Now it's time to make the chocolate ornament! What you'll need for this part is a two-part clear plastic standard size ornament. I purchased mine from Michaels Craft Store. And also a large button with a long thin ribbon threaded through it. You will also need red Wilton's Candy Melts.
Melt red candy melts according to package directions. Then, using a spoon, smooth a nice thick layer of chocolate inside of both ornament halves. Check the clear underside of the ornament to make sure there aren't any bubbles.
Make sure the coating is nice and thick! You want to be sure your ornament is strong enough to hang from the tree.
Next, place the button inside of the ornament and hold the strings in place outside of the ornament.
Snap the two ornament halves together. Mine held just fine like this, but if your halves don't want to stick together, either tape them together or wrap in rubber bands. Place the ornament in the freezer to firm up for 30 minutes to an hour or more.
Remove the cake from the freezer. Unwrap it and carve a few fold lines into it so it looks like Linu's blanket. Also be sure to carve out a cone shape in the top. You don't need to carve a lot away from this cake to get the wrapped blanket look. A few folds will go a long way! Plus, nice soft rounded edges on the cake gives it a nice look. Lightly wrap cake with plastic wrap and leave at room temperature.
Now it's time to prepare the cake board for the cake! To protect the cake from the hot glue, smear a thick layer of melted candy melts over it.
Next, I trimmed a large tea straw so that it was about the same height as the center of the cake (where the cone was carved). You will want it short enough that it won't sit above the cake. Then I cut a slit down the side so it could be easily wrapped around the base of the tree. The candy melts at the base of the tree will harden and hold the straw in place.
Remove the ornament from the freezer and use a small knife to trim away the extra chocolate the squished out from the ornament.
Use the two tabs on the ornament to help separate the two halves. Gently grab the two ribbon strings and remove the ornament from the other plastic ornament halve. Your ornament should be strong enough to pick up using just the strings.
Use a knife to smooth down the chocolate around the seam.
Now we need a wire to hang it from the tree! The wire is totally optional, if you'd like you can just use the ribbon to tie it to the tree... but you may have trouble with the ornament wanting to slide down the branch. Use the ribbon to tie the wire to the ornament. Be careful not to tie to tight or you may crack your ornament.
Trim the ribbon strings and slide the wire through so one side is really long and the other is short. Wrap the short end around the long end of the wire to create a small loop.
Now we're going to add the little silver piece that sits on top of an ornement. Hang ornament from a drying rack and lightly brush a tiny bit of water on top of the ornament where the ribbon and wire are.
Create a thick round disk with grey fondant. Then use an Xacto knife to cut halfway through the disk.
Open the cut in the disk a little and slide over the ribbon and wire.
Use a thin scribing tool to create little lines all the way around the disk.
Then create a paint by blending a little vodka with silver luster dust, and paint the fondant disk at the top of the ornament. Next, use a red luster dust to dry dust the chocolate ornament. I'm using CK Products Ruby Red dust. It is extremely difficult to find a true red luster dust - most are a little pink. This one had a pinkish shine, but the red chocolate underneath really helped keep the ornament looking red.
Now on to the final assembly of the cake... |
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