Easy DIY Modeling Chocolate - Kisses + Caffeine

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More often than not, if a cake involves fondant, I turn it down. Or try to figure out a way to accomplish the look with buttercream. Mainly because that is my favorite medium, and fondant is nasty to me (and a lot of people). The other factor is the amount of time involved and what I can reasonably get paid in my area, but that is another post for another day!

Anywho…a little trick I like to keep in my back pocket for special cakes that just beg for the extra detail and time is modeling chocolate! You can mold just about anything out of this edible clay, and it tastes just like a tootsie roll! Once you know what you are doing, it is so easy to make that you will be kicking yourself for not trying it sooner! All you need is chocolate (candy melts, regular chocolate, white chocolate; they all work!) and corn syrup. See the links at the bottom for my favorite kinds!

You will do 1/3 cup of corn syrup for every 16oz of chocolate (or melts) that you use. Follow the directions on the packaging to fully melt your chocolate. If you are using Wilton melts, you will typically do 1 minute at 50% power and then continue heating in 20-30 second intervals.

Once fully melted, allow it to cool a bit to avoid separating. You don’t want it to start to solidify again, you just don’t want it piping hot, either.

As soon as your chocolate has cooled a bit, add the corn syrup and stir very, very well.

Keep on stirring, even if your arms are tired! Make sure all of the chocolate is incorporated. It will start to come together in a thick ball. Ensure that there are no pockets of runny chocolate, and once you have gotten them all, you can move on!

Turn it out onto a sheet of parchment paper and allow it to cool. It will have a slightly greasy look to it and that is ok!

I repeated the process to make some using white chocolate. I love having the white on hand because you can use a little gel food coloring on a toothpick to make it any color that you want! You simply knead the coloring in until uniform.

Press it firmly to the paper to make the cooling process faster.

You will know it is almost ready when it starts to lose its shine. It may feel hard again and that is ok!

This particular batch lifted off of the paper in one solid piece.

When you are ready to use, simply break a piece off and knead it in your hands. It will take on a clay consistency that is glorious for rolling out or modeling into shapes! If you need to, you can give it a little 10 second zap in the microwave to make the kneading easier. I usually work the entire thing into a ball for storage of extra when I am finished working.

See how I used it on this cute little Gnome cake? His hat, his nose, the mushrooms, rocks and his arms and legs are all modeling chocolate! His hat is actually a giant cake pop. I’ll be sharing a tutorial on that soon!

Here’s a little cake I made way back in my early days of cake dabbling, covered almost entirely in modeling chocolate. Super rookie, mind-you. But still really cute!

There you go! Crazy easy, and very yummy! My toddler enjoys playing with the leftovers and this could absolutely be a fun edible play dough activity for kids, too!

Save this pic to Pinterest!

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