Happy February!

While I was in Los Angeles last week I made a little detour over to Disney to the Lego Store to pick up a few things for my sweet boy. He is a huge fan of all things Lego. While I was there I saw this FUN Ice Cube Tray, since Valentine's Day is right around the corner thought it would be the perfect thing to surprise him with. 

I can't really keep surprises under wraps well. Today I decided to do a test run to see how the molds would work with chocolate. Since I was only going to make one batch I didn't use a lot of chocolate. 

I started by melting some Wilton Chocolate melts in a Pyrex Cup over water. You would think I would have a double boiler since I make a lot of chocolates, but no. If you have never tried candy making -- it's SUPER DUPER IMPORTANT not to let ANY water contaminate the chocolate. If this happens the chocolate gets a strange texture and you can't really do anything with it. It doesn't change the flavor, but putting it into a mold is darn near impossible.

Make sure all the wafers MELT completely! 

Gently spoon chocolate into each mold. Don't worry if you get some overage - it's going to happen unless you use a pastry bag. That's WAY to much work for me, plus I don't own one. And I was in a hurry. I was supposed to making a sketch for a new class NOT making candy. 

Fill ALL the spaces in the mold. Now - the next step is as important as keeping water away from the chocolate when it melts. Right now there are a TON of little air bubbles in the chocolate -- and pockets where the chocolate didn't get when you spooned it in.

Pick up the mold and gently tap it on the counter 5 or 8 or 12 times. Whatever amount makes you happy. This will remove the bubbles and force the melted chocolate down into the details of the mold. When I say gently -- I mean if you slam it down on the counter too hard the chocolate will splatter and make a mess. But then again, you may want to lick the chocolate off the counter.  

It's helpful if you have a supervisor, to keep an eye on those little details. 

Use a spatula to scrape the excess chocolate away. You may need to do some more tapping to smooth out the surface of the chocolate, I know I did. Then all you have to do is let the chocolate set up for a while and those guys will be ready to take out! 

Aren't they adorable. 

Ooops, one guy lost his head when I took him out of the mold. I had to eat him, LOL 

I know my sweet boy loved them and wants me to make them for his buddies for Valentine's Day. Maybe. Maybe not. Thanks for stopping by, remember -- cooking can be creative if you don't have any time for the studio! Have a great weekend!