Chocolate Music Notes

I'm planning to do a music-themed dessert, and wanted to try my hand at making music notes (something completely different from the fondant music notes from a few months ago). I have some Guittard Melt N Mold pieces from all my recent cake pop projects, so I thought I'd try to pipe music notes with them. First, I found some clip art…

…that I later made into this template by copying and pasting the ones I liked best (sorry, quarter notes):

 Feel free to print it out:

You'll need a cookie sheet, waxed paper, tape, and the printout. 

 Tape the printout to the cookie sheet, then tape a piece of waxed paper over it.

 I melted half a cup of the Guittard pieces in the microwave for :30 at a time. I originally thought I would use a round #4 tip to pipe the chocolate, but I ran into various problems with the chocolate drying too quickly (even faster than royal icing) and clogging the tip and getting caked on the sides of the coupler.

 So, I reloaded the chocolate in a new disposable bag, which I first cuffed and stood upright (with the help of a Pringles can, one of my favorite tricks in cake decorating).

 Once the bag was loaded, I snipped a very small amount off the tip (approximately the size of a #4 tip).

 I piped a few sharp symbols for practice…

 …and then got to work on the notes. I wish I could have taken more photos from this point on, but the chocolate was really threatening to harden and I thought I'd better work as fast as possible. I kept the bag at slightly less than a right angle to the surface, and tried to let the chocolate just pour out as I kept the bag moving. When I applied any pressure, the chocolate sort of squiggled out.

 The pieces are ready to slide off the waxed paper when they're no longer shiny; I think I gave these about 20 minutes before I slid an angled spatula underneath them to see if they would release easily. Store them in a cool place. They might not be smooth and perfect, but I don't think the folks eating them are going to be too critical.

Music Notes, Pearls & Glitter

I made a batch of cupcakes for the opening night gala of the musical "The Marvelous Wonderettes" at Coastal Rep in Half Moon Bay. I was in the midst of several other projects, but didn't want to just send cupcakes out the door bearing nothing more than a spiral of frosting piped with a Wilton tip #1M. I had some pink fondant left over from making that big pink bow, so I rolled it out and cut out a bunch of little music notes with a cookie cutter I normally only think about when there's a small amount of dough left in between large Christmas cookies. Here the notes are, drying on a piece of parchment paper spread over a baking rack (there's a bit of powdered sugar still clinging to them; any that didn't get absorbed was brushed off easily when the pieces were dry):

I reached for a couple of items that automatically glitz up any project; Disco Dust, and 4mm sugar pearls (which are especially appropriate, because the ladies in the show all have pearl necklaces on in the publicity shot; the cupcake papers approximate the colors of their dresses, as does the frosting).

Disco Dust is unbelievably easy to apply; I'm assuming it has something to do with static electricity. All you need to do is touch your finger to it, then touch whatever surface you want to apply it to. I'm sure you could get more precise by using a brush, but it tends to go everywhere, no matter what. Here are the music notes after being dusted:

And here they are awaiting demolishment at the gala. 

Here's a shot of those aforementioned Wonderettes…you can see how they inspired the cupcakes, right?