off before using the mix if you want to avoid as many bubbles as possible.
Once the film is removed, the mixture can be brushed on to your surface to set and dry. For my tractor beam, I used a PVC pipe.
It took me a few tries to figure out the best way to get the shape of the beam that I needed. I tried greasing the pipe with Crisco, but it made a complete mess. I tried covering the pipe in plastic wrap, but it wouldn’t slide off when it was dry. After many tries, I figured out the secret. First, I wrapped the pipe in a layer of paper towels.
Then I covered it with a layer of aluminum foil.
Then I wrapped it in a layer of plastic wrap.
The paper towel layer allowed me to slip the other layers off the PVC pipe easily after the gelatin dried. The aluminum foil layer served to keep the overall shape. The plastic wrap layer allowed me to peel it off the gelatin from the inside of the tube. Sounds complicated, but it was actually really easy.
I stood the pipe upright and placed it on a sheet of parchment paper. Then I used my quality paint brush to dip into the gelatin mixture and paint long, smooth lines onto the pipe. I did one layer at a time and allowed several drying hours in between layers. I think I did about 5 or 6 layers total. Of course, I forgot to take pictures of that part of the process.
Once I was finished with all my layers, I let the whole piece dry for a few days. I’m sure it cured faster than that, but I didn’t want to take any chances. A fan would definitely speed up the process.
After a few days, I slid the PVC pipe out of the center and peeled away the inner layers. What I was left with was a long tube of translucent green gelatin that looked just like plastic.
I trimmed the edges to make them smooth and straight using scissors.
I used the same basic method to create a bubble. I mixed my ingredients and melted them in my mini Crock Pot. I just omitted the color this time.
Then I blew up a balloon and greased it with Crisco. I didn’t use the layers of plastic wrap, aluminum foil, and paper towels, because I knew I could just pop the balloon when the gelatin dried. I tied a rubber band around the bottom of the balloon and hung it upside down to dry.
Again, I applied a few layers with about an hour of dry time between each layer. Then I let the balloon sit overnight to fully set. Once the gelatin seemed hard enough, I popped the balloon and trimmed the edges of the gelatin bubble.
It was perfect!
The “plastic” is just pliable enough that it can be adjusted. Just don’t bend it too fast or it might break. Just like real plastic.
Stayed tuned to see photos of the project I actually used these two items for. It turned out pretty cool!
In the meantime, check out some more of my edible art tutorials.
Other Cake Decorating and Gingerbread Posts:
Construction Grade Gingerbread Recipe (for building, not eating)
Gingerbread Recipe (for eating and building)
Reindeer Playing Poker – National Gingerbread House Competition 3rd Place Winner
Santa’s Gingerbread Mountain Chalet
Cardinal Family Christmas – Gingerbread Birdhouse
Gingerbread House Construction Tips
In some instances, I may include affiliate links in posts where I recommend specific products. If you purchase something through one of my affiliate links, I receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. These links are always disclosed.