What Goes Bump In The Night? Ghosts & Goblins Looking For Chocolaty Treats!
Written: Jul 15 '03
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Pros: 19 figures to a mold, easy to use, cleans up in a snap [literally!].
Cons: Not much detail to the ghosts, requires a gentle hand when decorating and pouring.
The Bottom Line: Obsessive about Halloween? Need to have everything decked out in orange and black? Kick it up a notch with Wilton’s Mini Ghost & Pumpkin Candy Mold!
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| Freak369's Full Review: Wilton Mini Ghost & Pumpkin Candy Mold 2115-1735 |
How many days is it until Halloween? Don’t bother counting because it will be here soon enough! While digging through all the boxes of decorations and baking supplies for the spooky season, I came across the candy molds I’d been looking for. Last year they got packed in the wrong plastic tote and almost got overlooked. If you are obsessive about Halloween and want to have every thing you serve carry a ghostly theme, this is a great candy mold to pick up. I’ve had mine for several years and barring the small cracks around the edges, it looks almost as good as when it was brand new and trust me – this thing sees a lot of use during the month of October.
Wilton Mini Ghost & Pumpkin Candy Mold 2115-1735
If you are familiar with Wilton’s candy molds, you’ll know that they are sturdy and will handle a lot of use. If you aren’t familiar with them, here’s a brief run down of the mold. Made of a thick clear plastic, the candy mold is flexible to allow easy removal of set chocolate but strong enough to endure tapping on counters and being tossed in the freezer to quick set the chocolate. I generally make about 300 pumpkins and ghosts each season for decorations and for gift giving so I need a mold that will put up with a tremendous amount of use without cracking or having the impressions dent when tapping them loose.
This mold has nine pumpkins and ten ghosts that you can fill, paint and decorate. The pumpkins are extremely easy to work with and can be filled with orange chocolate [melted Wilton candy melts] or standard brown. There is a nice bit of detail to them but not so much so that you are sitting there for an hour working on each batch. The pumpkins are best decorated with a fine brush or toothpick and once you get the hang of it, it shouldn’t take more than five minutes to paint on the green for the stem and optional lines for the pumpkin sections. The ghosts are a complete breeze to decorate. The only real detail to them are their eyes and a small open mouth. Two small dots dot the eyes [toothpicks work best] and if you want you can swirl the toothpick around for the mouth – but that is up to you. I suggest doing the pumpkins first if you are going to going to add a lot of detail to them so it will be hardened when you pour in the chocolate.
When I purchased the first mold [I have several of this design] I think I paid around $2.00 for it but the others were picked up during post Halloween sales. For the life of me I can’t figure out where my brain was – instead of sitting and waiting for a batch to set up – I could have picked up several molds and been done in half the time. Alas, those are the things that you end up laughing about – and indeed – when I saw these sitting in the mis-marked box I did let out with a hearty chuckle. You can find these molds about the middle of September when stores start gearing up for the Halloween season. Michael’s usually has five or six designs to choose from with prices ranging from $1.99 to $2.99. Are they worth it? That all depends on how crazy you go at Halloween. For me, they have lasted several seasons and show no major signs of wear so for the few dollars I spent, they’ve been well worth it.
Cleaning & Care
I never throw my candy molds in the dishwasher – partly because I never use it and partly because I am paranoid that the heat will warp the design. To remove any excess chocolate, give it a gentle but firm tap on the counter and that should remove any pieces. I soak mine for about fifteen minutes in the sink with a mild dish detergent and wipe them out with a paper towel to avoid water spots. If you are planning on doing a lot of candy making make sure that your molds are completely dry. For those who aren’t candy crafters – water and chocolate do not mix. One drop of water is usually enough to ruin a batch of melted chocolate [hence the use of a double boiler when melting it]. After I wipe them out and remove all the water I can, I let them stand in the dish rack for a hour or so before I put them away or start on another batch. Aside from some small cracks on the side of the mold, the ones that I own are still in tip top shape and ready for another season of spooky fun.
Death Basket
This is a very creative and inexpensive gift that can be made weeks ahead of time. Take small bowls – ramekin size is best – and cover the bottoms with cling wrap. Make sure the wrap is stretched tight so you don’t get any lines or wrinkles. Take melted chocolate and pour it over the bottom and allow it to roll down the sides. Continue to pour the chocolate until the sides are coated. You can vary the colors of the chocolate to get a creepy effect or just use up the colored chocolate disks you have been using to decorate with. Allow them to set for a few hours – resist the urge to chill them or you might get bloom [when chocolate turns an off white from the oils rising to the top] or condensation on the surface. When the chocolate is complete hardened work the cling wrap loose and - viola - you have a small chocolate basket. You can put your small chocolate pumpkins and ghosts inside or fill it with whatever you wish. I like to stock up on Easter grass when it is on sale to stuff in the bottom – but you can fill it with whatever you like. If you are going for an “all edible” basket – cotton candy works great instead. These make great gifts or festive table decorations and best of all, you can use your surplus chocolate to make them! My personal favorite is to use the pumpkins and ghosts on the outside – just apply some melted chocolate to the backs [it acts just like glue] and press it on to the chocolate bowl mold.
The Bottom Line
So far I’ve had great luck with almost all of the Wilton candy molds, some are a bit too intricate for me to decorate – I just don’t have the patience to sit there and paint the inside of molds and worry about bubbles ruining them. With this mold it’s a piece of cake [or rather a piece of candy] – the ghosts only need two small eyes and the pumpkins, a bit of green for the stem and you are done. Now, if you really want to go all out, you can also use these for Halloween Jell-O Gigglers. If you want the recipe, feel free to email me, I wouldn’t dream of torturing you with the details….
As always, thanks for the visit …
^V^ Freak ^V^
© 2003 Freak369
Need to scare up some more Halloween fun?
Wilton Spooky Cookie Cutter Set
Wilton Dancing Skeleton Baking Cups
Wilton Halloween Mix
Wilton Black Colored Sugars
Wilton Mini Pumpkin Pan
Wilton Copper Halloween Cutters – Set of 6
Thanks to Mind-full for adding yet another Wilton Halloween product to the database for me!
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): $2.00
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