Nerdvana




Lego Chocolate synergy.  So, so much greater than the sum of its parts.

 

Four is turning five, and has asked for a Lego themed birthday party.  And looking around for Lego-themed stuff, I discovered the most wonderful piece of kitchen gadgetry:  silicone Lego minifigure ice cube trays.

Except, who would limit themselves to freezing water, when you can mold so many other things, like chocolate and crayon wax, for starters?  Here are the details.

Chocolate on chocolate on chocolate.  With Lego thrown in.  Can't go wrong with that.

For chocolate Lego minifigures, melt semi-sweet chocolate in the microwave (for 1 oz, on high for 1 minute, stir, then another 10-30 seconds more until smooth and liquid when stirred).  Each minifigure takes about 7 grams of chocolate, so figure on 2 oz to fill the 8-minifigure tray.  Drop the chocolate into the molds with a teaspoon, mounding slightly, then repeatedly tap the side of the mold quickly with your finger to let the chocolate settle and allow air bubbles to escape (it's a neat model of liquefaction).  Let it set in the refrigerator for 15-20 minutes, then pop them out by easing the sides apart and pressing them out from their body and toes (try to press the whole minifigure out evenly, because if you bend them too much you may lose a few toes).  It's incredibly easy, and the silicone releases so well there's pretty much no clean-up.




Whipped ganache frosting tops these cupcakes.



The frosting recipe is too good not to share, too:  1 cup heavy cream, heated to boiling.  Remove from heat, and stir in 4 oz chopped semi-sweet chocolate.  Stir until smooth, then chill.  When cold, whip at medium speed until thick (like whipped cream).  Pipe with a 1M tip in a rosette, starting at the center.  And the cake?  Boxed mix.  What, you think I'm that crazy?

When you run through your chocolate supply, look around the house for other things you can melt, like the bin of old crayons.

**(Updated:  see below)  Peel the crayons, break them into smaller chunks, and heat them in an old bowl in a pot of water until melted, then spoon into the molds.  It takes 5 grams of crayon wax to make a minifigure; if you only want to make one of each color, it's easier in terms of clean-up to take an old soup spoon and melt the crayon in that, held over a candle.  Cold crayon wax is a bear to get off of pots and bowls; if anyone has a (relatively non-toxic) solution beyond hot water and a scouring pad, let me know.  Let the wax cool, then pop out your minifigures like you did the chocolate.  It's addicting, I tell you.  If you stick a length of cotton twine in the minifigure before the wax cools, I bet you could even use them as candles.

So I was looking around at other Lego party ideas, after the fact of course (since when would I have had time before the party?) and came across the blog of a much cleverer and put-together woman who used the microwave to melt the crayons in the mold.  No clean-up, so much easier, just ignore my instructions here and check out hers.  Well, now I know silicone is microwave safe.