Don't you love the idea of pure white chocolate decorations? I do and I had fun one summer afternoon making these buttons, fruits and monograms.
Unfortunately, I was multitasking and let my "easy to melt" white chocolate discs simmer over a pan of hot water a little too long. I should have followed the directions and microwaved them in short intervals. Anyhoo, that is why they look like they are chalk-olate. Get it?
I made dark chocolate cupcakes and frosted them with homemade buttercream. Topped with a pure white chocolate icon, I thought they looked beautiful.
Look at my beautiful collection of shells. I mold each one, dusted it with edible luster and set it on a bread-crumb covered tray. Pretty realistic, isn't it?
Oh yes, these are candy. Each shell is made of white chocolate.
The process is as easy as can be. You'll need a bag of white (vanilla flavored) Wilton Candy Melts and plastic candy molds in different shell shapes.
Now you simply follow the instructions of the candy discs to melt them in the microwave - I put a cup of them in a Ziploc bag and microwave at intervals of 10 seconds, kneading the bag in between. Once the candy is smooth and pour able, snip a small corner of the bag off and pipe into the molds. I use a flat plastic scraper to wipe off the excess chocolate and leave a smooth flat back to the candies. Then holding the mold just above the counter top, gently tap-tap-tap the filled mold on the counter over and over again and watch the bubbles rise and break on the surface of the chocolate. This removes the bubbles and helps the chocolate to flow into the intricate detail of the mold.
Keeping it flat, place mold in the refrigerator for 10 minutes to set the candy. Then remove from the refrigerator and hold it over a cookie sheet gently flip it over so that the candy falls onto the cookie sheet. If any of the pieces don't fall out, twist the mold slightly and they should release.
Dip a paint brush into the edible pearl luster dust and gently brush it over the white chocolate to add a lovely light color.
When I am going to serve them on a cake or cupcakes, I use graham cracker crumbs as my sand. I don't have any graham cracker crumbs in the house, and since I am enjoying them as edible art, I arranged them on a platter of bread crumbs. It looks just as realistic, don't you think?
I am going to make these white chocolate flowers again and again. They are beautiful, exciting (for me, anyway, I gave a "whoop" when they released perfectly from the mold) and add something special to Spring desserts.
You will need four items to make the beautiful flowers shown here. Once you have purchased a mixed flowers chocolate mold (online or at a cake decorating supply store), you can head to the cake decorating section of a craft store like Michael's to find the rest. You'll need white candy melts (or white chocolate chips), edible pearl dust in pastel shades and some food safe paint brushes.
Assembling the items was the hard part! Now you simply follow the instructions of the candy discs to melt them in the microwave - I put a cup of them in a Ziploc bag and microwave at intervals of 10 seconds, kneading the bag in between. Once the candy is smooth and pourable, snip a small corner of the bag off and pipe into the molds. I use a flat plastic scraper to wipe off the excess chocolate and leave a smooth flat back to the candies. Then holding the mold just above the counter top, gently tap-tap-tap the filled mold on the counter over and over again and watch the bubbles rise and break on the surface of the chocolate. This removes the bubbles and helps the chocolate to flow into the intricate detail of the mold. Keeping it flat, place mold in the refrigerator for 10 minutes to set the candy. Then remove, place a cookie sheet over the mold and flip it over so that the candy falls onto the cookie sheet. If any of the pieces don't fall out, twist the mold slightly and they should release.
Dip a paint brush into the edible pearl dust and gently brush it over the white chocolate to add a lovely light color. My favorite above is the lily of the valley - I painted green pearl dust on the leaves and left the white blossoms as pure white chocolate.
This is a whole new type of "edible" flower! Enjoy!
*The inside of this cake is beautiful too! Click to read about it here.
Tah-dah! The cake I have been imagining is finally brought to life. My mom (a baking enabler) bought me this checkerboard cake pan when I was in my twenties. While I was enthralled with it back then and made several chocolate and vanilla checkerboard cakes, it has been years since I have used it!
I started thinking about it this Winter and decided to make a pink and white checkerboard cake as soon as I was back home in my house and ready for Spring.
My dad stopped by when I was assembling the layers and loved the ingenuity of the removable ring batter divider.
We were still visiting when the layers came out of the oven and we were both so happy to see them release from the pan so easily. I had sprayed the pans with Bakers Joy (nonstick spray with flour) and cut parchment paper circles to line the bottom of each pan. They came out perfectly!
This 3-layer cake is made from 2 boxes of Pillsbury Moist Supreme "classic white" cake mix. Make one box and leave it white. Make the second box and add drops of liquid red food coloring until it looks as pink as you'd like.
The frosting is one batch of homemade butter cream. I beat 3 sticks of salted butter until smooth. Slowly add 3 3/4 cups of powdered sugar (confectioners sugar), one cup at a time. Mix in 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract and a few drops of liquid red food coloring. Once the cake has cooled completely, stack the three layers on top of one another without frosting in between, alternating the ring pattern. Spread frosting on outside of cake. Voila!
* I will post about the white chocolate flower decorations on top on Friday, May 3, 2013.
Has the shore ever looked so sweet? I have fallen for these white chocolate shells that I saw in the bakery of the Publix Greenwise Market. Aren't they charming?
I was just at Sugar Craft (a cake & candy supply store in Cincinnati) admiring their wall of beautiful chocolate molds and now I am sending you to them with a link! I bought several outstanding molds that day (stay tuned - Spring is going to be great!) and now I can recommend shell molds at Sugar Craft too. I think the finishing touch is dusting the chocolates with pearl dust. I can't wait to get these molds and make these edible shells for myself!
How do you like my white chocolate monogram?
A long time ago I saw a dish of chocolate letters and have been carrying the idea of making a chocolate monogram in my head ever since.
I decided to reinterpret the classic white chocolate peppermint bark (that is so popular at the holidays) and this is my super cute result!
All you need is an alphabet mold, a bag of white chocolate chips, crushed peppermint starlight mints, a glass measuring cup, spoon, knife and a microwave.
Simply put enough white chocolate chips to fill 3 letters (21 chips?) in a glass measuring cup. Microwave at 10 second intervals, stirring in between, until the chocolate is melted and smooth. Spoon the chocolate into each letter of the monogram. Level off each letter by removing excess chocolate with a knife. Sprinkle crushed mints on top of chocolate and place in freezer for 5 minutes. Remove from freezer and pop out chocolates onto a tray. Cute, eh? Now repeat as many times as you want.
This candy is the perfect after dinner sweet. And who doesn't love a monogram?
I play Euchre every month with friends from the Junior League. We are all "Sustainer" status now, which means that we have actively volunteered for 7 + years (for me, it has been 11!). I have learned a lot from these women about leadership, commitment and managing a volunteer organization. Last night was just for fun and I brought Birch Bark pretzel rods. They were a hit...timber! To make them, Melt 1 bag of white chocolate morsels in the microwave for 30 secs (repeat as necc.) stir until smooth (careful not to burn it), dip 2/3 of each rod in and then allow to harden on a waxed paper lined cookie sheet. Once you have dipped 10-12 rods, melt 1/4 cup of semi-sweet chips for 30 sec in another container. Then dip a fork into the melted chocolate and make drizzles back and forth across the white. The result looks a lot like birch bark and tastes delicious. Allow to harden for a few minutes in the fridge and then serve in a stack like logs. Yum!
I play Euchre every month with friends from the Junior League. We are all "Sustainer" status now, which means that we have actively volunteered for 7 + years (for me, it has been 11!). I have learned a lot from these women about leadership, commitment and managing a volunteer organization. Last night was just for fun and I brought Birch Bark pretzel rods. They were a hit...timber! To make them, Melt 1 bag of white chocolate morsels in the microwave for 30 secs (repeat as necc.) stir until smooth (careful not to burn it), dip 2/3 of each rod in and then allow to harden on a waxed paper lined cookie sheet. Once you have dipped 10-12 rods, melt 1/4 cup of semi-sweet chips for 30 sec in another container. Then dip a fork into the melted chocolate and make drizzles back and forth across the white. The result looks a lot like birch bark and tastes delicious. Allow to harden for a few minutes in the fridge and then serve in a stack like logs. Yum!
