Tuesday
Feb242009
Comeback Candy: Valentine's Day Chocolate Redux
Tuesday, February 24, 2009 
It's a hard thing indeed, to realize that you're past you're prime. Where once you were the toast of the town, now you're yesterday's news: washed up, aging, without many prospects for the future.
But what if--just what if--you could have one more shot at the big time?
No, we're not talking about you, Mickey Rourke (although seriously--what's happened to you since Diner?). We're talking about Valentine's Day Candy. Just a week and a half ago it was the star of the sweet world--now, half eaten boxes of chocolates are being discarded, and what boxes are left are relegated to sad sales bins, prices slashed.
But we know everyone loves a comeback--and so we decided to try to breathe some new life into those leftover chocolates to give them one last hurrah and to bring them up to date with the current sweet scene: and so, we made them into an Easter Bunny.
Here's what we did.
First, we took all of our leftover Valentine's Day chocolates--you know, those weird flavors that are always left--can't say for sure, but think they were vanilla fondant, strawberry cream, and some sort of almond marzipan-filled. We put them in a water bath to melt them.
Of course, having a brilliant idea in the middle of this, we poured in all of our leftover Sweethearts (side note: when did Sweethearts start sounding so stalker-creepy?).
Unfortunately, these sweethearts are pretty much indestructible, so rather than melting they more just became sugary lumps.
Since we didn't have a rabbit-shaped mold, we then sort of bent a mitten cookie cutter into a vaguely bunny-shaped blob, and poured the chocolate slurry into it.
Once it was solid but still malleable, we removed the cookie cutter and added an extra few dabs to form bunny ears.
Then, we let it all cool down and set overnight.
In the morning, we touched it up with some bunnylike features rendered in decorating gel frosting. And then we decided to name it. "Easter Bunny" didn't seem quite appropriate, so we settled on "Mangly". Because certainly, this mangled little bunny had a face only a mother could love.
Feeling rather self-satisfied with having helped breathe new life into Valentine's Day candy and fairly holier-than-thou about having a small carbon footprint, we decided to see what other Easter Candy thought of their new peer.
Unfortunately, they didn't seem to get along. Maybe they're just jealous.
Or maybe they see Mangly the leftover-candy Easter Bunny for what he is: a has-been who is desperately grasping for one more moment in the spotlight.
And if this is so, then perhaps it's time to face the fact that there's a season for everything, and unfortunately, the season of Valentine's Day candy has, sadly, passed.
Hey, at least we tried. But now, we say bring on the Cadbury Creme eggs and chocolate bunnies!
tagged cakespy mischief
cakespy mischief
Reader Comments (38)
More fabulousness, that's why I'm sending you a Blog Love award!
Your chocolate bunny does look like it is pooping a toothpick in one of the pictures...tee hee. poops!
i love your ingenuity!~ most creative although i must say that i do like vanilla fondant.
was he good?
i love the idea of mixing all the candy together...kinda like mixing all the sodas together as a kid. just sugary goodness. mmm......
OMG! So funny. You're a genius and such a self-esteem booster for those poor, downtrodden candies of the world.
That bunny is just begging not to be eaten! Just look into his little white sugar sweet eyes... :)
one of the best posts i've read in a food blog in a long, long time; this made me laugh out loud.
Too funny!
Ha ha, this is so amazing, I actually laughed out loud :) "Down with the interloper!" But seriously, what a great idea to reuse rather than tossing the candy. I hope it tasted yummy!!
Your posts always brighten my day. So creative! I heart the peep bunny.
Leslie: Trust me, there are so many treats in this house that sometimes they MUST be recycled or shared ;-)
Chou: I know! It's a sad state of affairs.
Bittersweet: oh, one bite after another. :-)
Joie: Awesome! No, the peeps are not handmade, they are cocoa peeps. Pretty good!
Chic: Ooh, maybe!
TW: So true! As for the easter candy...hmm...
Noisy penguin: Ha! You're so right. Clique-y peeps. Sheesh!
Nurit: Thanks! I opened up the comments.
Katie: It was unusual. The chocolate fillings + centers yielded a kind of tootsie-roll like texture, but the lumps were pure sweetheart. They weren't really changed at all.
Apparently: Thanks!
Katie: Oh man...now I am hanging my head in shame!
Amanda: It is pretty cruel.
Cooking Ninja: Ha!! Little mangly sure does resonate as that "only a mother could love" type of guys.
Dana Treat: You're too sweet! Thanks!
Bigspoon: You're right!
Julie: sweeet!
Kickpleat: you're so right. I love the eggs.
Sophie: Haha! Although you know, truly, they probably taste similar!
Lyndsay: So true. ;-)
Cheryl: Yup. You may last forever peeps, but you will be consumed before your expiration date. Booyea!
Brittany: Glad you got the note! Unfortunately we were only there for drinks before a book signing--we were going to go back but then didn't end up having enough time before they closed! Next time!
Bam: you're sweet.
TeaLady: Thanks! Angry peeps!
Not Just: Thank you so much! That is so sweet!
Octavine: It actually did kind of even out the flavors. They didn't seem to taste like one or the other, just kind of a chocolate-candy flavor. It wasn't unpleasant!
Feathermar: maybe he was! Nobody knows what re-animator candy is capable of!
Anne-Marie: Bravely we will stand forward for those poor candies.
Laci: Aww, poor guy. He's so gone though.
Anne: Glad you enjoyed! Hopefully Mickey Rourke wasn't offended by the comparison.
Katrina: thanks!
Kelle's: Yes, I think the idea does have some merit--if we actually got a mold it might not be so bad!
Bread and Jam: Thanks! You are too sweet.
I post each year about the arrival of Easter candy. It's the highlight of my year! I love that your Peep bunnies are so expressive.
But I mean, really, Valentine's candy is nowhere near as good as Easter candy. With the exception of maybe Reese's peanut butter hearts, which when you get down to it are just the Easter eggs in heart form.
I agree! the expressions on those bunnies are priceless!
I wouldn't want to meet that last Peep in a dark alley. I was all for the idea but you lost me with the message hearts. Who eats those?