Valentine Rose Cupcakes ~ Tutorial

Want an easy but really impressive dessert for Valentine’s Day?

No joke, just a few hours prep the night before and these can totally be on your candle lit table the next evening.  You know, between you and your Valentine… *gush.*

Heck, buy the cupcakes and you’ve saved yourself a step.

Although, I do recommend trying these or these or even these if you really want to impress the socks off someone.  See?  This is getting risque already….

I’ve added a picture tutorial to show you how simple this really is.

All you need is some coloured fondant (for best results mix with a little gumpaste), 3 piping tips or circle cutters (different sizes), and a ball tool.  You don’t even really need the ball tool.  Remember here , when I showed you how to make rose petals with just your hands and some parchment?

1.  Gather all of your supplies.  Colour and roll out your fondant nice and thin.

2.  Cut out your circles.  You will need about 6 of each size.

3.  Using your ball tool, or fingers, thin out the petals as much as possible.  Try to create some ruffles or movement.

4.  Let your petals dry out over night on a flower former.  Or, use a dish covered in foil like I did here.

5.  The next day, begin with the largest petals and start layering on your cupcake.  Try to do some overlapping.

6. Voila!   Aren’t you pleased with yourself?

You could make a few large roses and then add some ribbon roses on the rest.

Happy Valentine’s Day friends!

Dogwood Flower Tutorial

Remember last week when I said I would post pictures of how I made my Dogwood Flower out of White Modelling Chocolate?

When you see how simple this really is, you won’t believe it!

First, make your modelling chocolate and let it sit for a day or so at room temperature.  The recipe can be found here.  Get all of your supplies ready.

Then roll out some White Modelling Chocolate and cut it out with your Dogwood Cutter.

Now, I have two different steps here, because not everyone owns a flower veiner.  I didn’t until just recently.  I used to use my little paint brush or a sucker stick or a toothpick to make vein impressions.

You can gently press the flower onto the veiner.

Or, you can use whatever tool you have handy to achieve similar results!

Place your formed flower in a little bowl that you have covered in foil.  This is an easy way to make a flower former for drying.

You can use your paintbrush to help you form the flower petals and give them some movement.

I am using just a tiny bit of brown and red dust, mixed together, to lightly brush the tips of the petals.   Can you see the cupcake in the distance?

I think it’s watching me.  Waiting for its turn….

I have some teeny chocolate balls, that I rolled, in a dish getting ready for centre stage.  I rolled them and then lightly dusted them with green lustre dust.

Here’s a little dollop of melted white chocolate that I am using for glue.

The little balls have been added to the centre of the flower.

It’s starting to take shape now!

The branches I made with dark modelling chocolate.  Remember here when I made my Dark Chocolate Roses?

Everyone is lined up, awaiting assembly.   I let mine dry for a full day on the counter before assembling.

This icing is a beautiful sage green Brown Sugar Swiss Meringue Buttercream.  Delicious!

Tah dah!  Finished product. 

How easy is that?  And so impressive.  And so yummy.

Dark Chocolate Roses

Last week I was researching places to buy the best modeling chocolate for a special project I am working on.    It didn’t take me long to figure out that it can be fairly expensive and that most bakers make their own.

Remember here, when I made Garden Party Cupcakes and added gumpaste flowers?  Well they sure do look beautiful, but that’s where it ends.  They aren’t really edible just lovely to look at.  Modeling Chocolate however, looks decadent and tastes yummy too.  It’s essentially like playing with the best smelling and tasting play dough ever!

Anyone who knows me, knows that I have a few obsessions:

1. Dark Chocolate

2. Swiss Meringue Buttercream

3. Beautiful Cupcakes

This is like the culmination of all of  my favourite things!

I’ll follow-up with the recipe for the cupcakes in another post.  It was my first time trying small batch baking because I just wanted a few cakes to show off my lovely roses.

The recipe is really simple, just two ingredients as a matter of fact!

Melt 6 oz good quality bittersweet chocolate over a double boiler (I used Callebaut) .  Mix until no lumps remain.  Let the chocolate cool for just a few minutes before adding 1/3 cup light corn syrup. Mix thoroughly until combined. The chocolate will start to form a hard ball that is difficult to stir.   I put my chocolate in a resealable freezer bag and I left it on the counter over night to harden up.

It was quite a hard lump in the morning….

No worries, just a little kneading to do!  I used cocoa powder to lightly dust my hands and work surface.

Ok, all set!

Everyone has different ways of making fondant/gumpaste and chocolate flowers.  I did find that I had to work quickly as my hands were quite warm.  Guess what happens to chocolate when your hands are too warm?

I rolled out about 10 little chocolate balls, maybe 1/4″ in diameter.

Forgive some of my shots, I had to work quickly!

First I made a cone shape for the center of the rose.

Then, I put each ball under some parchment paper and flattened it out with my fingers to start to form petals.

See?

I let the petals sit for a few minutes to harden a little.  It made them easier to work with.

I wrapped each petal around my rose, being careful to over lap each piece.

Even these rosebuds look sweet.  You could stop here and these would be just fine too.  Somebody would be delighted to eat it!

Or you could keep adding until your little chocolate rose heart is content.

Not bad for my first attempt at a tutorial!

Let these sit on the counter until firm.  Keep these in an airtight container until you need them.  Store leftover modeling chocolate in an airtight container as well.  Use it to make any number of decorations as it dries fairly firm.