Valentine’s Day Candy Hearts
Holidays are all about sweet treats. Easter = chocolate. Halloween = candy. Christmas = baked goods. Let’s be honest: I’ll find just about any excuse to make any sort of sweet treat. Valentine’s Day is no exception. I wanted an adorable little treat that was quick and easy to make and that my toddler would also enjoy devouring (and my husband for that matter). Valentine’s Day candy hearts just make sense!
I love Candy Melts. And sprinkles. So I have an abundance of each in my cupboard. Christmas sprinkles, Easter sprinkles, you name it. I have also amassed quite the collection of pink sprinkles due to my pink-loving three year old. The only thing I didn’t have was a heart-shaped mould. I stopped by the local dollar store and lo and behold, there was a silicone mould for $1.25 with ten tiny little hearts. I think it’s meant to be an ice cube tray but I knew it would do just the trick. The craft store a few doors down was selling the same tray (albeit a bit sturdier) for $9. I’m okay with a flimsy mould for $1.25.
I prepped my supplies and away I went. I had red, white and pink Candy Melts but opted to just use the pink & the white. Plus my mould only had room for 10 hearts which is all I wanted to make. I poured my sprinkles into little bowls as this makes it easier to portion control instead of just pouring them straight from the jar into the mould.
Start out by filling each space in your mould with a variety of sprinkles. I really liked the large pink nonpareil “bubbles” – I felt they stood out the best. The size & weight of them kept the melted candy from swallowing them up as it did with the tiny nonpareils. I made sure to fully cover the bottom of each space – there’s no need to be stingy where sprinkles are involved!
Next, you will need to melt the candy wafers. Do this according to package directions. I like to use small glass bowls. A little goes a long way with these melts. The melted pink candy bowl contained as much as you see of the white melts. You really need very little for these tiny moulds. (I’ll show you a fun use for the leftovers at the end of the post!)
Using a small spoon, add a dollop of the melted candy to each spot. I used my finger to spread it around evenly because I find it offers more precision than using the end of the spoon. Plus that way I get to lick the excess off my fingers 🙂
Once you’ve smoothed out each heart, you want to tap the mould on the table. This helps to remove any air bubbles and makes a nice, silky smooth candy. You can see a bubble working it’s way out in the white candy at the top of the mould in the photo. Just keep gently tapping the mould until you don’t see any more bubbles popping out. I did it about 20-30 times, tapping the differently sections on the table.
Put the mould in the fridge. These candy melts stay pliable for quite a while when you’re working with them but they set very quickly. Give them about 10-15 minutes in the refrigerator and they will be ready to pop out of the moulds. I pulled the edges away from each heart individually then flipped it over onto a cloth and pushed them out. Voila! Beautiful Valentine’s Day candy hearts. Keep them for yourself or give some away!
Writing with Candy Melts
I used the excess melted candy to make these fun little designs. You will need a cookie sheet with a piece of wax paper on it – ensure it is flat on the cookie sheet with the waxy side up.
I spooned the pink melts into the corner of a freezer bag and cut off a tiny piece of the corner as a makeshift icing bag. I then freehanded some designs on the wax paper. Once the pink was almost out, I added the leftover white melts to the bag. This gave me the marbled effects and the lighter pink.
These only take a few minutes to harden. Gently peel them from the wax paper. You can eat these as-is which is what we ended up doing. This is a fantastic way to make cupcake toppers as well. Ice some cupcakes and you can stand these up in the icing – you will look like a seasoned professional!
Andrea can always be found with a new craft in front of her, a form of technology on her right and a coffee on her left. This is how she survives suburbia with her two crazy toddlers in tow.
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