Edible Glitter Flakes!

Although this project might seem intimidating at first, I promise you that it’s not as long as you follow a few key steps. The end product is totally worth it and you will be the coolest mom at the bake sale!

Unflavored gelatin, food coloring, vanilla extract for flavoring (optional), mica powder (also optional), plastic wrap & some tape to hold the plastic wrap down.

Preparing your gelatin for this project is the key to it turning out successfully. The instructions on the box will not tell you this so I’m going to share my years of experience and summit up for you!

Measure out 5 teaspoons of your unflavored gelatin. Take 1/4-1/2 cup of COLD water and place it in a ROUND dish. sprinkle your unflavored gelatin onto the ice cold water as evenly as you can WITHOUT stirring, do not just dump it in because then it will not develop evenly. Let sit 5 minutes.

NOTES:
If you can use ice cold water, even better. You see, gelatin does not develop in hot water in the cold or your water is, the smoother it will be after our next step. The reason I specify using a round dish is because when you begin to stir, a container that has corners will collect gelatin.

Now that your gelatin has been sitting for at least five minutes and ice cold water, put it in the microwave for one minute, take it out and gently stir. Put it back in the microwave for 15 seconds. Our next step will involve adding the food coloring and vanilla extract flavor do have it handy.

Now that you have bloomed your gelatin and put it in the microwave to bring it to a liquid state, this is where you are going to add your food coloring and vanilla extract flavoring. It doesn’t matter what order you do it in, I suggest a half teaspoon of vanilla or less. Should you choose to use mica powder this is also the time to add it. Stir until your colors have blended.

Lay out a long piece of your plastic wrap and although not necessary, I highly suggest taping the ends and sides down because when you pour your gelatin onto the plastic, it has a tendency to make ripples which we want to avoid. We want our Gelatin to smooth out as evenly as possible. After you have gotten your plastic wrap situated, pour your gelatin onto it and using a brush, guide the gelatin around the plastic wrap until smooth. You will need to wait 12 to 24 hours for your gelatin to finish drying and become stiff before you can blend it to create smaller flakes. I have made this before and placed it in front of a fan to dry, at high speed it will dry in a couple hours.

The very last step of this project is to take your sheets of gelatin that feel very stiff and place them in a blender or, a magic bullet as I prefer to use. A magic bullet comes with different blades which will allow you to create smaller flakes than a blender can do.

That’s it! Congratulations! You have successfully made edible glitter flakes!