A long while ago when we ran our retail soap business I made a very popular embedded heart loaf, and when the latest silicone embed moulds arrived I thought I would give it an update as these cute little hearts are about half the diameter of my long gone heart mould.
On reflection I think I should have made the two part embed cylinders the same tone of pink but I’m still really pleased with the new effect. This project will take a couple of hours over all to finish and I like to make my embed pieces the day before I need them, so I allow an extra couple of hours to prepare the embeds.
Don't forget, if you aren't using our colours, you need to make sure they are non-bleeding colours.
Patience is the key!
Ingredients:
- 500g Extra Clear Melt & Pour Soap
- plus 500g more Extra Clear Melt & Pour Soap for the hearts and embeds pieces
- 950g White Melt and Pour Soap
- 25ml Yuzu fragrance – 8ml for each layer
- Candy Pink Colour Block
- Eco Holographic Glitter
- Flexible Mould - Loaf (Regular)
- Silicone Heart Embed Mould
- Isopropyl Alcohol & Blue Spritzer Bottle
Construction Overview:
- Each embed heart “cylinder” takes 120g of pearlescent pink soap (Clear or Extra Clear Soap base), and the embed curls take approximately 200g.
- For the first pour (the base layer): 450g White Melt & Pour Soap base, 80g pink embeds, 10ml Yuzu fragrance.
- For the second pour (middle layer): 500g Extra Clear Melt & Pour base, 2 x prepared heart embed strips, 10ml Yuzu fragrance, ½ teaspoon of Eco Holographic Glitter Note: this middle section is poured in two layers – the first ½ cm which supports the hearts, and then finish the pour once the embeds are in placed.
- Final pour (top layer): 400g White Melt & Pour Soap base, 60g pink embeds, 9ml Yuzu fragrance.
Equipment:
2 or 3 x 1 litre microwave safe jugs
Spoons and spatulas
Thermometer and digital scales - These are fairly important for this project
Method:
Stage 1 - make the embeds
- Make the two embed heart cylinders – in either one or two batches (depending on if you have 1 or 2 moulds!).
- Lock together the sides of the mould and stand in heavy based glass, or a tallish jug with a weight (I use a piece of MP Soap).
- Dice 440g Clear Melt and Pour Soap, place in microwave safe jug.
- Pour the rest of the soap into a mould or tray approximately 1 – 2 cm deep, it’s not important as long as it’s a minimum of 5mm deep.
- When the embed cylinders and the slab of soap are set, unmould and slice the small slab into curls or pieces, what ever shape you would like – remember these will be viewed from the side, not the top. Trim the hearts to fit the loaf mould exactly end to end.
- Colour this to your own taste - 1 x colour colours approximtaely 1kg to medium shade. Simply slice some pieces into the jug and stir to dissolve.
-
Slice the piece of embed soap down into slices, and then cut each slice into a thin slice approximately 3 - 5 mm in width. Don't slice them too thin, or they will melt in the hot soap.
Stage 2 - making the loaf
-
Melt 450g White Melt & Pour Soap Base and add 10ml Yuzu fragrance
- Arrange a layer of soap curls in the base of the mould, spritz liberally with isopropyl alcohol and when the temperature of the white soap is below 60°C or a little less, carefully pour 1 cm of soap over the embeds. Spray with alcohol to eliminate bubbles.
- While this is setting up, dice the 500g Extra Clear Melt and Pour Soap into another jug and put in the microwave on medium low for a minute two, then check it every 30 seconds to ensure it doesn’t overheat
- Remove from microwave and add ½ teaspoon of Eco Glitter and 8ml Yuzu fragrance and stir, spray surface with alcohol if there are any bubbles. Check the temperature, it needs to be 60°C or a little less so it doesn’t melt the embeds or base layer
- When the white soap in the loaf mould is firm, spritz liberally with alcohol, and carefully pour 5mm of clear soap over the surface, put the rest of the clear glittery soap back in the microwave and close to the door to keep it warm. Spritz the surface to eliminate air bubbles
- In about 10 minutes start to check this layer and when it’s firm to the touch with your index finger it’s time for the heart strip embeds
- Spray the first heart embed and the surface of the soap and place in the mould. Then carefully pour in a cm or so of glittery soap (if you need to reheat do this cautiously so it doesn’t get overheated). Then place the second heart in, and pour the rest of the glittery soap over the entire surface of the hearts
- Spritz the surface with alcohol to eliminate bubbles. This layer may take up to half an hour to be firm enough for the top layer. Check it intermittently to see how it’s going.
- Dice 400g of White Melt and Pour soap base into a jug ready to melt
-
When the surface of the soap is firming up, melt the white soap to 60°C, add the final 8ml of Yuzu fragrance and stir well. Spritz the surface of the glittery soap layer, and pour a thin, white layer across the entire surface, and then spritz with alcohol. Then quickly arrange the embed curls in a single layer, spritz with alcohol again, and continue a smooth pour to the rim of the mould. Spritz with isopropyl alcohol
- Sprinkle a light dusting of Eco Glitter on the surface and allow several hours, or overnight to set up completely
- Unmould and then slice. I like to allow the slices a few days in a warm, dry spot and then wrap.
NB: The base of the soap is attractive enough to be the top! If you prefer to see this side on the top of your soap, set the hearts the other way up (upside down) and don't put any glitter on the top.
Now.......
and then
| Difficulty: | Intermediate |
| Yields: | 10 bars |
| Time: | 1 - 2 hours |
| save: | No |
| sale: | No |
