Cold Porcelain

I recently went shopping (on-line window shopping pricing some near future purchases) and ran across an item that made me pause and say, "what's that?"  It was a listing for some figures but that wasn't the interesting fact.  They were listed as cold porcelain.  They were very cute and reminded me a little of the Precious Moments figurines you buy at Hallmark.  The description listed them as not-edible but non-toxic which is whey they could be used as cake toppers or decoration because they were food safe (I guess that's the non-toxic part). 

Immediately I searched for cold porcelain on the internet and found an easy to make recipe and a complete description of this new intriguing item.  It  could  be edible except for one very important ingredient: glue. Yep, white glue, cornstarch, mineral oil and lemon juice.  That's it.  Because it isn't baked and fired it isn't good for crockery and it's not water tight but it can be sealed.  It can be painted with oils or acrylics and once it's made can be used just like modeling clay. 

I made my first batch today.  My thoughts: lots of brides do like keepsake flowers when they are made for their cake or they want a customized topper.  I usually do both of these types of things out of some sort of sugar.  I've used royal icing, gumpaste, modeling chocolate.   The thought of using something that was a bit more stable and could be sealed was nice.  The fact that it's non-toxic if not edible was also good.   It still has to stay dry and away from high heat because either will cause it to melt but otherwise it seems like a fit.

If you try this yourself I will tell you it's a work out.  I would use a saucepan you do not intend to ever cook food in again.  Even though it washes out it's not a risk you want to take.  Eating paste in grade school is one thing but residual cooked glue is it's own trouble.  The recipe says it takes about 10 minutes of constant stirring over low heat.  I found it close to 15 mintues and I ended up switching hands regularly but hopefully my shoulders, biceps and triceps will thank me later.  Once it's cooked it's much like making your fondant or gumpaste.  You turn it onto your work surface and then knead it until it's pliable.  It will be lumpy but will eventually work smooth.  It's then wrapped in plastic wrap and then bagged air tight and placed in the fridge.  The recipe I used made about half-a-pound which is not very much but enough to play around with. 

All in all, a simple recipe that does require a bit of elbow grease but not too difficult at all.  The clean up is pretty easy and the storage is easy too.  I don't know the life span but if you're like me you won't have it around long enough to find out.  So now I'm off to play with my new clay and see if I really like it enough to make more.  I'll try to have pictures soon.