Cream Cheese Mints

I found this mold today when I was puttering around at one of my favorite cake decorating stores (Sugar 'n Spice in Daly City):

It's the Sea Shell Flexible Mold by LorAnn. It doesn't say anywhere on the packaging what it's made of, but I'm guessing silicone. It has a yummy recipe on the packaging for Cream Cheese Mints, which I tried as soon as I got it home. All the recipe calls for (other than the mold) is 3 oz. room temperature cream cheese, 2 1/2 cups of powdered sugar (I wound up using closer to 3 1/2 cups), 1/2 cup of granulated sugar, paste or gel food coloring, and a few drops of LorAnn Spearmint oil. You'll also need a cookie sheet with a piece of waxed paper taped to it. 

Start by sifting the powdered sugar and weighing out the cream cheese.

Combine them together, and add the food coloring and spearmint oil to taste (start with about 4 drops of each; you can always add more of either).  

The mixture should be the consistency of pie dough. You might be able to tell it was still rather creamy here, and it needed to be stiff enough to be kneaded.  

 I sifted in another cup or so of powdered sugar, and it became kneadable. 

Put the granulated sugar in a dish, pinch off small balls of the cream cheese mixture, and roll them in the sugar. The granulated sugar will keep the mixture from sticking to the mold, so don't use it sparingly. 

Press the balls into the recesses in the mold, and wipe away any excess. I figured out after this first round of four that I was rolling the balls a little too big; easily fixed. 

Invert the mold, and give it a hearty smack onto the waxed paper or your hand to release the shells. 

Chill them in the refrigerator until ready to serve. When you're finished, wash the mold in warm, soapy water, rinse it well, and allow it to dry flat. You can also use the mold for molding butter; just press the butter into the mold, chill the mold, then unmold the butter when it's firm. I'm definitely saving that trick for my next dinner party! 

Marbled Chocolate Molds

 This post is rather similar to yesterday's about molding chocolate. The only extra step is to use more than one color and stir them around a little inside the molds. You'll need a Pyrex measuring cup for each color (or any microwaveable container), molds (available at cake decorating/candy making stores), and chocolate designed for making candy, like Melt 'n Mold pieces by Guittard.

 You'll also need a variety of spatulas, small spoons, and flat toothpicks. I experimented with all of these. Hang on to those sample spoons you get at ice cream parlors!

 Place some chocolate in each container and microwave it in :30 increments…

 …until it is melted and pourable. Stir it after each time in the microwave; any small pieces may dissolve when you stir them around. The less time in the microwave, the better; excessively warm chocolate in your molds will take a very long time to harden.

Place a small amount of one color or another into a mold…

 …and fill it the rest of the way with the other color. Swirl the colors about randomly, but don't stir too much or you'll lose the marbling effect and wind up with light brown.

 Tap the molds on the counter to bring up any air bubbles and to smooth out the surface. Place them in the refrigerator until the chocolate is hardened. For small molds like this…

…I was able to flip them out onto a cutting board after about 20 minutes. 

You can smooth away any rough edges with a fingertip.