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| Pinwheel Coasters |
Materials:
- 1 cup cornstarch
- 2 cups baking soda
- 1 1/4 cup water
- food coloring (2 colors of your choice)
Equipment:
- saucepan
- spoon
- 2 bowls
- cooling rack
- rolling pin
- 2 cutting boards
- knife
- large, round cookie cutter
Instructions:
- Combine baking soda, cornstarch and water in a medium sized saucepan
and cook over low heat for 15 minutes. For the first 10 minutes the
mixture will be very thin, but then it will thicken up. Stop cooking
when the dough resembles mashed potatoes (about 15 minutes).
- Place half of the dough in one bowl, half in the other. Immediately
color the dough. Place 10 to 20 drops of food coloring in each bowl
and stir vigorously. We made half our dough blue and half yellow. You
can create mixed colors like purple (red and blue dye mixed together),
but we recommend that you mix drops of food coloring in a separate bowl
and then add it to the dough all at once. Otherwise, it will be difficult
to mix the colors in evenly.
- Let the dough cool until you can handle it.
- Choose one of the batches of dough and turn it out onto a cutting
board. Pat the dough flat with your hand, or use a rolling pin to roll
it out. You want to create a rectangular shape about 1/4 inch thick.
- Place the second batch of dough on top of the first batch. Gently,
pat it out with your hand until it covers the first batch of dough and
is about 1/4 inch thick. You can use a rolling pin but you have to use
a light touch so that you are only flattening the top batch of dough,
not stretching out the bottom layer.
- Now, working from one long edge, roll the dough jelly-roll style into
a log. The dough is very soft and you may have to use a knife to scrape
if off of the cutting board as you roll it.
- Cut your dough log into 1" thick slices. Set the slices aside.
- Working with one slice at a time, place the slice on its side (pinwheel
pattern facing up). Using the rolling pin, gently roll the slice until
it is large enough for a cirlce to be cut from it. Cut the circle using
your cookie cutter. Use a spatula to tranfer the circle to a flat plate
or another cutting board. Continue to roll and cut the rest of your
slices.
- Let your coasters dry on the flat surface for about 2 hours. Then,
transfer them to cooling racks so that air can circulate around them
- they'll dry faster. You don't want to place them on cooling racks
too soon, or the soft dough will mold itself around the racks.
- Let the coasters dry for at least 24 hours, 48 hours is better. They'll
form a dusty patina as they dry.
- Paint on at least three coats of polyurethane, letting each coat dry
according to manufacturer's instructions. Or, paint the coasters with
clear nail polish, letting each coat dry about 10 minutes. Coat the
front, back and sides of the coasters.
- These coasters are waterproof but they're a little on the fragile
side so avoid dropping them.
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