It's a Polka Dot Christmas!
These bright and cheerful cupcakes bring fun to the party!
The star of this cupcake is the Christmas tree on top! I know with Christmas coming, may people are seeing new Christmas goodies and fun candy molds out in the stores, and if you are like me when I started baking and decorating, I didn't have a clue about any of it and I was baffled in how to get the detail into the candy! I even tried a paint brush that came with a Valentine candy kit that I got without much luck! Today I am going to share with you just how to do it. It isn't that hard, just a little time consuming, but not even that time consuming once you know what you are doing. First you need your candy mold. This Christmas Tree candy mold is made by Wilton and sold at arts and craft stores. You will also need some type of melting candy. The easiest way is to buy precolored candy melts, like Wilton Candy Melts, also at your local craft store. While you are there, you can also candy flavorings to give the candy a little more pizazz! I flavored my candy with cinnamon candy flavoring!
The mold makes 10 Christmas trees at a time and you will only need a few of the candy melt pieces. Working one color at a time, I melted the melts in a microwave save bowl in the microwave, the time will vary depending on your microwave, but they were perfect in about 45 seconds. If you wish to flavor the candy you do so now, just by adding a drop or two of the candy flavoring. For this small amount, one drop will do.
Instead of wasting a piping bag on such a small amount of candy, I used a freezer zipper bag cut in half lengthwise to pipe the candy with. I use a small cup to hold my bag while spooning in the melted candy. As you can see it takes very little to make the dots and I had some left over too. After the melts are in the bag, I secured it with a black office clip. I find the office clips are tight and hold well, I use them to secure all of my piping bags. Snip a very tiny, I mean TINY, corner off of the bag and pipe in your dots. Repeat with the second color. Carefully and completely fill in the star. Try not to jiggle the mold at this point or the star will leak into the rest of the mold. Place the mold into the refrigerator and begin melting your white. You will need a little more white than the other colors.
For the white part, I used Vanilla Candiquik, which is available at grocery stores. I needed about 2 blocks heated for 45-60 seconds. Again, after the color is melted is when you will add additional candy flavoring, it taste great without too, but I have recently fallen in love with the different candy flavorings that Wilton makes and it does add a bit more pizzazz! Once your candy is melted, you will spoon it into an uncut freezer weight bag, snipping off a larger corner than before, about 1/4 inch. Holding the tip of the bag in the candy cavity, fill the mold slowly to avoid air pockets. Refrigerate 5 to 10 minutes to allow candy to set up.
Once your candy has "set up," it will be easy to remove from the mold, just by flipping it over onto the counter and gently tapping. If the candy doesn't come right out, it isn't ready, refrigerate a few more minutes. This candy can be made well in advance, and stored at room temperature. I have even used leftover candy in these molds, put in the refrigerator to set up, and forgot about it for a couple weeks and it was still fine when I unmolded it.
You can find all kinds of candy molds at your local craft or cake store to make fun cupcake toppers like these. The swirl on the cupcake is made with a Wilton 1M tip placed in a piping bag and piped on using a spiral pattern. I also love knowing just where people get such fun cupcake liners, so you will find that I often share this info with you, if not just ask! These cupcake liners are made by Nordic Ware and sold at Target in the bakeware section.
Happy Cupcaking and Candy Making!
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