Lollipop Cake Toppers
Chocolate Making Project

By Bob Sherman

The inspiration for this came when I needed a fast birthday cake for a neighbor up at my cabin. The town is small (about 1,000 residents) and has no bakery, but I was able to purchase a boxed cake in the market. At the time a plain cake had to suffice, but with a bit of forethought it could have been made special with this technique. It works equally well on home made cakes too. This is also a great way to bring a special cake when carrying a home made cake is not practical (plane, train, or bus travel for example) - simply make these and package them in lolly bags then purchase a cake when you arrive.

Most of the items you may need can be ordered directly from this page for your convenience.

PLEASE NOTE!! - Although chocolate making is relatively safe for the entire family to participate, adult supervision is required.

Chocolate
I prefer to use chocolate wafers designed for home molding chocolate. My preferred brand is Merckens Coating Wafers which work well with all chocolate molding projects without tempering, and tastes great.

Melting Chocolate
For a small project like this either melting method may be used, but I prefer a double boiler for ease on control.

Double Boiler

1. Place chocolate in the pot.
2. Heat until creamy.
3. For best results, chocolate should be poured at 88 to 90 degrees F. Under no circumstances should chocolate ever be poured hotter than 160 degrees F. because this will destroy the mold.

A microwave may also be used but care must be taken not to overheat the chocolate.

1. Place the chocolate in a microwave safe bowl.
2. Heat for 30 seconds. Note: When heating small amounts of chocolate, reduce this to 10 second increments.
3. Remove and stir.
4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 until the chocolate is creamy.
5. For best results, chocolate should be poured at 88 to 90 degrees F. Under no circumstances should chocolate ever be poured hotter than 160 degrees F. because this will destroy the mold.

1. The heart of this idea are the letter and number lolly candy molds. No modification to the molds is needed	2. Using a squeeze bottle for neatness, the numbers and letters desired were outlined in white. Tap the molds to make sure no air bubbles are trapped and to level the chocolate. Allow to cool.
3. The balance of the mold was filled with milk chocolate. Add lolly sticks where desired. Place in the freezer until they demold easily.	4. To add a bit of a theme, a bouquet of balloons was added. This mold is also used without modifications.
5. To color the balloons, one wafer each of six different colors was used. If you are careful when stirring these can all be melted at the same time.	6. When painting, start with the lightest color. This allows you to wipe off the brush and move on to the next color. The alternative is to use a separate brush for each color. Important - chocolate and water are incompatible, so don't wash the brush and then use it before it is fully dry.
7. Continue until all 6 balloons are painted. Allow to harden.	8. Fill the mold with milk chocolate and add a lolly stick. Place the mold in the freezer until it de molds easily.
9. If you prefer to use these directly on the cake, leave out the stick. Once de molded use a sharp knife to trim off any chocolate that may have run into the stick groove. For this project I used a combination of these and lollys for more visual interest.	10. Use a sharp scissors to trim the stick length if necessary. Sticks can be cut to different lengths for visual interest if desired.
11. Insert the sticks, and press the non lolly pieces into the icing and you have a customized cake.

Support Free Projects
You can help ensure the continued availabilty and production of free chocolate projects by telling your friends about them. The more popular they are the more we can produce so tell your friends, mention them on message boards, link to them from your web site, etc... More information is available here.

Disclaimer: The information presented here is accurate to the best of my knowledge and common chocolate molding practices as of the time of this writing - April 2006. The author and the publisher accept no liability for the use or misuse of any of the information presented in this article. This articles is presented for informational purposes and is used at your own risk.

Author: Bob Sherman

Publisher: Bobby's Craft Boutique Inc.

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