The new issue of Martha Stewart Living featured a really ingenious idea–cabbage leaves covered in chocolate to use for ice cream bowls! At first I was all fart face about it, until I realized that you peel away the cabbage after the melted chocolate hardens and before you serve the ice cream. Oh yeah!
Since it is Halloween/Fall Festival time and I am a mom of 3, I took this idea and ran with it….all the way to my cupcake decorating station. Do I really have a designated cupcake decorating station in my kitchen? Oh yeah!
I used basil from my garden as my leaf molds, melted semi-sweet chocolate in the microwave (going for easy here, don’t judge), and got my paint brush sharpened (not really).
Basil leaves are a natural, non-toxic chocolate mold! A slight hint of basil was left behind; I found it rather pleasant. Mint would also be a natural choice.
After I painted the leaves, I set them on parchment paper and stuck them in the fridge overnight. The next morning, I peeled back the leaves and was left with a delicately detailed chocolate relief. Or should I say, chocolate re-leaf. Guffaw.
Isn't the detail amazing? I go the best results from painting the chocolate on the underside of the leaf since that is the veinier side. I stuck the leaves, at a fun and jaunty angle!, into the piped buttercream on le cupcakes. Unfortunately, those pictures were not worthy of this blog. Sadness.
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I’ve done these with rose leaves, but mint is such a great idea! Love it! Thanks for sharing.
laxsupermom recently posted..Still Here
I just told my husband about this, we’re trying it – mostly because I said so. :) I wonder if it would work with other things? I’ve seen bowls made fron chocolate brushed on the round end of a balloon.
i think it would work on everything! if i ever get pregnant again, i’m doing a chocolate belly cast!
deva recently posted..Tipster : Easy Chocolate Leaves
Very coolio!
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At first I thought these were bay leaves and I was trying to deal with the idea of bay and chocolate, but basil is better, and mint is genius. :)
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