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I'm looking at making this for Valentines but I found it too late to ship the mold in from the USA (I'm in Melbourne Australia). Being that this is a technologically backward country and thats impossible to find anything local online, is there anyone here from Melbourne who knows or has any idea of where I might be able to find an anatomically heart shaped mold.

Sorry if this is off topic - feel free to close

Darko Z

Aaronut
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Darko
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  • Hey Darko, when getting things shipped from the USA to Brisbane, Australia, I was often surprised by how quickly they arrived. Most things arrived within a week...so perhaps you could still (just) manage it? Otherwise good luck finding the anatomical heart mold! – KimbaF Feb 07 '11 at 09:02
  • The first time I saw this (in the book "Penn & Teller's How to Play with Your Food"), they used the less anatomical "valentine's day heart" shaped mold, and stuck the bag of "sauce" in the point of the heart, so you could still serve to the top two round bits. – Joe Feb 08 '11 at 03:15

1 Answers1

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Although I am not sure of a store, online or otherwise, where you can buy an anatomically correct heart mold, one approach you might consider is to make your own mold for baking.

You could buy polymer baking clay to make the mold. As long as you don't heat the mold up, you don't need to worry fumes. However, a standard precaution for Sculpey brand is to use dishes made from their clay as decorative only. Therefore you will need to create a barrier using another inert material; wax, saran wrap? Or you could seek out a sculptor and get an earthenware heart mold.

Another idea is silicone. I am not sure where you'll be able to procure silicone in teeny tiny bulk in Australia (not that I know where to buy it in the US either), but I have seen online people casting silicone using modeling clay.

Basically, if you were to follow up on this, you would likely be using a Dow Corning "Silastic"; here is a link to XIAMETER® RBB-6630-30 BASE, which is inert and compliant with high thermal, repeat use per 21 CFR 177.2600 (U.S. Food & Drug Administration). There are additional products available in Australia, so if you cannot find a distributor for that one you might try another.

Yes, I know the latter option sounds over the top, but I thought I might throw it out there.

mfg
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  • as much as I'd like to do that, I don't have the skills nor enough time to gain the skills, but good detailed answer! – Darko Feb 08 '11 at 04:14
  • @Dark Ha, yeah, thought it was worth a shot despite the fact I have no idea how to do the silicone one. However the clay wouldn't bee too bad; if you don't have sculpting skills you could make a relief cast with the clay of one of those plastic hearts they have at medical supply stores and doctor's offices. Any way good luck. – mfg Feb 08 '11 at 14:56