Pot O' Gold Cupcakes

Oh, boy have I been looking forward to these little cupcakes! I'd been wracking my brain with what kind of cupcakes to bring in for my Son's class for St. Patrick's Day - clovers? Nah. Green batter cupcakes? Nah. When I was at Target one day and noticed sour gummy rainbow strips in the dollar section I thought, "Lightbulb!" to quote one of our favorite movies :) But how to make the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow? (Cause you had to have those obviously). So I gathered up my courage and tried something new - modeling chocolate! I even made it myself - big girl moment there! And boy was it some tasty, fun stuff to work with - I'll definitely be making more in the future. I decided to keep it simple for the cupcakes themselves - no dye or artificial stuff since there was enough action on top of the cupcake! Vanilla cupcakes with vanilla buttercream frosting, sour gummy rainbows, modeling chocolate pots filled with gold sprinkles - voila! My kind of gold at the end of the rainbow - chocolate! For anyone who'd like the recipe I used for modeling chocolate, I've included the directions below :)

Melt 6 oz good quality bittersweet chocolate over a double boiler (I used Ghirardelli) . Mix until no lumps remain. Let the chocolate cool for just a few minutes before adding 1/3 cup light corn syrup. Mix thoroughly until combined. The chocolate will start to form a hard ball that is difficult to stir. I put my chocolate in a resealable freezer bag and I left it on the counter over night to harden up. Dust your work surfaces with cocoa powder to prevent sticking and work your modeling chocolate until it's a desired consistency/softness. To make my "Pots O' Gold" I simply rolled round balls of approximately the same size and placed on parchment paper (to avoid sticking to anything) then rolled a thin strip of chocolate for the rim of the pot - no glue of any kind required - I just laid it in the position desired on top and pressed down lightly to help it adhere. Then I used some Wilton gold sprinkles for the "gold" in the pots - sprinkled in the middle and a gentle press of the finger to help them stick :)

Hope this was helpful!