Kiwi slices, finally


I’ve scoured the Internet for a good kiwi tutorial to follow myself, but I could never find one that isn’t a kiwi cane made out of polymer clay. (I kid you not, even searching through Japanese blogs didn’t find what I needed. It’s like a top secret thing in the Japanese sweets deco community or something.) I just wanted to learn how to make pretty kiwi slices, but it seems so hard to find a good tutorial.

Do you have the same problem? Fret not, here is a tutorial for you. Made out of countless hours on researching and experimenting on my part. The pictures are pretty abysmal but if you follow the written instructions carefully, you can have kiwi slices in no time :)

No, I can't get enough of it.

An example of what you’ll be making. (Yes I did feel there was a need to insert an old photo. :P)

First off, get two balls of clay, one about 2/3 bigger than the other. As mentioned in this post, I made the kiwis using a mix of Sukerukun and Grace clay in the ratio 1:1. Of course, if you don’t have Sukerukun, you can use Grace on its own or mix it with Cosmos or Modena in the same ratio. Just note that your clay has to hold shape pretty well, be white, and dry translucent.

For this tutorial, I used a mix of Cosmos and Grace in the ratio 1:2. Just because Cosmos holds shape pretty well, and Grace dries much more translucent than the former.

Please do not use paper clay for fruit slices.

Add some green colour to the bigger ball of clay. I used forest green and lime green watercolour paints. Knead the clay well to distribute the paint evenly.

Here we are. Perfect colour for kiwis.

One thing to note here: you should never, ever, EVER add too much paint to clays that dry translucent. Do not attempt to add your desired colour (the colour and shade you want in the finished product) to translucent clay because it will darken as it dries. Always mix a colour that is at least three shades lighter than your desired colour.

Flatten the green clay.

Here’s a tip: To get a perfect circle or oval while rolling the clay, roll the clay into a round ball in between your palms, squish it with the roller horizontally (do not roll it yet; this is to create a fixed width), turn it 90°, then roll it flat. You’ll get a nice circle or oval cake. Experiment with it! ^_^

Dig a hole in the centre of the clay with a toothpick or a needle tool (if you have one). This will be the core of your kiwi.

Dig out any excess clay from the hole to form a nice circle in the centre.

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