Modeling Chocolate

With much disappointment this is the only of 3 posts I can make that I was going to because for some reason all the photos I took of making light sabers and Blue Goo aren't on my memory card. Like I ran out of film or something. BOOOOOO camera, BOO! Now I am going to pull out my handy dandy user guide and see what happened.

For Gabee's birthday he decided he wanted Star Wars Brownie cup cakes. As an attempt to see if I could make and use modeling chocolate instead of fondant on an up coming baby shower cake I am making I decided to experiment with modeling chocolate on these cup cakes!

I dislike fondant. Yeah, it's fun to use but it tastes horrible. What is the point of having a pretty cake if it tastes bad? I normally just use butter cream for everything.

Modeling Chocolate

2 cups (12 oz) white chocolate
1/3 + corn syrup

1. In a microwave safe bowl heat chocolate for 20-30 sec intervals until melted. Stir in between heating. DO NOT OVERCOOK! If you cook it too long you run the chance of scorching the chocolate and then it's no good for this.
2. In a separate bowl, heat corn syrup for 15-30 seconds until warm, not hot. If it is too warm to touch pop it in the freezer for a few minutes. Yet again if it is too hot you run the risk of scorching the chocolate then it's no good.
3. Pour corn syrup over chocolate and stir until just blended.
4. Pour our onto plastic wrap and flatten into a patty. Cover with more plastic wrap and seal tightly.
5. Place on flat surface and let set for 1-3 hours.


It is really easy to make and taste soooooooo much better than fondant.

For this I used Wilton's Candy Melts. It works out well because depending on the chocolate you use getting 2 cups might not be very accurate measure. Going by weight is a sure bet. Wilton's Candy Melts come in 12 oz bags! I used slightly less than 1/3 cup of corn syrup and mixed it until blended. Once you have mixed both together it starts to set pretty quickly and gets a fluffy consistency going on. I covered mine with plastic wrap and left to sit on a cookie sheet for 3 hours.

When I pulled it out it was rather hard and I thought I had done something wrong. I was wrong about being wrong though. Knead it for a minute and I becomes very smooth and pliable.

To make colors I used both liquid and gel food color and didn't see much of a difference between using either. I simply added a small amount of cornstarch to take away some of the moisture the coloring was adding to the chocolate. Knead in the color until it's uniform and the desired shade. If it's too dark add a bit of the left over white into until you get the color you're looking for.

It does become VERY soft when you knead it and might need a little bit of setting time again before you can really work with it. It also get's VERY shiny while you are working with it. After setting again however it turns pretty matte and firm.

All the left over dough I had left I simply rolled up with the plastic wrap and put it in the freezer to use again when needed. It is said to have a freezer life of over a year if sealed well.

Here were our 10 minute cupcake decorations!

 

 

Since I was rushing to make these I didn't really knock out much detail or let them set. Especially for the light sabers it would have been a good thing to do as they warped once I put them on. Later they were nice and firm and held their shape wonderfully, by that point it was too late though. Moral of the story take your time.

 

 



Not gorgeous but we had fun making them and I am now pretty confident that it is perfect for the baby shower cake. When I do that I will actually take my time.

Grand total for modeling chocolate = $3

Off to fix my camera. Tomorrow we are making Kool-aid Taffy. Join us for that!