Susan Hood handmade glass beads for years until she lost her near vision. After taking her first bite of what looked like a glass paperweight containing a flower bloom, Susan found her new passion, gelatin art.

At the time, Susan was in Hong Kong for a retreat. Wanting to know how to recreate the experience she just had, Susan began researching, but couldn’t find instructional videos in English. Being an innovative artist, she ordered the necessary tools and supplies, and began exploring the art form, figuring things out for herself. Friends, neighbors, and retirement homes happily gobbled up her early attempts.

Making visually stunning, edible masterpieces wasn’t enough for the artist. Susan wanted to create an experience that delights the sense of sight, smell, and taste. Using popular flavors like delicate rose water, peach- mango, and pineapple, Susan perfected her technique, mastered flavor and aroma profiles, and continued to conquer new designs.

Success at her local farmer’s market led to full classes where Susan shared her knowledge with eager students. The three hour class flies by quickly, leaving little time to take notes or work on projects. To help her students build on the base offered in-class, Susan created a dynamic 25 page supplement, Gelatin Art Desserts. Her book includes helpful step-by-step instructions for creating 14 different flowers and wreaths, projects for kids, simple techniques using straws and toothpicks, and a terrific DIY guide for artists looking to locally source their supplies.

Next on Susan’s plate: formulating a vegetarian option and developing her own food-safe silicone molds. To see more of Susan’s spectacular gelatin art, check out her Facebook page. If you are interested in creating some mesmerizing desserts of your own, place an order for your own copy of Gelatin Art Desserts.