Make Victorian Sandwiches in Miniature for the Dolls House

The first article was featured in Dolls House Projects No. 2 where Paul explained the history behind Victorian afternoon tea and made a selection of cakes. The second part was published in Dolls House & Miniature Scene issue 199 where Paul made more mouth watering goodies, and this project has been taken from the extensive DIY project featured in issue 200. I have specifially chosen this for you as a good beginners project to get you started working with Polymer clay and making miniature dolls house food.

MIXING GUIDE

MIX A - Basic Paste Mix

6 parts white clay + 1 part beige + 4 parts translucent + 1 part tan + 1 or 2 parts Ochre. Mix together thoroughly. Add small quantities of ground rice and ground semolina and mix well to give a grainy texture. Do not add too much, the clay should still be soft and not dry and crumbly.

MIX K - Basic Bread Mix

5 parts white clay + 3 parts Basic Paste Mix A. Mix together thoroughly.

ASSORTED SANDWICHES

• Make a basic white bread mix using the instructions above.

• Roll out mix approximately 2mm thick and cut into two equal squares about 45 x 45 mm. This will form the top and bottom slices of bread.
• Add the filling to one of the slices so it covers all the area, then place the second piece of bread on top. Press gently together.
• Cut into 15 mm squares before cutting corner to corner both ways to form 4 triangles.
• Bake following the manufacturers instructions.

FILLINGS

1. Cucumber

• Mix translucent clay with ground rice and roll into a long sausage shape about 5mm thick.
• Cut in half lengthways, then cut each half in half again, so you have 4 quarters of a circular shaped length to form the seeded part of the cucumber.
• soften some translucent clay and roll out to 2mm thick.
• Wrap each individual quarter of the seeded length in the translucent clay.
• Then replace the 4 quarters wrapped in translucent back together, gently squeezing and teasing into one combined log.
• Roll out green clay to 1mm thick and wrap around the log, forming a sausauge shaped length of about 5 to 6 mm thick.
• Thinly slice before filling a sandwich with the cucumber slices and baking as in the instructions above.

2. Egg & Cress

• Mix some white clay with a pinch of yellow, orange and green.  Do this with a single sided blade and chop until the clays are all roughly blended. Do NOT mix by hand or the colours will blend.
• Form into a little block and slice off pieces approximately 2mm thick.
• As before, use to fill the sandwiches before baking.

3. Ham

• Mix some beige & pink clay with a pinch of white. Do this by rolling a piece of one colour, then adding another colour in layers.
• Cut in half and lay one on top of the other and roll again. Repeat several times until you are happy with the grainy ham look.
• Do NOT mix by hand or the colours will just disperse into each other.
• Form a little block and slice off pieces about 2mm thick.
• As above, fill the sandwich bread before baking.

4. Salmon

• Mix some orange and a pinch or two of read, yellow and white.
• Mix thoroughly by hand this time until you get that pinkish red salmon look. Add a little ground rice into the mix to create a grainy look
• Form into a little block as before, slice and add to the bread to make more sandwiches.

5. Cheese

• Mix some orange and beige clay together thoroughly.
• Form into a little block again, slice to 2mm thick, and assemble into sandwiches.

These are just a small selection of Paul's techniques for making Victorian tea, for the rest of the instructions please see the Dolls House Projects and Dolls House and Miniature Scene magazines as mentioned above.

If you have enjoyed making this project, why not order yourself a copy of the magazine for more DIY projects, or better still why not take out a subscription so you never miss an issue.