I was super excited to receive a Wilton Deluxe Cake Decorating Set off my brother and his girlfriend as a gift. As a baker you can never have enough nozzles or piping bags! I LOVE the quick twist coupler it came with meaning I can melt my Candy directly in the piping bags now so no mess - a clean kitchen = a happy Rhian (also known as Monica to my friends!). How have I lived without this? It would have been rude of me not to use them to create a variety of cupcake toppers immediately right?
I used the white Wilton Candy melts (340g) because I wanted to create ghosts and spider's web toppers for Halloween. Once I'd chosen my designs and printed them off, I overlaid greaseproof paper and 'traced' over using the small round nozzle (Wilton number 3). What I noticed was that the candy was hardening in the piping bag and clogging up the nozzle, leaving a blobby effect. Great for spider's webs as it turned out but that's not the point!
Some quick research online provided me with a solution, mixing 8g of lard (also known as 'shortening' in the US to the 340g of candy melts. I know what you're thinking - I can't put lard in candy (that was my initial reaction too), but as it turns out you don't taste it at all.
I added the lard to the pink candy melts for my next set of designs and hey presto, the chocolate was smoother and the nozzle clog free. This batch did take a little longer to set though.
I was thrilled with the effect and will definitely be using these more in my designs in the future. Thanks Gav and Janine :-)