Claverie Cruising: Chocolate Candy Hearts

Love is in the air...and in your chocolate! Making these little chocolate hearts is sooooo easy and will look impressive when personalized for that special someone (or yourself!) :)

Skill Level: beginner

Supplies:

candy heart mold ($1.99 from Michael's)
1 bag pink chocolate melts
1 bag red chocolate melts (or buy white chocolate and separate into 2 bowls and die them with food coloring)
Ziploc bag, sandwich size
1 toothpick
paper printed with letters to trace

Put a handful of 1 color of chocolate melts into the sandwich ziploc bag (leave bag open and unzipped) and place on a plate in the microwave for 30 second intervals until melted. Squeeze all the chocolate into one corner of the bag, then zip the bag shut. Cut off a tiny bit of the corner of the bag and - voila! You have a decorator bag! Best to cut off just a teeny-tiny part of the bag, then cut of a little more and a little more until you reach the size you want for decorating.

Draw any design you wish with the chocolate into the little molds. I used a toothpick to perfect my hearts. The stripes were painted with chocolate by using a small art paintbrush (use a new one!). To make the letters, print out a piece of paper with letters in the font and size you want. Then place the paper BACKWARDS under your mold and trace the letters with chocolate. When the candy heart is done, the letters will be facing the correct way. :)

Let your designs set and dry in the fridge for about 10 minutes. Then start filling in the rest of the heart mold with a contrasting color, as seen below. *Notice my "C" is backwards*

**IMPORTANT NOTE**

If the chocolate in your decorator bag is getting to firm, pop it back in the microwave for a few seconds. BUT, if the chocolate is really hot when you fill in the rest of your mold, the hot chocolate will melt your design and it won't set up the way you want. The chocolate in the bag should be just warm enough to flow smoothly.

Once all the molds are filled in, tap the tray on the counter several times (I would drop it onto the counter from about 4 inches up) to bring any air bubbles to the surface. Otherwise these bubbles can ruin the look of your design.