Step 1

Melt the shea butter gently over a low heat. Once completely liquid, remove from heat, add the polysorbate-80 to the melted shea butter, stir together and leave to cool down.

Step 2

Meanwhile measure out the bicarbonate of soda and citric acid into the mixing bowl, seiving if necessary and thoroughly mix together until you have a consistent texture.

Step 3

Optional: Using a powdered pigment, simply add, a little at a time, until you have your desired shade..

Step 4

Measure 10ml of either fragrance or essential oil into mixture. Most essential or fragrance oils will not cause the mixture to 'fizz', but certain citrus oils may, so if this happens, mix in quickly and thoroughly.Do not leave the mixture to stand or it will slowly start to set.

Step 5

Now, a little at a time and working the mixture all the time, add the now JUST WARM shea butter and polysorbate-80 mix, working the mixture until there is just enough oil in it for the mixture to hold together when squeezed. Don't overdo the oil or the mixture will become soft and not hold it's shape. You may have some oil left over.

Step 6

You want just enough shea butter/polysorbate-80 mixture so as when you take a small amount in your hand and squeeze it, it keeps the shape. There will be a slight oily surface feel and this is important, but the mixture must not have any more oil than is just enough to hold it all together.

Step 7

Take a small amount of the mixture in the palm of your hand and 'mould' it into a ball. It doesn't have to be perfect. Alternativley you could press the mixture into plastic or silicone moulds. Decoration is most easily achieved with colourful dried flower petals but there are alternatives. Here is one suggestion...

Step 8

Once you have a firm ball, take your flower petals (you could equally use a cosmetic glitter or jewel) and sprinkle them on your plate or board, then gently roll the ball in the petals so as a few stick to the surface. Put aside carefully on greaseproof paper and repeat until all the mixture is used.

Step 9

After 40-60 minutes they should be quite firm. The shea butter will set fairly solid and they will be quite hard. Leave them overnight to completely harden, then you can pop them into tiny cake cases for decorative packaging if desired. They also look great simply stacked in little piles on a serving plate.

Tips

You can incorporate flower petals within the mixture, but this can make the mixture more difficult to hold together in balls, so don't overdoo it.
Use tiny cup cake moulds or other shaped moulds to make shapes rather than balls.
Beginners will usually find Granular Citric Acid easier to use. To improve the look and texture of the bath truffle you can use Powdered Citric Acid.
If you choose to use cocoa butter, the harder nature of this butter will mean that the truffles themselves will become slightly harder and because it's less 'sticky' it may not take petals so well, but they are easier to pack, as they will not 'melt' at such a low temperature and possibly spoil any packaging.