These cup cakes were chocolaty! The chocolate hand is made with Candy melts from Wilton formed in the Wilton Chocolate Mould. You could buy out of the box chocolate cup cake mix or use a chocolate cup cake recipe of your own. When the cake was cooled down, I got some crunchy cookies from Chips Ahoy sprinkled over a homemade chocolate ganache on top of the cup cake. I wanted to add a crunchy texture. I added extra ganache in the middle of the cake before inserting the chocolate hand on top to make the entire cake more moist.
Cup Cake - This time, I used store bought chocolate cake. You may prepare the cup cakes and cool them down to room temperature. Set aside.
Chocolate hands:
You need to prepare the chocolate hands and let them set before using them. I used Wilton candy melts this time. They come in various colour. It save me buying another colouring ingredients. I do not have a big collection of oil soluble colour or many people call them candy colour. How to melt the candy melts? Using a new piping bag without a hole on the top. Depending on how many trays you are making. Fill 1/2 a bag with the melts. If you want the purple together with the dark chocolate, you could use mostly the back colour ones and put 1/4 of the purple ones in. Microwave 20 seconds first, massage them a little, you could feel the chocolate is still hard, microwave another 15 second and so on until all candies are melted. DO NOT OVER DO this! Depending on the power level of your microwave and how much you are in the bag, it various. If your microwave is powerful, reduce the time. I have a 800 WATT and I did that 3 times (25 sec, 15sec, 15sec).
Piping in the candy melts on your mould - Cleaned and dry your candy mould well. Please make sure no water drops in side. Water and oil do not mix well together. There will be a missing finger tip on your chocolate hand if water is there.
Like the instruction says on the package, pipe/tap the tray on the table/or surface to let the chocolate settle in and remove the air bubbles. You will see bubble surfacing to the top. Since it is a clear colour mould. You may look at the bottom of the tray and check. Be careful not to tip the tray sideway too much; otherwise, the chocolate will slid out.
Cookie Crumb:
You may buy Chips Ahoy cookies and use a fork or put them in a bag to crumble them. Need to be fine crumbs. Otherwise, too much cookies will be sticking to the cake. You may also use the cookies that you have in your house. I like to put the crunchy cookies instead of the soft one because I want to create different textures.
Ganache or chocolate icing:
Ganache Recipe: I chose 60-65% cocoa content real chocolate this time. I think 70% cocoa content is a little too bitter for kids.
80g chocolate (coverture chocolate - the real deal one).
80g whipping cream or cream (35% fat content)
Sugar 8g or 1 1/2 teaspoon.
Heating method:
Put them into a microwavable container (small bowl). Heat them together for 15 sec. You will see they are melted yet when you stir it. Microwave another 10-15 sec depending on how powerful your microwave. Please do not over the cream. If you see the cream bubbling or overheat, the fat from the cream will separate and you will not like the taste. Let the heat in the cream slowly melts the chocolate slowly. No rushing please. You may have to heat only 2-3 times (10 seconds interval). Stir in between.
Please do not let the ganache sit for too long. It will thicken up.
Use a small spoon and spread ganache on top of the cake and cover the entire surface. If you want to use icing, you are welcome to do so. This will also protect the cake from drying out. Please make sure the cakes are cooled to room temperature before applying icing or ganache.
Sprinkling the crumb:
Sprinkle the chocolate chip crumb or other cookie crumb on top of the ganache before it sets. Otherwise, the ganache will not stick to the crumb. Then you may have to put another layer of ganache. After sprinkling the crumb, press them down gently with your figure. Some of the cookie crumb are bigger pieces and they stay on better with a little pressure.
Making an opening for the chocolate hand:
Make a cup in the center about 1 cm deep. If you like more chocolate ganache in the center of the cake, you may pipe a little bit into the opening. It will make the cup cake very chocolaty and more moist. Then insert the chocolate hand that you prepared a head of time.
Wala! Here is your spooky Halloween cup cake. You can serve this right away! You may also let the chocolate set a little and the crumb will stay on better if you need to take them to a party.
P.S. I will also post a chocolate cup cake recipe later in case you do not like store bought mix.
If you have other parties for kids with different theme, you may buy different shape of chocolate moulds such as animal or heart shapes to make the chocolate top. You may also use different colour of crumbs or sprinkles to match the theme.
Enjoy making delicious treats!
MBE/MLI
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