I'm planning to work with modeling chocolate for the first time. I want to mold it into shapes to decotate the sides of my cake (I've always done this in fondant before). Will this work? How hard does the chocolate get when dried? I'd also like to make a cake topper.

TIA

I'm not sure how complicated you want to get, but the benefit of modeling chocolate can be that it doesn't get completely hard, so it is easy to manipulate and also to cut thru later for the sides of a cake. You can roll it out really thin, which also makes for an edible layer. Here is a very simple version of a cake decorated with flat cut outs.
The modeling chocolate will get firm, but stay pliable and gets soft again when exposed to heat and or moisture.
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Thanks for the info!