I used pre-coloured chocolate fondant and mixed it with some white to lighten it, but on reflection the Gruffalo is still too dark so next time I would have added more white so he is lighter. Also… all the fondant has been mixed with tylo powder (ratio of 250g fondant to 1/2 teaspoon of powder) so that it turns into gum/sugarpaste. This makes it a better consistency for modelling and also means that it will harden.
Start by rolling an egg shape of chocolate brown fondant and then flattening it out a bit near the top.
Roll out two fat sausage shapes for the legs. Thin out one end and then tap the other end on your table to flatten.
Attach the legs to the body using some water
Stick a toothpick or dry piece of pasta through the Gruffalo’s body
Roll out two evenly sized balls and then shape them into sausages for the arms
Hmmm… note how I didn’t take my own advice and my balls of fondant are NOT the same size.
Using a sharp knife, make 3 incisions for the fingers
Round off the square fingers with a modelling tool (or the other side of a knife)
Flatten the other end of your arm and attach to the body using some water
Roll out 8 evenly sized balls and then shape them into a teardrop shape
Stick onto the toes and then curl the tops over gently using your fingers
Using a knife, make gentle cuts on the body, arms and legs to make the fur. I also cut a grid-like pattern on the feet.
Roll out an egg shaped ball for the head – make sure you measure it up against the body to make sure it is to scale. Trust me – I have made this mistake so many times!!! There is nothing more frustrating to finish modelling a head, only to realise that it is too big/small for the body.
Make an indent towards the large part of the egg shape with a pencil or modelling tool
Using a sharp knife, gently cut a mouth into the head
Attach to the body using water
Make holes either side of what will become the nose. As you gently make the hole, lift the tool upwards.
Using a ball tool, make indents for the eyes and then attach orange circles.
Give the orange eyes 5 minutes to dry and then mark in your eyeballs using a black edible marker or some black gel colour mixed with a little vodka, or you can use small balls of black fondant.
Also roll a small green ball of fondant for the ‘wart on the end of his nose’
Roll out a thin piece of white fondant. Make each end a point and then cut out the teeth and tusks.
Attach to the gruffalo
In the same way as the tusks…. make two horns and attach
Roll out two teardrop shaped brown balls and using a ball tool, make an indent.
Roll out two lighter brown balls, flatten and stick to the ear with some water
Attach to the head
Final step is to make small purple tear drop shaped prickles for the Gruffalo’s back
