DISH: Seitan Piccata at Candle 79. “Most of the time – though not always – we like to eat vegan [...]
Category: How To
Make Your Own Chocolate Bars and Favors for Parties
CHOCbite.com president and founder Adeline Rem shares her secrets to making the sweetest temptations for friends and family at home
Party favors often bring out gifts that have been used over and over. In recent years, favorite foods have been given as a reflection of the guest of honor or couple of honor. Here, Adeline Rem of CHOCbite gives us the lowdown on how to create customized chocolate bars, the ultimate party favor.
When we make our chocolate bars, we sing as we create these delightful bites. It’s the song and love in our hearts that makes every CHOCbite blissful.
People are always asking if they can make chocolate bars at home, and the answer is yes! Here is how you can make some wonderful chocolate bars, party favors, or even just conversation pieces using your own inspired chocolate creations.
• Heat up chocolate chips (semi-sweet or milk chocolate) in a double-boiler or metal bowl over a pot of boiling water. Be sure to stir your chips constantly as they melt, and do not try microwaving them, as this can burn the chocolate.
• Once the chocolate is smooth, pour the chocolate into molds to your liking. You can purchase molds at many stores near you or order them online. I like Candyland Crafts because they have many mold options, from traditional bars to fruits and flowers.
• Be sure to only use plastic or silicone molds, or non-paper candy cups, as they need to be waxy to keep the cocoa butter from leaving the chocolate and adhering to the paper. A super creative and cost-effective solution is to use cookie cutters you already have, place on top of a baking sheet, and fill these for custom molds.
• After you pour the chocolate into the molds, gently tap the mold multiple times on the table to make sure all of the air bubbles are out.
• Apply the toppings of your choice (though they must all be dry toppings, not wet), such as marshmallows, peanuts, sea salt, pistachios, Reese’s Pieces, peanut butter chips, graham cracker bites, almonds, dried fruit, or anything you love in a bite of chocolate. Don’t be afraid to use salt and pepper, cayenne, crackers, and anything salty in your pantry!
• Place your molds into the fridge for about 45 minutes to set, then remove and allow the chocolate bites to get to room temperature before consuming or wrapping.
• Some fun ideas for party favors include wrapping your chocolate bites in parchment paper, tissue paper, or even cloth and tying with ribbon or string; displaying in mini-cupcake foils; or placing in colored paper cones.
Now enjoy your chocolate bites, CHOCbite style:
• Breathe and relax
• Look at your beautiful design; see it and smell it
• Place a piece on your tongue and let it melt in your mouth. Suck and chew while you inhale the love you sent while making this
• Feel the love in your soul and love it
— Adeline Rem, Conway Confidential
The Great Cupcake Cake Debate
Who doesn’t like cupcakes? All the great taste of cake without the guilt of eating a whole slice!
That is, until now. With Cupcake Cake pans proliferating in recent years, the question arises, just what kind of fool will buy one?
Hello! Waving over here!
I bought mine a few years ago at Williams-Sonoma. The logic being: Small cupcake good, big cupcake better! (Cookie Monster is my superego.) But while making it was fun, as was beholding the behemoth, there are plenty of drawbacks. Dust that flour off your hands and let’s talk cupcake cakes.
First: Mine was expensive. You probably don’t need one from W-S, though it’s always a treat to wander around that store and think about all the ways you might use orange marmalade or rosemary-infused olive oil. So unless you’re baking for the Queen, spend less.
Next: Use whatever cake recipe you want; don’t be intimidated by the one that comes with the pan. The contents of what you’re about to make work out to roughly two layers of cake, so just prepare as usual. That said, the recipe that came with this one was not particularly wonderful: The cake was extremely dense and not all that moist. So be ready to play around a bit.
Then, once you’ve cooked the whole thing, you may need to smooth off the top and bottom, as they probably won’t cook in a perfect little flat plane. Use a sharp, non-serrated knife for the right flatness of the layers so they can properly sit on one another. Otherwise, the top part could start to tip if it isn’t sitting on a flat surface.
Frost, sprinkle, add a cherry if you so desire, and voila! You have a two-layer, oversized 
cupcake to wow your friends!
Here’s the buyer beware part: I am a cupcake fiend, and I’ve only ever used this thing once. A better tasting cake recipe might woo me back, but for now it sits fairly ignored. Why is that?
I have a theory. Cupcakes are best when they perfectly balance frosting and cake. You want a certain amount of frosting with every bite of cake; too much frosting feels terrible in the mouth, while too little means you’re just eating cake – plain cake! With the giant cupcake cake, the problems are magnified, because it’s frosted like a regular cake, but you have the anticipatory desire of a cupcake. So that’s not working. And then it’s not really even frosted like a slice of cake, because the proportions are off even for typical cake.
That said, I would not discourage anyone from trying it out. You might find the perfect combination and 
recipe, and if so — let us know! Meanwhile, I’ll just have to dream about giant cupcakes, rather than make them.
What’s your favorite cupcake gizmo? Have you used a cupcake cake? Tell us on our Facebook page!
–Randee Dawn
