Christmas Candy Centerpieces Made At Home
By Scott Mckernan
Christmas Candy Centerpieces Made At Home
By Scott Mckernan
Would you like to make this Christmas stand out above every other? Would you like to learn more ways of making Christmas dinner more festive and cheerful? Do your table settings lack that spirit you wish you could create for your family? It's not as hard as you think to do this. Don't work harder this Christmas, do it smarter! There are tonnes of great ideas around for memorable candy centerpieces or you could even outsource the task to a professional. Even if you don't have great skills you could still manage to create attractive candy centerpieces for very little money in very little time... and isn't that better than buying one?
If you want to make one of my candy cane Christmas candy centerpieces you need to start first by taking a visit to your local bakery or cake decorating supplies store and purchase a large solid cake board. When you choose you board make sure it has plenty of room left around the outside of the dome once it has been put into position. A good way to do this is to measure the bowl you will use to create your chocolate dome.
The first stage to creating these candy centerpieces is to form the white chocolate dome that is the cornerstone to this project. One cool thing about this project is that because the candy is added over the top of the chocolate dome, you can hide something special of your choosing underneath the dome. You can even hide chocolate gold coins for the kids. These will be found once the dome has been demolished.
Start making the white chocolate base by melting two cups or one bag of chocolate over a double boiler on a gentle heat. While this is happening you need to freeze a solid medium sized bowl in your freezer. The bowl should be made of something more substantial that plastic. Before you place the bowl into your freezer give it a thin coating of cooking oil from a spray can. This will help separate the chocolate form the bowl at the end.
The next step is to take your chilled bowl and melted chocolate and combine them by adding the chocolate into the bowl. Tip the bowl quickly on a slant until the chocolate reaches the top edge of the inside of the bowl and rotate it around so that the chocolate covers the entire inside of the bowl. Keep doing this for a couple of minutes as the cold bowl will keep causing the chocolate to thicken and build up as it chills. Once this had been accomplished leave the bowl upside down on a rack and let the excess chocolate drain off. Don't worry if this is messy at this stage. It will get cleaned up. After a couple more minutes place your bowl into the freezer once again and chill it.
When your bowl is cold enough do the previous step two or three more times so that the walls of the actual chocolate are strong enough to support itself and the candy that will be placed onto it. The next step is to chill the chocolate bowl for a final time and then take a large chef's knife and using a quick scraping action, slice the knife around the perimeter of the bowl to tidy the edge up. Now you need to separate the bowl from the chocolate and to do this turn the bowl upside down and run it under your hot water for a few seconds. Finally, place your hand into the chocolate bowl and twist the chocolate in the opposite direction from the bowl and the pull it away.
Place whatever you like into the center of the cake board and position the chocolate dome over the top and put it into place. Now you need to fasten the chocolate dome to the board. To do this take some kind of large red candy pieces and arrange them around the outside of the dome at the base using melted white chocolate to act a s a glue. Make sure they are stuck both to the dome and to the board.
Now the fun part begins! Now you need to choose your candy decorations. Edible gold or silver balls can really add some bling to your Christmas candy centerpieces, but you would probably start by selecting the usual Christmas colors in a variety of candy types. Choose how you want to decorate your candy dome. Do you want simple rows going around the dome, or would you prefer a more complex pattern?
To give a visual feast and effect, purchase some small candy canes, and again using melted chocolate, glue them around the outside of the dome flat onto the board. They can come straight out at ninety degrees or at an angle, depending on the size of your board and your individual preferences. This completes the Christmas candy centerpieces, and now all you need to do is present it to your guests.
Learn how to make amazing candy bouquets, buffets and centerpieces at home the easy way with my step by step video tutorials at http://www.howtomakeediblebouquets.com/. Find inspiration for every festive season and occasion.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Scott_Mckernan
Would you like to make this Christmas stand out above every other? Would you like to learn more ways of making Christmas dinner more festive and cheerful? Do your table settings lack that spirit you wish you could create for your family? It's not as hard as you think to do this. Don't work harder this Christmas, do it smarter! There are tonnes of great ideas around for memorable candy centerpieces or you could even outsource the task to a professional. Even if you don't have great skills you could still manage to create attractive candy centerpieces for very little money in very little time... and isn't that better than buying one?
If you want to make one of my candy cane Christmas candy centerpieces you need to start first by taking a visit to your local bakery or cake decorating supplies store and purchase a large solid cake board. When you choose you board make sure it has plenty of room left around the outside of the dome once it has been put into position. A good way to do this is to measure the bowl you will use to create your chocolate dome.
The first stage to creating these candy centerpieces is to form the white chocolate dome that is the cornerstone to this project. One cool thing about this project is that because the candy is added over the top of the chocolate dome, you can hide something special of your choosing underneath the dome. You can even hide chocolate gold coins for the kids. These will be found once the dome has been demolished.
Start making the white chocolate base by melting two cups or one bag of chocolate over a double boiler on a gentle heat. While this is happening you need to freeze a solid medium sized bowl in your freezer. The bowl should be made of something more substantial that plastic. Before you place the bowl into your freezer give it a thin coating of cooking oil from a spray can. This will help separate the chocolate form the bowl at the end.
The next step is to take your chilled bowl and melted chocolate and combine them by adding the chocolate into the bowl. Tip the bowl quickly on a slant until the chocolate reaches the top edge of the inside of the bowl and rotate it around so that the chocolate covers the entire inside of the bowl. Keep doing this for a couple of minutes as the cold bowl will keep causing the chocolate to thicken and build up as it chills. Once this had been accomplished leave the bowl upside down on a rack and let the excess chocolate drain off. Don't worry if this is messy at this stage. It will get cleaned up. After a couple more minutes place your bowl into the freezer once again and chill it.
When your bowl is cold enough do the previous step two or three more times so that the walls of the actual chocolate are strong enough to support itself and the candy that will be placed onto it. The next step is to chill the chocolate bowl for a final time and then take a large chef's knife and using a quick scraping action, slice the knife around the perimeter of the bowl to tidy the edge up. Now you need to separate the bowl from the chocolate and to do this turn the bowl upside down and run it under your hot water for a few seconds. Finally, place your hand into the chocolate bowl and twist the chocolate in the opposite direction from the bowl and the pull it away.
Place whatever you like into the center of the cake board and position the chocolate dome over the top and put it into place. Now you need to fasten the chocolate dome to the board. To do this take some kind of large red candy pieces and arrange them around the outside of the dome at the base using melted white chocolate to act a s a glue. Make sure they are stuck both to the dome and to the board.
Now the fun part begins! Now you need to choose your candy decorations. Edible gold or silver balls can really add some bling to your Christmas candy centerpieces, but you would probably start by selecting the usual Christmas colors in a variety of candy types. Choose how you want to decorate your candy dome. Do you want simple rows going around the dome, or would you prefer a more complex pattern?
To give a visual feast and effect, purchase some small candy canes, and again using melted chocolate, glue them around the outside of the dome flat onto the board. They can come straight out at ninety degrees or at an angle, depending on the size of your board and your individual preferences. This completes the Christmas candy centerpieces, and now all you need to do is present it to your guests.
Learn how to make amazing candy bouquets, buffets and centerpieces at home the easy way with my step by step video tutorials at http://www.howtomakeediblebouquets.com/. Find inspiration for every festive season and occasion.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Scott_Mckernan
