I've only ever used chocolate to coat cookies or make antlers for my reindeer cupcake so I'm pretty new at it. I'm making some angry bird cupcakes and got the brilliant idea to make the birds out of chocolate. I've basically got a printout I'm putting behind wax paper and I'm gonna use the melted chocolate to pipe out the design using bottles. I didn't spring for candy melts as I have some white chocolate bark lying around and I was just going to color it and use that... Will this work? And does anyone have any Hints or tips they wanna share lol.

Your plan sounded great until the part where you're planning to color the white chocolate. You must use oil based candy colors, NOT water based gel or paste icing colors. You can get candy colors where Wilton products are sold.

What you're making is called a chocolate transfer. Here are a couple of tips for you.

Print out your pattern in reverse because you're going to be creating it face down. Be sure to start filling in from what will be considered the front.

For your outlines, allow your melted chocolate to set up slightly so it won't spread.

Periodically lift the wax paper and look at your piece to make sure you've filled everything in and there are no gaps or holes.

Place your piece in the refrigerator for no longer than 2-3 minutes to set up. Any longer and your piece will start to curl. The only other time you should refrigerate is when you're ready to place it on the cake so it doesn't melt in your hand (which should be wearing a cotton candy glove anyway). Again, no longer than a couple of minutes.

Consider adding tiny details, like eyes, after the piece is finished.

Good luck!

i appreciate your reply but your wrong about the coloring. Ive successfully used gel colors to color chocolate for cookies and other covered treats. i had just never done chocolate like this. I have already completed 3 of the 4 sets of birds and they are just fine. i never add ALOT of gel color and, for example the red i needed, i started with half white and half milk chocolate. it was dark enough where i only needed a lil bit of color. it set up perfectly well and looks awesome.

i didnt need to reverse the image as i let my chocolate cool a little, and then proceeded to pipe it out as i would have done royal icing. i used a pipe by numbers kind of technique and the chocolates all joined together just right. the front looks about the same as the back minus lil details i added when it was all dried.

and the curling thing... has never happened when ive piped out chocolate.. i put my antlers in the freezer right after i piped them and they never curled. i put these angry birds in the freezer to set the colors in between other color additions and nothing ever curled. perhaps because they are not wafer thin... but then again, even my antlers were wafer thin...

either way im almost done with the birds... they look awesome and i didnt deviate from my plan except i created a hot water bath in my crockpot and once the chocolates were melted and colored, i put them in food safe bottles i bought a few years ago for hot ice cream toppings to use with a banana split bar... they are microwave safe and high temp safe to a degree... they are actually designed to be put in a water bath to keep the toppings hot, so it worked for my chocolate too... the water bath kept the chocolates at the perfect temp and when i needed that color, i just pulled it out, screwed on my tip adapter and tada... we have angry birds... they are awesome and i will definately do chocolate more often!

I'm pleasantly surprised that the coloring worked for you. As far as water causing chocolate to seize, adding 'just a little bit' is usually what causes the seizing, as opposed to a lot of liquid, which is usually fine.

Doing chocolate like royal run-in (not reversed) is definitely doable, as you know. The reverse method yields a different look - more flat, less dimensional.

Glad you didn't have curling problems. Happens to me almost every time.

Can't wait to see the finished product!