Gelato...

...play dough! Since the flagship issue, I've been downloading and reading Australia's LMNOP e-mag and for the most part love it. Recently I made up a BIG batch of the gelato play dough to use as an object lesson for the kids in junior church. Because I have a mixed crowd, I used a single color for the dough --- no sense creating a problem where there isn't one. And, because I was using a single color and it was 35 minutes before church, I decided to mix my coloring right into the base while cooking. It's no secret around church that I'm crafty, but I draw the line at going into the morning service with green hands 'cause I had to knead play dough.  *grin*

I modified the original recipe to suit my needs -- and because I couldn't imagine using 4 tablespoons of cream of tartar!! Here's what I did:

Gelato Play Dough
Recipe adapted from LMNOP magazine

2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup table salt*
2 tbsp. cream of tartar
2 cups water
2 tbsp. canola oil
8 drops liquid food coloring, green
1 tsp. mint extract

In a large saucepan, mix together flour, salt, and cream of tartar. Add water and oil to pan; stir to combine. Set over medium heat and stir until mixture begins to thicken, about 5 minutes. Add food coloring and extract; stir until dough comes together and pulls away from the sides of the pan, 1-2 minutes longer. Remove from heat and cool. No need to knead!

*I used a combination of iodized table salt, reduced sodium salt, and sea salt ('cause I didn't have enough of any one to equal a cup!) and it didn't seem to make a difference...

p.s. Don't be tempted to leave out the cream of tartar --- the more you use, the more elastic your dough will be (the original recipe called for 4 tablespoons; I opted for 2 and my dough was plenty pliable, even after refrigeration). This play dough has a delicious scent, a lovely pastel color, and keeps well (and long) in the fridge. I was using the dough with children in grades K-4th --- a simple instruction NOT to eat the dough sufficed, but omit the scent for younger children as it'll likely encourage nibbles and bites. There's nothing harmful in the dough, but, yuck --- salty dough!?