Multi-Layered Candles

As you may have gathered, I love making candles. I have a whole shelf full  of unburnt candles. In fact, in my entire candle making career, I think I've only burnt about 5. This is mainly because I can't bare to see such beautiful things melt away - but now, as I begin to slowly make my way through them, I find that they are much more pleasant and wonderful things to look at lit up than getting dusty on a shelf. So where is this going? I concluded that this counted as a 'recipe', and decided to share these instructions for the most basic, but one of the nicest kinds of candles: multi tonal column candles. It is pretty easy and you don't need any previous experience to make a lovely candle, as long as you follow the steps.
N.B: Candle making makes mess. Some utensils you use might be cooking implements (knifes, pans, chopping boards etc) so make sure they get properly cleaned after (!) Soak everything in boiling water before it goes in the dishwasher, just to make sure there isn't any wax left over. Don't pour excess wax directly into the sink as it will solidify and block the plumbing. Scape away as much as possible and bin it, and boil up the rest and pour it down a drain in a dissolved form. If you have a lot left over, pour it into takeaway tubs and allow it to solidify - it can be remelted and used in another project another time.

All (or similar) candle equipment listed can be brought at www.4candles.co.uk (Which I am not affiliated with, but is the site I use) including wax, stearin, dye, scents, wicks, thermometer and moulds.

Rainbow Candle
90g standard paraffin wax beads (per layer)  Buy
10g natural palm stearin (per layer) Buy
Red, yellow and blue candle dye Buy
Scent (optional) - I used jasmine Buy
Wick (Primed - see below) Buy
11cm  high, 7.5cm diameter pillar mould (mine was octagonal) Buy
Blu Tac or sealing putty Buy
Double boiler or two pans Buy
Pipette Buy
Wicking needle, lolly stick, long cocktail stick or old pencil Buy
Knife and chopping board

Priming the wick In order for a candle to burn properly, the wick needs to be primed - that is, covered in wax. To do this, dip the wick in the molten wax that you are using to make the candle (don't add the colour yet if you want it to be white) and leave for a minute. Take the wick out and straighten it, and leave to dry. Make a lot in one go if you are planning to make more candles in the future. Alternatively, buy pre-primed wicks.

 Setting up the mould

1.  Cut a length of wick 5cm longer than the height of your mould
2.  Tie one end to a wicking needle/stick - longer than the diameter of the mould
3. Thread the other through the hole in the bottom of the mould 
4. The wick should be suspended taught through the mould, with the wicking needle  keeping it up at the top
5. Turn the mould over. Put a generous amound of blu tac or similar putty around the small hole to plug it and prevent wax seeping out when poured.
6. Set it up the right way round again. You may need to elevate it for the mould to stand up (the wick could prevent this)
   

Making the candle 

1. Fill a pan (or the bottom section of a double boiler)  half with water and set on a high temperature. Place the other pan on top.
2. Add the 10g stearin to the top pan and the red dye - you can get many types of dye at different strengths. I use dye sticks or slates. Read instructions for concentration (Though I usually do it by eye)

   

   Wax, stearin and dye

   

   The molten wax

3. Wait for this to dissolve. It will be slowest for the first layer and speed up as the water stays warm.
4. Weigh out and add the wax beads. These should melt quite quickly. Add the scent here - if you use the website above, the strength of this scent requires about 2 pipettes. Don't heat wax above 100C as it will catch on fire.
5. When the wax is fully melted, transfer to the mould - you might want to pour it into a pouring jug first.
   
6. Add all the wax to the mould. If you use my mould sizes and amounts, you should get 4 layers in total. Try not to splash the wax up the sides. Tap the side of the mould to remove air bubbles.
7. Now wait for a bit! Don't add the next layer until the surface is firm and rubbery, but not completely cool. This can take 10 minutes. Differences in the times you wait will change how defined the layers are from each other.
8. Make the next layer in exactly the same way, but this time using red and yellow dye. Use more yellow than red as the colour is weaker. Don't forget the scent.

   

   Orange combonation

   

   The yellow wax may look like orange until solid

9. When you pour the wax, note that the molten colour will be darker than the final one, so your yellow may look like orange, for example, until it sets.
10. For the yellow layer, use only yellow dye. 
11. To make green, add more yellow than blue to the pan, as it will make a bright lime green that will complement the warm red, yellow and orange.

    

    A good yellow:blue ratio for lime green

12. By now the layers should be near the top. If you have some left over, don't throw it away- you need it later. 

    

    As in step 9 - darker than the final colour
    

    

13. Leave the candle to cool completely - maybe overnight.
14. When the candle is complete, you will probably notice that it sinks - a lot. This is normal as the wax shrinks as it cools. Top it up with the excess wax and any extra to level the bottom off.

    

    You can see the completely cool wax has a sheen

    
    
    
15. When the candle is truly set, it should fall out of the mould of its own accord, but if you squeeze it a bit it should also drop out.

    

    Here you can see that the red and orange layers need polishing, and also that the red and orange are more 'defined' than the yellow and green, which mixed slightly. Pour at your preference

16. Polish the final candle with some old tights or similar material. You can scrape off any discolouring with a knife.

    

    Rainbow candle!!

17. Burn and enjoy!

Variations: Of course there are lots of different types of candles, but for this simple type try:

• Adding the whole rainbow - half the stearin and wax  in each layer (5g and 45g) to make narrower bands.
• Using different scents in each layer (but not too conflicting!)
• Using wax types such as mottling wax which gives a snowflake effect
• Making a layered candle with slanted layers rather than straight ones - where I have used tubs to support the mould, you can use supports of different heights to let the wax set at an angle. Change it for the next layer and so on.
• Making other colour themes, such as dark blue through baby blue to white
• Using other shapes

All these can be made using the same or very similar basic method. 

Spanish Omlette - Tortilla

Happy 2014 to all! Out with the old, in with the new... well, unfortunately that doesn't seem to be the case for the weather, so here is a Spanish recipe to get us ready for Spring and warmer weather. A note - make it before you get hungry, otherwise you might end up eating it all.. like me...

Tortilla
Prep time: 1 hr
Serves: 3

Ingredients
1 onion, 110g
275g potatoes
3 tbsp olive oil
5 large eggs

You will also need: a 20cm diameter deep frying pan, as light as possible. The size is important as it means the tortilla will be the right thickness for these cooking times. The weight is important as you will need to flip it over.

Method

1.    Peel the onion and cut it into two halves. Then slice each onion half thinly and separate each slice into the crescent-shaped pieces.
   
2. Peel and wash the potatoes. Pare them thinly - i.e., slice up with a peeler rather than a knife.
   
3. Press a clean towel over the potato slices to squeeze out the excess water.
4. Put 2 tbsp of the olive oil into the frying pan and heat on a high temperature until the oil begins to smoke slightly.
5. Add the potatoes and onion. They should hiss slightly on entering the pan. Coat them completely with the oil, using a wooden spatula or similar flat utensil to move them around the pan.
   
6. Turn the heat down as low as possible and season with salt and pepper. Put the lid on and leave for 20 mins, turning the potato over at half way to stop browning. Shake the pan every so often.
7. Break the eggs into a large bowl and beat lightly with a fork, but not too much. Add some pepper.
8. When the potatoes are done, add them to the bowl and mix in well.
9. Put the heat back up to a medium heat and add the last tbsp of olive oil. 
10. Pour the mixture back into the frying pan and turn down the heat to lowest again immediately.
11. Leave for 20 mins, uncovered. Every so often, use a palette knife to pull the tortilla away from the edges a bit and form a nice circle.
    
12. When the egg is all but cooked (the sheen should have gone - this should be after 20 minutes) take a plate and place it over the pan, and turn it over so the tortilla falls onto the plate. Then, carefully push it back into the pan this way up (so it should now be inverted). Leave to cook for two more minutes.
13. Turn off the heat completely and leave for 5 minutes.
14. Serve either warm or cold, with salad. This can be either a main or a side, depending on the wedge size you cut.