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| Chocolate leaves top simple and delicious chocolate cupcakes |
Today is a very SPRING like day and that always makes me feel like opening the windows, letting in the sunshine and baking. Granted, when we lived farther North, these days didn't arrive until April or May! But since our relocation to the South, I've been blessed to have a few of them in March.
Today I looked over my website recipes and although I first chose another cupcake - I then saw these. One my family loves, but also all the friends and family I've shared them with enjoy them as well. The novelty of course is the chocolate leaves... but they are simple to make.
You can use your favorite cupcake recipe (I have several - just use the labels or search bar to your right) or just use a cake mix. Bake as directed, let cool, then top with your favorite icing or frosting and use a homemade chocolate leaf as a simple decorating touch.
How to make chocolate leaves;
Take a walk through your yard to see what non-poisonous plants and tree's you have that may offer you beautiful small leaves with a lot of character and 'veins' on their undersides.
Clean leaves that you know have not been treated with chemicals are a must. I like to get them from my own garden and back yard as I can be sure of their chemical-free history.
Using melted white or dark chocolate or even almond bark, use a butter
knife or a small, new paint brush or makeup brush to 'paint' the under
side of the leaf.
Try not to get any melted chocolate on the top of the leaf, just paint the bottom in a nice thick, even layer.
Lay the leaves on foil, parchment paper or wax paper. Refrigerate for about 10 minutes to help the hardening process.
When the leaves are chilled the chocolate will be hardened and ready to peel off the leaf.
Gently and slowly peel the leaves off the chocolate and lay the
chocolate leaf down. Sometimes the leaves can be used a second time if
they are a bit sturdy but for the most part, plan to use each leaf only
once.
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| Peel slowly and carefully |
Use your leaves to decorate cakes, desserts, cupcakes, cookies and more. The more veins the leaf has, the better and remember to only paint the under side for the best results.
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| Chocolate cupcakes need very little decor to make them scrumptious looking! |
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