Sea Shell Cupcakes

So I have been trying to think of creative, yet easy to make lots of, beach themed cupcakes for Ashley's wedding. Sea shells were a must and I decided chocolate molds would be both elegant and easy. I remembered making chocolate molds of hearts when I was 6 at a friends birthday but that pretty much summed up my chocolate experience so I was a little hesitant at first. However, I found it was super easy and turned out pretty cute.

First things first - melt white chocolate and milk chocolate in the microwave. Set microwave for 30 seconds, then stir, and repeat until smooth consistency.

Transfer melted chocolate to separate zip lock bags.

I poured the white chocolate in almost to the top and then squeezed some milk chocolate on top. I then took a tooth pick and swirled the chocolates together. Since my molding sheet was clear, I could hold it upside down and see where more swirling needed to be done.

I put the molding sheet in the fridge until the chocolates hardened (about 20 min.) and then popped them out. Tah Dah!

Frost the cupcakes - I was going for a baby blue here.. I need to work on my icing coloring skills.

And then top with the sea shells :)

Isomalt Coral

A few weeks ago the National Cake Show came to town. I found a Living Social deal for half off tickets and thought it might be fun to check out. I also dragged Jake to this show which I do kind of feel bad about especially after hour two of me freaking out about cool cake supplies... It's ok though, he has dragged me to a few gun and knife shows and made me go paint balling for 5 hours one Saturday. I don't care what some people say, paint balling hurts.

Anyways, so while I was at the show, I went to an Isomalt demonstration. Isomalt is basically like a stick of sugar that when melted can be made into decorations. I bought it because you can make some pretty cool coral sculptures that I thought might look nice with Ashley's beach themed cupcake display.

This is what Isomalt looks like in solid form:

I broke up about six sticks of  Isomalt and microwaved them for 15 seconds at a time stirring in between until completely melted. I then added some green gel food coloring. (The mixture should bubble at this point).

In order to make coral, I used the ice method in which I greased a large glass and filled it with ice cubes.

I poured the hot Isomalt over the ice slowly. Toward the end of the pour, I tried to make a base at the top by slowly pouring in a more concentrated spot. After the Isomalt cooled (like 20 seconds), I carefully dumped the glass upside down in a bowl. The figure below is the end result.

I thought it turned out pretty cool and doesn't melt in humidity like most sugar sculptures. You might want to note that even with a greased cup, Isomalt may still stick. You can either chip off stuck Isomalt with the end of a butter knife or dissolve with hot water.

Here are pictures of some of the cakes at the show I thought were particularly cool :)