Shut Up And Do It: Make Chocolate Mice!

So there you are at the party with the same old boring cupcakes when some domestic wonder waltzes in with a tray of confectionery goodies practically oozing with creativity and whimsy. Well, now you can be that whiz-kid of the party circuit by making these almost-too-cute-to-eat chocolate mice. We made ours around the Christmas holiday season, but you can really have them any time of the year. And guess what? Though these little guys may look like they’ve been flown in from a big-city sweet shop, they are easy to make and won’t cost you very much cheese.

Here’s what you need:

For the Mice Bodies:

• milk chocolate bark or candy makers melting chocolate
• maraschino cherries with stems
• Hershey’s Kisses
• finely sliced almonds

Frosting (for eyes and ears):

• 1/2 cup butter
• 5 cups confectioner’s sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 3 – 5 tablespoons milk (less makes the frosting stiffer and less runny)
• red food coloring or decorators icing colors if you want different eye or nose colors

Here’s what you do:

1.) Put your chocolate in a double boiler to start melting. If you don’t have a double boiler, make one by clipping a metal bowl onto the side of pan full of water (see photo). Don’t blow your load and melt all the chocolate at once, working with little batches is easier!

2.) While the chocolate is melting, get out your maraschino cherries and pat them dry, but don’t remove the stems. The cherries don’t need to be bone dry, but too much moisture will make the chocolate weird and hard to work with.

3.) Once your cherries are dry and your chocolate is melted you can get to work covering the cherries with chocolate. A spoon helps with this task. Put the chocolate covered cherries into either candy-making cups or on wax paper keeping the stems pointing up. Let dry for at least 10 minutes.

4.) Next, dip one end of an almond slice into the melted chocolate and hold it against the cherry. This chocolate should melt into the chocolate covering the cherry and stick the almond sliver into place. Repeat process, making sort of a “V” shape with the almonds on the front part of your chocolate-covered cherry. These are the ears of the mouse.

5.) Now dip the flat part of a Hershey’s Kiss (any variety will do) into the chocolate and press it on to the cherry, covering the bottom part of the almond “V” making the ears. Be sure to let some of the ear peek out from behind the Kiss.

6.) Finally, use little dots of colored icing to make the eyes and noses of the mice. If you don’t have a fancy pasty bag, put the frosting into little plastic bags, close tightly, and cut off a corner of the bag to create a perfect (and cheap) frosting gun. Whatever you do, it’ll be cute! Even the “messed up” mice have an off-kilter charm, so this is perfect for those of us who are not quite ready for our own show on the Food Network!

Store your mice in Tupperware or cover in plastic. Refrigerate if you’re gonna sit on them for a bit, but really these little mice age very well. They can be anything from a simple present to the center of a party spread. They look especially great arranged on a tray scattered with Kisses or in a cute little gift box, and would probably blow minds if spread around a cheesecake – if any manage to make if out of the kitchen!

Enjoy…

by: Meghan Bainum and Kitty Reese