How to Make Candy Curls

Dressing up any dessert to match your party theme color is easy with candy curls made from matching colored Candy Melts. Use candy curls to embellish cake, cupcakes, ice cream, mousse, or even as garnish for hot chocolate.

Skill LevelIntermediate

Ingredients & Tools
Instructions

Instructions

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Loaf pan method: Melt Candy Melts? according to package directions. Add 2 tablespoons of EZ Thin? or pure white solid vegetable shortening per 12 oz. of Candy Melts?, stir until melted.
Pour melted mixture into mini loaf pan cavities, 1 inch thick. Tap pan on surface to remove air bubbles. Chill until firm, about 25 -30 minutes. Unmold and bring to room temperature.
Using a vegetable peeler or a cheese plane on narrow side of candy block, apply even pressure to the block as you pull peeler towards you and form the candy curls. If candy is not curling, warm block by microwaving at 50% power for 10-second intervals until candy is just slightly warm. Refrigerate curls until ready to use. Any remaining blocks of candy can be re-melted or reserved for future use.
Cookie sheet method: Melt Candy Melts according to package directions. Add 2 tablespoons of EZ Thin? or pure white solid vegetable shortening per 12 oz. of Candy Melts?, stir until melted.
Pour melted Candy Melts? onto parchment paper or directly onto a marble slab. Using an angled spatula, spread candy quickly into a thin layer. You must work quickly, or candy will thicken and become hard to spread.
Candy appearance will change from shiny to matte as it sets. Once candy has set slightly, position a cookie spatula or scraper just inside the edge of the candy layer at a 45? angle. Apply gentle, steady pressure, pushing the spatula forward. If the candy breaks into flat pieces instead of curling as you scrape, that means the candy firmed up too much. To fix, place pan on a warming plate or hold a hair dryer on a low setting about 6 inches from pan to warm candy slightly, no more than a few seconds. Then begin scraping again to form curls. Refrigerate curls until ready to use.
Tips:
- When using the vegetable peeler to form candy curls, they will be fragile and work best when they are made directly over the dessert you are garnishing.
- Create multi-colored candy curls using the loaf pan method by filling Disposable Decorating Bags with different colors of melted candy and piping thin layers of colors in loaf pans. Let each layer set slightly, but not solid, about 2 to 3 minutes before adding next layer of color.