{"id":22441,"date":"2014-11-28T07:00:39","date_gmt":"2014-11-28T12:00:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thecakeblog.com\/?p=22441"},"modified":"2018-08-27T11:48:15","modified_gmt":"2018-08-27T15:48:15","slug":"chocolate-poinsettia-tutorial","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thecakeblog.com\/2014\/11\/chocolate-poinsettia-tutorial.html","title":{"rendered":"Chocolate Poinsettia Cake"},"content":{"rendered":"

Chocolate Poinsettia Cake – \u00a0how to make a chocolate poinsettia flower using candy melts and a knife.\u00a0A new\u00a0tutorial by our contributor\u00a0Erin Gardner<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Chocolate<\/div>\n

\"Chocolate<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve come to the conclusion that making flowers is my absolute favorite part of cake decorating.\u00a0 Fondant, sugar, chocolate – you name it, I love it!\u00a0 Lately, I\u2019ve particularly come to enjoy making chocolate flowers<\/a>.\u00a0 They aren\u2019t only beautiful, they\u2019re also entirely edible and delicious!\u00a0 (Sadly, not something I can say about their pretty gum paste cousins.)\u00a0 This makes them ideal for decorating buttercream finished cakes or for topping cupcakes.<\/p>\n

\"Chocolate<\/p>\n

The technique that I used to create this poinsettia is a very classic pastry technique, but one not frequently used in cake decorating.\u00a0 I\u2019ve used candy melts<\/a> in this tutorial for ease of use and because I love the bright colors.\u00a0 You can do the exact same technique with tempered white chocolate tinted with colored cocoa butters or oil based candy colors.\u00a0 It\u2019s really up to you based on your comfort level with tempering and which ingredients are easiest for you to find.<\/p>\n

\"Chocolate<\/p>\n

Poinsettias are interesting flowers with uncommon names for their parts.\u00a0 Let me break it down for you before you begin, so that it doesn\u2019t get too confusing.\u00a0 You might assume that the red petal-y parts that look like petals are called petals, but they are actually called bracts.\u00a0 Because technically, the actual flowers are the small yellow centers.\u00a0 Luckily, the leaves are just called leaves.\u00a0 Botany lesson over, now let\u2019s play with chocolate!<\/p>\n

\"Chocolate<\/p>\n

CHOCOLATE POINSETTIAS<\/strong>
\na tutorial by Erin Gardner<\/a><\/p>\n

Supplies:<\/em>
\nsmall knife
\nheavy duty aluminum foil
\nscissors
\nCandy Melts<\/a> or coating chocolate in red, green, and yellow (one cup of each color)
\nsmall plastic bowls
\nspoons for stirring chocolate
\nsqueeze bottle or piping bag<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

MAKE THE BRACTS, LEAVES & FLOWERS<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Chocolate<\/p>\n

Tear off a small piece of foil.<\/p>\n

Melt the yellow candy melts in a small plastic bowl. (If using real chocolate, you will need to temper the chocolate before making your flower parts. If you\u2019re using coating chocolate or candy melts, then you are ready to go as soon as it\u2019s melted.) Once melted, pour the chocolate into a squeeze bootle or piping bag.<\/p>\n

Pipe 10 pea-sized dots onto the aluminum foil. Set aside to dry.<\/p>\n

Once dry, sandwich two dots together with a tiny bit of melted yellow chocolate. Repeat with the other dots until you have 5 completed flower centers.<\/p>\n

\"Chocolate<\/p>\n

Tear off 2 to 3-inch wide strips of aluminum foil. Cut the strips into pieces approximately 3-inches long. Fold the pieces of foil in half lengthwise and open them back up.<\/p>\n

Melt the red candy melts in a small plastic bowl.<\/p>\n

Dip the flat side of the knife into the melted chocolate so that about 2 1\/2-inches of the knife is coated.<\/p>\n

Lay the coated side of the knife against one of the pieces of foil with the tip of the knife directly over the folded line.<\/p>\n

Pull the knife away, smearing the chocolate onto the foil in a petal shape. You can go back in to add more chocolate, or rock the knife back and forth to create the shape you\u2019re looking for. Set the bract aside to dry and continue making your other bracts.<\/p>\n

\"Chocolate<\/p>\n

For the smaller inner bracts, follow the same process, but only dip the knife so that about an inch is coated with chocolate.\u00a0 For the leaves, follow the same process as the larger bracts, but with the green chocolate.\u00a0 I ended up using 11 large bracts, 5 small bracts, three green leaves, and 5 yellow flowers.<\/p>\n

\"Chocolate<\/p>\n

ASSEMBLE THE POINSETTIA<\/strong><\/p>\n

Tear off a piece of foil that\u2019s about 6-inches wide.\u00a0 Lay the piece of foil over the top of a small bowl to create a little cup.\u00a0 This is where you will assemble your flower.\u00a0 If you want a very open poinsettia, make the cup shallow.\u00a0 If you\u2019d like a closed flower, make the cup deeper.
\nPipe or spoon a small puddle of melted red chocolate into the center of your foil cup.\u00a0 Place the flat end of a large bract into the puddle of chocolate.\u00a0 Repeat with five more bracts, overlapping the edges as you go.<\/p>\n

\"Chocolate<\/p>\n

Pipe or spoon another small puddle of melted red chocolate onto the center of your newly formed flower.\u00a0 Arrange the smaller bracts on top of the larger bracts in the same way.
\nIf you\u2019d like a fuller flower, add more petals at this point by dipping the flat end of a bract into melted red chocolate.\u00a0 Slide the bract into place and make sure the melted chocolate makes contact with the rest of the flower, \u201cgluing” it into place.<\/p>\n

\"Chocolate<\/p>\n

To finish the poinsettia, pipe or pour a dime-sized amount of melted red chocolate into the center of the bracts.\u00a0 Drop the tiny yellow flowers into place.<\/p>\n

\"Chocolate<\/p>\n

Set aside your finished poinsettia until it\u2019s completely dry.\u00a0 To remove, lift the foil cup from the bowl.\u00a0 Place one hand under the flower to steady it.\u00a0 Peel back the foil with your other hand.<\/p>\n

\"Chocolate<\/p>\n

\"Chocolate<\/p>\n

Place your flower onto a freshly iced cake or cupcakes and add your green leaves around as you like.\u00a0 If using a fondant finished cake, use a small amount of melted chocolate to attached your flower.\u00a0 Chocolate flowers can be made well in advance and are best stored in an airtight container at room temperature.<\/p>\n

\"Chocolate<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

 
\nYOU MAY ALSO ENJOY:<\/strong>
\nCandy Snowflakes<\/a>
\nGift Box Cake<\/a>
\nBirch Log Cake<\/a>
\nWinter Hat Cake<\/a>
\nChristmas Cupcake Wreath<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

Find all of our holiday\u00a0recipes\u00a0and tutorials in our\u00a0Christmas\u00a0Gallery<\/a><\/strong>!<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Christmas<\/a><\/p>\n

\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Chocolate Poinsettia Cake – how to make a chocolate poinsettia flower using candy melts and a knife. A new tutorial by our contributor Erin Gardner. I\u2019ve come to the conclusion that making flowers is my absolute favorite part of cake decorating. Fondant, sugar, chocolate – you name it, I love it! Lately, I\u2019ve particularly come to enjoy making chocolate flowers. They aren\u2019t only beautiful, they\u2019re also entirely edible and delicious! (Sadly, not something I can say about their pretty gum paste cousins.) This makes them ideal for decorating buttercream finished cakes or for topping cupcakes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":22444,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[295,308,90,261,234],"tags":[300],"class_list":{"0":"post-22441","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-blog","8":"category-chocolate-flowers","9":"category-diy","10":"category-diy-plus","11":"category-erin-gardner","12":"tag-chocolate-flowers","13":"entry"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thecakeblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22441","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thecakeblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thecakeblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thecakeblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thecakeblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22441"}],"version-history":[{"count":20,"href":"https:\/\/thecakeblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22441\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28283,"href":"https:\/\/thecakeblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22441\/revisions\/28283"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thecakeblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22444"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thecakeblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22441"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thecakeblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22441"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thecakeblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22441"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}