Despicable Me is one of my favourite animated films. It’s funny, dark, and distinctly different to a classic Disney animation. Gru is a complex cartoon character, and the minions are almost modern day oompa loompas. It’s full of fun and mad ideas, and the minions really steal the show.
In my old workplace, a colleague of mine had a large cardboard minion. She used to place the minion in peoples chairs when they were out, so the minion was there to greet them when they returned. That little guy was almost part of the team! So, I decided to create my own sweet biscuit minions to celebrate the launch of Despicable Me 2. Langues de chats are a traditional French biscuit and are called cats tongues as they are long and pill shaped like a cats tongue! I thought the long pill shape would make a perfect little minion. I dressed the minions in some blue fondant denim overalls, and gave them glossy black and white gel eyes. These sweet little minions are the perfect treat to enjoy while watching Despicable Me, before heading to the sequel.
Ingredients
Langues de Chat
- 50 g / ½ stick of butter, softened
- 50g / ¼ cup of castor sugar
- ½ teaspoon of lemon zest, chopped into small pieces
- ½ teaspoon of vanilla extract
- 3 drops of yellow food colouring
- 2 egg whites
- 6 tablespoons of plain flour
Decoration
- 1 black gel tube
- 1 white gel tube
- 60 g / ¼ cup of white fondant
- 4/5 drops of blue food colouring
Method
Begin by lining a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Preheat the oven to 180 C/ 350 F. Beat the butter and sugar together using an electric beaters, until it is light and fluffy. Add the lemon zest, vanilla essence, yellow food coloring and beat together for a few seconds, until combined. Add the egg whites and blend again for just a few seconds. You don’t need to beat the egg whites too much. Finally, sift the flour into the batter, and fold it in using a spatula or slotted spoon. Spoon the batter into a piping back with a plain round nozzle (1/3 inch in size). Pipe the batter into 2 ½ inch long strips, and ensure there is a gap (about 2 inches) between each biscuit. Bake for 10 minutes in the preheated oven.
Once they are cooked, remove from the baking tray and place on a wire rack. If you’re biscuits are not perfectly pill shaped, use a scissors and cut the edges to form a better shape. You need to perfect the shape when the biscuits are still hot, because as soon as they harden, they will become brittle. Once your biscuits are shaped, leave to cool and harden on the wire rack.
To decorate the biscuits, you will need to make the blue fondant. Mix the blue food colouring with the white fondant, and blend together with your hands until you achieve a nice denim blue colour. Roll the fondant onto a clean surface, using a rolling pin. Roll it out until it is about 1 mm thick. Cut the fondant into small rectangles (about 1 and ½ inches x 2 inches.) Cut two small triangles from the top of each rectangle. Place the rectangle on the cookies ( with the triangle cut outs on top.) Tuck the bottom of the fondant around the edge of the cookies and cut off any excess. To create the effect of denim, you can pierce some stitching holes with a tooth pick. To create the braces, use some of the excess blue fondant and place small thin strips of fondant for braces. Use the back and white gel tubes to draw the eyes, hair, mouth, and buttons.
