Fun with Candy Clay

I signed up for another Wilton cake decorating course, but the class was canceled the day before due to a lack of interest. (Apparently, I was the only person who registered!)  I've been wanting to add some new techniques to my cake decorating repertoire, so I decided to experiment with candy clay.  My niece was having a guitar themed birthday, which created a perfect opportunity to practice something new.

Candy clay is a quick, easy mixture to make with endless applications.  The only two ingredients are a bag of candy melts and 1/4 cup of light corn syrup.  It literally takes two minutes to melt the candy in the microwave.  Once the corn syrup is added, the candy quickly thickens into a clay like mixture.  It's still soft and pliable, though it hardens after several hours.  (Ideally, it should set overnight.)

I grabbed some chocolate melts from my pantry and went to work.  I placed wax paper underneath and on top of the mixture and rolled it out to about 1/8 inch thickness. (You can also use cocoa powder or corn starch to keep it from sticking.)

To go with the guitar theme, I decided to make guitar picks.  This process was tedious since I had to create a template and cut each pick out by hand.  It would have taken no time at all if I had a cookie cutter.

I placed the picks in the freezer so they would firm up while I whipped up a batch of royal icing.  I piped "A" or "15" on each pick in honor of the birthday girl turning 15.

The custom, edible guitar picks were ready to be inserted into my cupcakes.  Because it was a bit of a drive in a hot car and the candy clay had not yet dried, I stored the picks in a chilled cooler until the cupcakes were ready to be served.

It was such a fun, simple way to add a wow-factor to a basic cupcake.  Candy clay just might become my new favorite thing!