decorative bees

May 25th, 2010

I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, but I’m not the type to make a big ol’ hoo-hah about pretty.

Flavour? Yes. All the time. And even if it’s a big sloppy pile of brown in a not-very-chic bowl.

Actually, make that especially if it’s a big sloppy pile of brown in a not-very-chic bowl. Most of my favourite foods can be described just so.

But then! A revelation!

Pretty makes the food taste better.

And, more to the point, pretty makes the people who are borderline about trying an otherwise foreign food turn into crazy butter-knife wielding, sticky-fingered… food lovers.

Hence the bees.

And oh! The fun I had sitting in the dappled sunlight of a Saturday mid-morning (for they were made back in the days of dappled sunlight) with the Bean and yellow food colouring all over our hands.

This decorating thing, it’s rewarding.

And apparently, rather tasty too.

how to make icing/fondant bees

you will need:

1x packet of ready-to-roll icing (or fondant)
yellow food colouring
cocoa powder
blue / green food colouring
icing sugar
a rolling pin
a sharp knife
a pastry brush
a bamboo skewer

how to do it:

1. Take about 3/4 of your icing (a ball the size of a normal orange, perhaps?) and knead as much yellow colouring into it as is required to turn it a lovely golden shade, adding icing sugar as you go along to ensure it doesn’t get too sticky. I used a yellow powder based colouring.

2. Now take just over half of the icing that’s remaining (a ball the size of a small lime, maybe?) and knead about 2 tbsp of cocoa powder into it. Which will take a while. And make your hands brown and chocolatey. But that much is surely needed for a proper bee stripe. We would not want our bees looking albino, would we?

3. It’s bee-body time! Pinch off grape-sized bits from your mound of yellow icing and roll them between your palms to form elliptical bodies. The Bean had particular fun making skinny-bee, squashed-face bee and (best of all) tub-bee. *groan*

4. Now roll your brown icing out thinly. It’s easiest if it’s vaguely rectangular in shape, but this isn’t strictly necessary.

5. Using a knife, slice the brown into a rectangle first, and then into strips, about 2mm thick.

6. Grab your pastry brush, dip it in water, and then soak the water up with a paper towel until it is just a little moist. Spread three strips out so they’re evenly spaced and sweep your brush over them so they’re just a little moist.

7. Place a bee-body on the end and roll her up!

8. Trim any extra brown off the end, make sure the tips are securely fastened to the body with an extra dab of the pastry brush, and you’re almost there!

9. You wouldn’t want to confuse the bee’s head or tail, so dip the pointy end of a bamboo skewer in some green food colouring (I used liquid here) and poke it straight into the yellow to form two eyes.

10. Last step! Using the left-over white icing, fashion some wings with the aid of a rolling pin and a knife, and tack them on the back with the aid of your handy pastry brush!

(And tune in bright and early on the 27th of May to see just what I used these little cuties for… and the carnage that ensued later!)

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18 bites more on “decorative bees”

1 The Ninja says on May 25th, 2010 at 9:31 pm :

Bee-utiful.

Yeah, take some of your own medicine. Yeah.
2 Karen says on May 25th, 2010 at 9:58 pm :

Omg these are bee-utiful (hardy har har!). Hehe I like fat bees.
3 panda says on May 25th, 2010 at 10:26 pm :

these are so cute!
4 Maria says on May 26th, 2010 at 4:38 am :

Hehe so cute Shez! Don’t know if you like Nigella but they would look perfect on her honey bee cake!
5 Kelsey says on May 26th, 2010 at 9:47 am :

These are soooo cute! How creative. I’m going to have to think of an excuse for a bee-themed dessert
6 linda says on May 26th, 2010 at 11:20 am :

haha that is so cute! oh so true about pretty things usually gets people’s attention, although sometimes it’s the ugly cake/biscuit/brownies that tastes the best.
7 mashi says on May 26th, 2010 at 1:06 pm :

very cute, nearly too cute to eat.

*waiting eagerly for your post tmr* =)
8 anna says on May 26th, 2010 at 4:17 pm :

“Decorative Bees” is among my very favorite titles for anything EVER. Reminds me of the heartbreak I went through when we didn’t get to make little marzipan bees for our beehive cakes in pastry class. Mmmm beehive cake.
9 Alan S. Hochman Photography says on May 27th, 2010 at 8:51 am :

Honey Bee on Flower at Enchanted Forest…

I found your entry interesting so I’ve added a Trackback to it on my weblog …
10 betty says on May 27th, 2010 at 3:21 pm :

these are sooo cute Shez
11 Beehive Cake Pan says on May 29th, 2010 at 3:04 am :

[...] of heavy cast aluminum with a nonstick coating. If you want to make your own bees to adorn it, the OneBiteMore blog has some really cute ones, with step by step pictures to help you. [...]
12 Ago says on May 30th, 2010 at 1:10 am :

Oh… I LOVE these delicious little bees..they are so cute!
13 Childrens Early Development Toys says on May 31st, 2010 at 7:42 am :

Lamaze Balancing Bug Stacker…

I found your entry interesting thus I’ve added a Trackback to it on my weblog …
14 moe says on June 1st, 2010 at 11:45 pm :

So cute! I wonder if you can use slivered almonds for wings – they’d taste nice with the fondant, no?
15 SandyPie says on June 2nd, 2010 at 12:58 am :

These are A-Door-A-Bull!
16 Daisy Kate says on June 4th, 2010 at 3:12 am :

wait. what?

sandypie this would work if the cakes were moo-cow shaped, or magical fairy door shaped.

hang on…

MUST FIND MOO-COW SHAPED FONDANTY DESSERTS.
17 elham says on February 1st, 2012 at 8:52 pm :

Hi
please explain for me how to make icing?

Thank you
18 shez says on February 2nd, 2012 at 12:04 am :

Hi Elham. I purchased my icing from the supermarket. Sorry I can’t be of much more help!