Olympic torch table centerpiece
Part of the fun in hosting parties is getting your hands dirty and making something you can be proud of. That includes crafts. We scoured the internet and found an Olympic-inspired torch centerpiece that’ll not only make your guests go “Wow!” but will also be fun to make. If you have little ones, they can help too.
The Olympic flame became a tradition of the modern Games when a flame was lit at the entrance to the Olympic stadium during the 1928 Summer Games in Amsterdam, according to The Washington Post. The actual lighting ceremony and relay were introduced during the 1938 Games.
The lighting of the flame is now a staple for opening the Games, and the torch relay celebrates the passing of the sacred flame from one torch to the next. The flame symbolizes the light of spirit, knowledge and life; the relay represents the handing down of the fire from generation to generation; and the lighting of the Olympic cauldron, the last leg of the relay, is central to the Opening Ceremony. (You can follow the track of the relay at olympics.com/tokyo-2020/en/ torch.)
Locals can make their own using a glowing tealight design from Susan at Oh My! Creative. We’ve added a few things. The best part is that these can be made for less than $20.
MATERIALS (for one centerpiece):
■ One paper towel or toilet paper roll
■ Ruler
■ Marker
■ Scissors
■ One sheet of glittery, foam sticker paper (Michaels, $1.49)
■ Flameless tea light (Michaels, $2.99)
■ Orange cupcake liner (Michaels, $1.99)
■ Tacky glue (Michaels, $1.99)
■ One pack of yellow tissue paper (Party City, 99 cents)
■ One pack of orange tissue paper (Party City, 99 cents)
DIRECTIONS:
Draw a line one about 1 inch down the back of the glitter sheet to mark the excess. If you’re using a toilet paper roll, draw the line about 8 inches down the sheet.
Cut off that 1 inch or 8 inches of excess.
Remove the backing on the glitter paper and place the paper on a flat surface, sticky side up.
Place the paper tube onto the glitter sheet.
Tightly roll the tube until it is completely covered.
Put glue on top of the tube and glue the cupcake liner to the top. Let it dry.
Take the tissue paper and cut out 5-inch squares (four in each color).
Stack the squares and cut one corner off to create a flat side.
Apply tacky glue to the sides of the tea light and layer eight pieces of tissue paper around it until the sides are completely covered. Do not cover the bottom of the tea light; you will need access to the bottom to turn the light on and off. Let the glue dry.
Scrunch the tissue paper with your hands, turn the tea light on and place the light inside the cupcake liner.
— Saleen Martin
Olympic torch cupcakes
For the Olympic torch cupcakes, I decided on candy flames to give them extra flair. Searching online, I came across a campfire cake on FoodNetwork.com that had exactly what I needed: easy-to-make flames. This recipe makes up to 24 cupcakes.
Make the candy flames a day before to allow for complete cooling.
30 cinnamon hard candies, lightly crushed
30 butterscotch hard candies, lightly crushed
Box of white cake mix
Red and yellow food coloring
1 tub of vanilla icing
2 boxes of 12 classic ice cream cones
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Start the candy flames. Line a 9-by-13-inch rimmed baking sheet with foil. Working horizontally, sprinkle crushed butterscotch candies in a line. Then next to the butterscotch, sprinkle crushed cinnamon candies to form another line. Continue to form lines, by alternating candy flavors/colors. I had six lines. Bake candies until completely melted, 10 to 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and immediately run a knife through the butterscotch candy to swirl it into the cinnamon until the desired look is achieved. Let cool completely on the baking sheet. (The candy will be extremely hot, so use care.)
3. Bake the cupcakes. Follow the box directions, but I added a pea-size dab each of the red and yellow food coloring to make the batter a light orange. Line the cupcake pan, fill and bake. Cool on a wire rack. (Pick a cake flavor that
pairs well with the cinnamon and butterscotch candies.)
4. Prepare the icing. To give it a two-color twist, divide most of the icing into two bowls; leave a little for a later step. Drop a pea-size drop of yellow food coloring in one bowl and a similar portion of red and yellow in the other to make orange. Once the desired hue is achieved, place a sheet of plastic wrap on the counter and spoon the orange icing into the center. Fold the plastic wrap up and around the icing to form a roll, twisting the ends to close. Repeat the process with yellow icing. Once both rolls are done, tie the top ends together and refrigerate to chill. (Tying the top ends of the tubes together keeps the icing from spilling out the top of bag when frosting.)
5. Finish the flames. With the sheet of candy flames completely cooled, gently lift the foil out of the pan and flip it, removing the foil on top. Using something hard, like the smooth side of a meat mallet, crack the candy into shards.
6. Frost the cupcakes. Remove paper cups. Prepare a pastry bag with or without a tip depending on decorating style. Cut bottom ends of the two twisted tubes of the chilled icing and place both into a pastry bag. Practice on a plate until the colors flow evenly from the bag. Frost the cupcakes.
7. Prepare the pedestals (the ice cream cones). Using a knife, place
a line of the remaining vanilla icing inside and around the top of each cone to act as “glue” to help stabilize the cupcake. Top cones with frosted cupcakes.
8. Add the flames. Press shards of candy flames into tops of cupcakes.
— Patty Jenkins
Olympic ring ‘medals’
The Olympic symbol is widely known as the Olympic rings. Based on a design first created by French historian Pierre de Coubertin, it remains the visual ambassador of Olympism for billions around the world. The symbol consists of five interlocking rings in different colors and represents the union of the five continents and the meeting of athletes from throughout the world at the Olympic Games, according to Olympics.com.
To make these Olympic ring medals, I decided to try baking stained glass cookies. Most stained glass cookie recipes are made using Jolly Rancher candies. The brand didn’t offer the colors I needed, so I searched online about making edible glass.
Edible glass for stained glass cookies
Making edible glass is timeconsuming; consider doing it a day in advance.
2 cups granulated (white) sugar 1 cup corn syrup
1 cup water
Pinch of cream of tartar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Food coloring gel, classic colors Wooden toothpicks
1. Make the glass coloring. Prepare a half-dozen-cup silicone muffin pan or disposable aluminum muffin pan with cooking spray. Squeeze a couple drops of food coloring gel for each color separately into four of the six spaces: red, blue, green and yellow. Into the fifth space, put black: mix a drop each of red, blue and yellow. Adjust as needed. Leave the sixth space open. Place a wooden toothpick in each space.
2. Make the glass. Put the sugar, corn syrup, water, cream of tartar and vanilla into a pot. Put pot on stovetop with candy thermometer. Set heat to medium low. Gently stir until the sugar mixture starts to boil. Allow sugar syrup to reach 290 degrees. This process can take up to 45 minutes. The sugar syrup will be extremely hot; use care when pouring.
3. Pour the glass. Use a metal ladle and carefully scoop out enough sugar syrup to fill ¾ of one of the five spaces. Using a toothpick, stir the first color. Dispose of toothpick. Repeat the process with the remaining spaces. Let glass cool, loosely covered.
4. Crush the glass. Pop each color out of muffin pan and place into five separate zipper-style bags. Protecting the work surface, use the smooth side of a meat mallet and start smashing the bags one at a time. Set bags of crushed glass aside.
Sugar cookies
Makes: 3 to 5 dozen cookies
1 ½ cups powdered sugar
1 cup butter, softened
1 egg 1 teaspoon vanilla
½ teaspoon almond extract
2 ½ cups all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cream of tartar Granulated sugar, optional, to top cookies before baking. If decorating with icing, sugar is not needed.
1. Make the dough. Mix powdered sugar, butter, egg, and vanilla and almond extracts. Stir in flour, baking soda and cream of tartar. Cover and refrigerate at least 3 hours. If refrigerated overnight, remove 30 minutes before rolling out to let dough soften to room temperature. 2. Cut the dough into cookies. Divide dough into halves. Using a rolling pin on a lightly floured, cloth-covered board, roll each half 3 1/6 inch thick.
Cut into circles with a 2 ¾ - to 3-inch cookie or biscuit cutter. Within each circle, use the opposite end (larger opening) of a standard decorating piping tip to center and cut out five rings that make up the Olympic symbol: three on top, two under.
For the stability of the cookies, do not interlock the rings. Since these are medals, use the same piping tip (tip side) to create a hole in the top of cookie to later loop through with ribbon. Lightly spray cookie sheet or line with parchment paper, and place cookie cutouts on pan. Refrigerate pan for 15 minutes to firm up dough. Repeat process if making more than one pan of cookies.
3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
4. Fill the cookies with the glass. Remove cookie sheet from refrigerator. Open the five bags of crushed glass. If glass is sticking together, repeat the crushing process. Fill each of the ring holes. The top three are, left to right, blue, black and red. The bottom two are yellow and green. Bake 10 to 12 minutes. The stained glass appearance enhances as cookies cool.
5. Finish your medals. Decorate to preference. Betty Crocker makes metallic writing gel — I went for the GOLD to outline these Olympic rings.
— Patty Jenkins