Chocolate Cake Decorations to Die for – Crucifix Cut-out

Cake decorating is a great opportunity to get creative with chocolate. This is a 4 part cake decorating with chocolate tutorial, the Day of the Dead inspired. These are basic chocolate decorating techniques that can also be used for cupcake decorating or dessert garnishing. However I’ll be using all of the chocolate decorations demonstrated on these tutorials for a spectacular chocolate Mexican Day of the Dead cake.

Chocolate Cut-out Decorations

Chocolate cut-outs are the building blocks for many fun chocolate decorating projects and are easy to make, with several cut-outs assembled together, you can make fabulous 3/D chocolate decorations by “glueing” the pieces with chocolate. You can create a simple cut-out with a cookie cutter or by using a paring knife. And you can get extra fancy by using a chocolate transfer sheet.

Chocolate needs to be tempered, or you can use confectionary coating (chocolate flavored candy that does not need to be tempered). For this example I’ll make a chocolate crucifix cut-out for a cake decoration, using a paring knife and a template, on a chocolate transfer sheet.

You can also use wax / parchment / acetate paper instead of a chocolate a transfer sheet (but you won’t have the pretty design embossed on the chocolate ). I have transfer sheets available on my website, this is the green dot design. I also used edible sugar cake jewels from fancyflours.com, to further embellish the crucifix and give it some sparkle.

Supplies Needed :

Tempered Chocolate or Confectionary Coating

Crucifix template ( or template of your choice )

Chocolate Transfer sheet ( you can also use wax/parchment or acetate paper )

Helps to have an offset spatula to spread the chocolate evenly

Paring or craft knife

Wax/parchment paper and a small piece of cardboard to work on

Optional : sugar cake jewels to make it ultra fabulous

How to do it :

1. Cut out your crucifix template

2. Cut out a transfer sheet a little larger than the template

3. on a piece of wax paper place the transfer sheet textured side up

4. With an off-set spatula spread a thin even layer of chocolate on the transfer sheet, spreading the chocolate beyond the edges of the transfer sheet.

5. lift the transfer sheet and place on a clean area such as a wax paper covered piece of card board or baking sheet.

6. Wait several minutes until the chocolate is firm and dry to the touch but not hardened all the way through. Chocolate needs to be soft enough so you can cut through it.

7. Place template on chocolate and trace firmly with a paring knife. Make sure to cut through to the bottom ( of the chocolate ).

8. Add extra cuts for easy removal.

9. Refrigerate for 10 minutes and remove sheet

10. If you want to add sugar cake jewels, do so right before serving, so jewels don’t become cloudy. If you “Glue” with white chocolate, instead of dark, the jewels will be more vibrant.

Please visit The Chocolate Addict.com for instructional chocolate decorating DVDs, supplies and more !