Day #294 - Working with Candy Melts

Candy Melts are great! I have been working with them since I was in Jr. High. I would give them as gifts for all the holidays. I’d love going to pick out new molds and make them into suckers. Thanks, Mom, for encouraging my interests – as varied as they were. Candy melts are really easy to work with, and I think they actually taste pretty decent. They are also very versatile. You can do chocolate suckers in molds (I’ll need to do that with my kids to show you), chocolate dipped ice cream cones, chocolate covered strawberries, chocolate swirl lollipops, or make molded decorations for cakes. I’ll do post tomorrow that includes a Noah’s ark cake I made for my sister’s twin baby shower so you can see the idea.

Today, I wanted to show you how you can put the candy melts into a squeeze bottle and create toppings for cupcakes. I was kind of in a hurry, but I wish I had taken more time with my designs. The possibilities are really endless. Mine are fairly sloppy, but you get the idea. You can make letters, words, hearts, flowers, abstract designs, stars, apples, swirls…you name it.

You will need a squeeze bottle. I purchased this one in the cake section of the craft store. It was right next to the Candy Melt section. Candy Melts come in a variety of colors and a white chocolate, vanilla or chocolate flavor depending on the color. I’ll give you Amazon links in case you have never heard of these products before.

You will want to melt the chocolates as directed on the back of the package. Working with chocolate intimidates me, but these candy melts make it so easy. I encourage you to give it a whirl. There are microwave directions, but I have only done it in a double boiler. If you don’t have a double boiler, you can put a glass bowl over the top of a small pot with water filled just below the glass bowl. Bring the water to a simmer and then remove from the heat. Stir constantly until smooth. You will want to use immediately. I filled up the squeeze bottles with my chocolate. Be careful as the bottle is hot. You then just squeeze the chocolate out onto parchment paper in your desired design. I put my parchment paper on a jelly roll pan so it’s easy to slide into the refrigerator or freezer.

If you are doing work that will require the chocolate to sit around for a little, you don’t want to just set it on the counter. It will start to thicken and then harden completely. What I learned to do is make a warm water bath. I bring the water to a boil and then let it cool a little while I start my work. When I need to pause, I put the squeeze container into the pan. Make sure the pan burner is not on as the squeeze container will melt. Also make sure not to get any water into your chocolate. I wipe it off with a paper towel as I pull it out of the water bath. Sometimes, I will heat up the water a bit while I work again.

Using the chocolate is so easy that even my 5 year old can do it.

Abby and I made mostly the letter R for her R is for Red Velvet Cupcake with Cream Cheese Frosting day at school. Then, I threw in some extras to show you other designs. I made swirls on the triple chocolate mousse cake post if you want to see another example.