Make a Bloody Valentine's Heart

Present your loved one with this anatomically-correct heart, a card ("You have my heart!"), and a ring hidden in the heart! When the heart is cut open, blood gushes out and the blood-soaked ring can be pulled out. Love all around! What sweetheart could resist such a display?

Step 1 What you need

You will need the following items to make your own bleeding heart:
- One heart-shaped mold (either an anatomically-correct one, or a valentine-heart shaped cake pan)
- 1 large package of Strawberry flavor gelatin (6oz or 170g)
- 1/2 can evaporated skim milk
- Food coloring (the pastes are preferable to the liquids)
- Clean paintbrush to apply the colorings
- Clean produce bag for the blood (produce bags are light and thin)
- Corn syrup and Grenadine for the blood
- Non-stick cooking spray for the mold

I purchased my anatomically-correct mold from The Anatomical Chart Company at www.anatomical.com a number of years ago. You should be able to find one either there, or at science/education/medical specialty places.

Update February 2011: Alternate sources for a mold include http://www.egeneralmedical.com/heargelmol.html and http://www.thefind.com/kitchen/info-heart-gelatin-mold  (Thanks mookiemueller !)

Comments

[myonlystory]

where would i get a heart shaped mold?? this is so cool

[Funky Mcgroovy]

The fun way to present it is in a tupperware bin with lots of fake blood.

Freaked out my friends :D

[AntzyP]

for breakup, you could send the same but greenday inspired grenade inside instead of a ring...

[chicopluma]

sadly i know people that would throw up if you serve this to them, but i want to taste that heart (not about canibalism)

[NKumiko]

oh my god... that is creepy.. but somehow really awesome! XDD

[scintnl]

This was already described by Penn and Teller in their book "How to Play With Your Food"

[theprojectmaker]

Penn and Teller's recipe and method is a better alternative for making an actual dessert that can feed several people (they also give great tips on how to present it, and how not to accidentally serve bits of the plastic "blood bag".)

Their recipe is not for an anatomical-style heart however (they suggest a heart-shaped cake pan) but it does make a better actual dessert intended to be cut up and served. The gelatin recipe in their book will not work for an anatomical heart mold! (It's not firm enough.) If you have an anatomical heart mold, use the recipe and method I provide in this instructable and it'll be right every time!

If you're dead set on an anatomical heart and STILL want to eat it, either be very careful about the blood bag placement... or simply make two hearts, one with a blood bag for show, and the other without a blood bag to eat. (Making two is my preferred method.)

[Miss_Chievous666]

this looks AMAZING! and im thinking about making it for my boyfriend this valentines day buut....its just jell-o with milk and corn syrup blood. that doesnt sound too tasty. is it more of just a funny thing you do and then is over, or are you supposed to eat it??

[theprojectmaker]

You can indeed eat it (and it's even tasty) just be careful not to eat or serve any part of the plastic bag.

[mookiemueller]

I definitely want to make one of these. Couldn't find the mold on the site you suggested but it's been awhile since this was posted. After a quick search, I did manage to find a few different ones.

http://www.thefind.com/kitchen/info-heart-gelatin-mold
http://www.egeneralmedical.com/heargelmol.html

Thanks for posting this.

[Mr.Unknown]

only us instructables geeks would want such a thing to be given to us for valentines day. think i may give one for valentines day, wonder how i'll get it to them though. I don't think mail is a good idea and i don't think they let me take it into school. lol

[Sherlock69]

This is SOOOO Awesome!! LOVE it!

[MagicKreator]

Where do I get the mold in mexico? or online? thanks

[rockgod57]

they should make a gummy candy like this except wen u bite into  it it sprays out a juice that looks like blood lol

[LiamsMama]

Im in love, anyone this creative and that pays this good attention to detail can have my own damn heart

[amylooraptr]

I want. For valentines day. Thank you. Hahahaha. I'm psyched.

[megasaurusrex]

 It would be nice for valentines day if you were not really into that whole lovey crap.

Definitely going to use this for the next zombie walk I go to. =]

[Iridium7]

 Or national ninja day. nothing says I love you more than a heart ripped fresh from the mailman.

[Bodygard1117]

that  is the most messed up thin Ive ever saw and i love it that is amazing especially the blood that comes out of the middle but what would make it even better is if there were chunks in the blood like it has been sitting there for a while. GREAT!!!

[HolyTracker]

Yeahh i know this íble its been here for a while but i was wondering if someone could help me to find a mold like the one used here. Any help? thanks in advance

[theprojectmaker]

www.anatomical.com should be able to help you out.  That's where I bought my anatomical molds.

[TheSweetRevenge]

 This is awesome. I'm definitely doing this for the Valentine's Fair at school next year >__<

Thanks XD

[FUZ3TTE]

Somebody's quite the ladies' man :)

[kooplah]

Cool, I love the video. It looks really realistic too, so could probably be used as a prop for homemade horror films =D

[PetBennett]

Cool profile pic.

[astrong0]

i was thinking... could you make the bag out of some sort of edible bag?

[Kagome100]

Hi, i have a question, i could not find that mold on the site you said but i found a heart mold on Dark side site. BUT once i made a heart it did not look really like a heart maybe i got a deformed mold?

[bowmaster]

Anatomically-correct colon cake LOL!

[BeanGolem]

Could be made from a bundt cake pan...

[AstarrA]

You're amazing! I know I would be swooning if I was given this.

[I_am_Canadian]

This is great!

[maker12]

Anatomically-correct bladder full of fake piss lolz

[nerfer192]

hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

[knex_owns_you]

lol

[sing1ejack]

Sick. Most repulsive food I've seen so far. I already orded a mold ($10 at http://www.protherapysupplies.com/pd_heart_gelatin.cfm). Now I just need to figure out how to make duplicates of this mold out of something food grade so I can make a whole batch of these...

[redhand rik]

can you vacuum form it from ldpe?(basically milk carton plastic)

[random joe]

freak out my GF Courtney with this i hid a ring inside lol

[Liam Wolf]

You are a awesome, I'm doing this.

[Your Average Guy]

Couldn't you just inject the blood with a syringe?

[theprojectmaker]

There has to be somewhere for the blood to go if you inject it. If you can make the heart so it somehow has a void inside that can be filled by injecting then it might work. The heart as shown here won't inflate like a balloon if you inject blood - it would just split. Then all that work would be for nothing.