Thursday 8 March 2012

Ravioli!

Okay, this is my take on 1/12th scale ravioli in sauce - and it's actually pretty easy!
Firstly you'll need some 7-count plastic canvas (aida). '7-count' just means that there are 7 little square holes per inch of the plastic. This isn't essential - but you'll need to be able to make little even squares of polymer clay by eye if you don't have this piece of kit (or something like it). So, take some pale creamy-coloured clay and roll it out (I used the largest number 7 roller on my pasta machine). Place your 7-count plastic canvas over the clay and press down lightly. I used the edge of a long blade to press down inbetween each row of squares so that I would get even bumps coming through the canvas.
Take off the canvas and you should have nice, even little squares of clay. Now you have to cut those little squares into individual, stand-alone bits of clay... each one with a teeny tiny edge.
Now take a cocktail stick and carefully press down the edges - leaving the raised square in the middle alone (if you can - just keep it even).
Press the middle lightly with your finger, and if you need to flatten the edges again, do so.
Now you'll need a bottle cap - one from a toothpaste tube or a bottle of glue - it has to have the serrated-like edge to it. Press the edge of the bottle cap carefully into each side of your mini ravioli to create a wavy edge.
 It's that easy! Okay, so you have to make them individually one by one... but it's possibly the easiest food I've made from polymer clay.
But there's more... Stack up your individual ravioli onto a plate...
Then take one more piece and cut out a corner of it.
Poke a cocktail stick gently into the edge you've just made to make a little hollow... you can discard the little corner you've cut off.
Take a tiny bit of brown clay and poke it carefully into the gap you've made.
Add this piece to the top of your plate with the filling showing.
Now you'll need some liquid clay which you'll mix with a tiny bit of orange and red pastel shavings. Using a toothpick, spread this across your plate of ravioli - avoiding the 'bitten' piece because you don't want to cover that up. Then just bake in the oven (as per manufacturers instructions on the polymer clay packaging) and, when cooled, add a little gloss to make it look shiny and delicious!
See... told you it was easy :)

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