edible bunting
January 19, 2011 § 25 Comments
This week on Iron Craft: “Just Bunt”. The challenge is to design and create bunting, which seems to be all the rage in décor these days.
I thought making decorative flags would be simple enough, being a stationery designer by trade. However, I would be remiss if I weren’t to explore this challenge outside of the usual parameters (of paper). So, I decided to save my beautiful stock for something less, well, flat. I moved on to my next obsession: food. My bunting is made out of 100% candy.
Thank the geniuses who invented Fruit Roll-ups for providing the world with edible paper, pretty much (albeit very sticky). Hats off to the masterminds behind licorice lace.
All kudos to the manufacturers aside. A rant…..I went to two grocery stores and two Walmarts before I found Fruit Roll-ups! What gives? Is it a fad of the past? Fruit-by-the-Foot is fully stocked at all stores. Betty Crocker must have conclusive market research that children prefer their candy in strips instead of sheets. But how about grown-up children like me with capricious urges for edible bunting?!? And don’t get me started on licorice lace. I couldn’t find the never-ending one-length kind anywhere. I do love me my Pull-n-Peel, though. Even if it comes in shorter lengths, it does the job and makes my tummy grin wide (or just wide).
To make your own candy bunting:
1. Take a sheet of Fruit Roll-ups and cut into a triangular flag. Press a cookie cutter, if desired. (I wish I had letter cookie cutters to create a version spelling “Eat Me”. For now, this bunting is a hearty ode to Valentine’s).
2. Press licorice lace about 1/2″ from the edge, with enough hanging on each side to facilitate bow-tying (I used two pieces of Pull-n-Peel). Fold the edge over the licorice.
3. Trim the remnant into a narrower triangular flag and add licorice lace as above.
4. Tie the two flags together into a bow. Trim the bow’s tails.
5. Repeat pattern. NOTE: The candy has much more weight than paper. It is best to create separate lengths of bunting, each having no more than 4 sheets of Fruit Roll-ups (remnants included).
Kids may just be asking for this as party décor for their next birthday. Though I can imagine it would be torn apart and eaten before the last guest arrives.
There’s a lot of miniature bunting going on cakes and cupcakes as well. This, being translucent, is a great alternative to gum paste.
