Quick and classy moulded thistles

With Burns Night fast approaching we thought we would show you how quick and easy it is to make decorative thistles with our moulds. The finished product looks like it will have taken you many hours to create but it only takes a couple of minutes! Firstly decide if you would like to make your thistles in plain white or, as we have done here, in colour.  We have used Renshaw's Lincoln Green sugarpaste.  Prepare the thistle mould by lightly brushing with a little vegetable or sunflower oil - you will often see advice online for preparing moulds with a dusting of cornflour, lustre dusts or icing sugar. Do whatever works for you but we find the oil method works perfectly and the mould doesn't get clogged up with powder.

Break off a small amount of sugarpaste, roughly 5g, and knead it until it is soft and pliable.  Then simply press it into the mould until the thistle-shaped cavity is completely full, if you have excess at this point carefully cut it off with a knife or spatula. 

To release your thistle from its mould just flex the mould gently and it will pop out, this can be done well in advance of when you need your thistles. 

The final stage is simply to paint the purple top of the thistle, we used Rainbow Dust Metallic Purple edible paint.

And that is how simple it is to make beautifully detailed edible thistles!