With the release of our Old Master wafer paper prints, I couldn't wait to marry them up with our picture frames mould. The moulds are made with yellow fondant, to which I added a little tylose to harden. The wafer paper pictures are attached with edible glue and painted with Rainbow Dust edible metallic paint light gold & dark gold. (I did 2 coats)

Handyman's Birthday - from Kiwicakes test kitchen

My dad has always been good at fixing things and taught us kids how to find our way around a toolbox too. He loves to tinker in his garage and emerges with beautifully crafted wooden items. So when it came to this years' birthday I thought what better way to celebrate his skill than with edible tools!

I made his AJ initials with capital letters from this alphabet cutter set. I also adapted the letter S into a number 5 by shaving off one curved edge to straight and a H was easily transformed into a number 4.

The tools were wee blobs of grey fondant pushed into this Silicone Tools Mould and painted with light gold, red and dark silver metallic food paint.

Happy Birthday Dad!

St Paddys Leprechaun - from Kiwicakes test kitchen

This crazy little leprechaun is achieved with a silicone mould, which has arrived just in time for St Paddy's day! Its just a case of pressing fondant in, snap-freezing him, then finishing with the detailing. He is presented a top these cool shamrock cupcake papers. 

Firstly with any new mould, give it a wash in hot water and let it air-dry. Then season it with a smidgen of crisco vegetable shortening for guaranteed easy-release. Use tiny balls of flesh coloured fondant and press them into your little man's face, ears, hand and pot as pictured above. Roll a thin sausage for the pot's handle and press into place. I love this pre-coloured fondant for skin tone because so many times I have mucked around with a small amount of my peaches and browns and can't seem to get the colour quite right. It also works well as a warm base colour for edible metallic light gold paint as you will see further down the blog.

Next I pressed green satinice fondant into the remainder of the mould.. He only weighs a few grams when completed so we are only talking about tiny amounts of fondant here! When the cavities are full, sit the mould in your freezer for a couple of minutes to firm up the fondant before turning out to release the funny little leprechaun and clover leaf. Release the feet from the leprechaun mould first and then the rest of his body will follow. Use a scalpel to do any microscopic tidying if your skin tone and green have spread a millimeter or two in the wrong direction.

I used light gold metallic paint and the finest paintbrush to highlight his little pot of gold. When he has been at room temperature for a good half an hour he will have hardened with a slight crust all over. Now its time to add wee dots for his eyeballs with an airforce blue edible marker pen and his smile with a red edible marker pen. I tried to do the facial features on mine too early when they were still too 'fresh' and ended up with less-than-perfect lines so it is worth waiting if you have that luxury.

The shamrock silicone mould (included alongside the leprechaun) is super-simple to use and looks really effective with these themed cupcake papers.

You could jazz these cupcakes up even further with the addition of some sprinkles. L-R...

Emerald green non-pareils, Shamrock mix sprinkles, Lime green gloss lustre jimmies.

You will be a hit in the office if you arrive with a tray full of these green goodies next Monday!

Chocolate Moulds Make Decorating Easy - from Kiwicakes test kitchen

Working this past year at Kiwicakes I've been amazed at the selection of literally hundreds of chocolate moulds available in NZ. They really are such a simple way to mass-produce technically perfect mini decorations. Some moulds even create stunning 3D objects. 

Some of my earlier blogs using chocolate moulds include snowflakes, surprise boxes, hairdressing set, lollipops and chocolate bars. Read up for tips on melting and setting.

These racing cars were made from black and blue candy melts. Imagine the delight on the faces of little people given one of these to eat!

These cowboy boots look quite different depending on whether you make them light with white candy melts or in a darker shade. They would make neat themed party cupcake toppers or on a farming or western style cake.

I painted accents on the moulded chocolate shapes using various shades of Metallic Food Paint. There are over 20 colours available in bright hues, such as spring green and royal blue.

Next time consider using moulded chocolate in your cake decorating project!

Chocolate Surprise Boxes - from Kiwicakes test kitchen

This Christmas why not serve your dessert all wrapped up. I decided to play on an After Dinner Mint idea with this moreish recipe. Our new present container candy molds make it super-simple.

Melt 125g of your favourite chocolate slowly over a bowl of hot water until it's lump-free (I used 72% cocoa Dark Ghana from Whittakers). Fill the box base and lid molds half way up. Tap on the bench to remove any air bubbles and snap in the mold insert. Leave to harden in the fridge for 15mins or so. This mold makes 3 complete boxes, so a 250g block of chocolate will yield 6 dessert boxes.

 

 

When the chocolate has set, trim any excess away with a sharp knife to make a clean edge.

 

Repeat the process to complete 6 boxes. Now it's time to make your...

Minty White Chocolate Mousse

180g milky bar chocolate, sliced up finely
1c cream
2tsp meringue powder dissolved in 2T water (this is equivalent to 1 egg white)
2 drops Loranns peppermint oil measured with a dropper

Melt chocolate and leave to cool for a while so it's a similar temperature to the other ingredients. Whip the cream and other ingredients gradually until soft peaks just form (no more). Stir a dollop of cream into the melted chocolate and then pour all the chocolate mix back into the cream mixture to incorporate.

Paint ribbon and bow features onto the boxes with edible light silver metallic paint.

Pipe mousse into prepared chocolate boxes and serve with small teaspoons. The minty white centre is a refreshing and surprising treat!

Otherwise make red and green mini M&M filled boxes - how festive does this look with the features painted in metallic red food paint? 

Chai Buttercream (recipe in an earlier blog) and grated dark chocolate make another nice adult option.