Turn 2-ingredient fudge into these adorable Caramel Chocolate Fudge Bears for Valentine's Day, a birthday party, or a baby shower. These cute treats are super easy to make and taste great.
Are you familiar with Bento, the incredibly creative meals common in Japanese cuisine?
It wasn't until I began blogging about edible crafts and spending much of my time gawking at artistic foods online. The art of making lunch boxes filled with elaborately decorated rice bears, cartoon character sandwiches, heart-shaped hard-boiled eggs, and carved vegetables is awe-inspiring.
I work and eat at home most days and aside from an occasional picnic, I don't pack lunch or dinner for anyone, so bento-making has just been something I have been admiring from afar.
I've spent afternoons looking at the works of imaginative bento makers and perusing the products they use to make their food come to life. Last week I discovered BentoUSA and I couldn't pull myself away from their site. I have a wish list a mile long of fun products that I can't wait to try out.
For this project, I used a plastic teddy bear-shaped mold that is usually used with rice. It worked perfectly with my caramel modeling chocolate recipe that is made with Dulce de Leche (caramelized sweetened condensed milk) and milk chocolate that I've also used to make Chocolate Caramel Pumpkins and Inside Out Chocolate Caramel Apples.
I also used a punch that is typically used to cut sheets of nori. I cut frosting sheets instead.
The set I used even includes a bunny rabbit which I'm excited to use for an Easter project.
Using the molds, I spent less than 15 minutes shaping all of my bears. These are super simple and quick Valentine's Day edible crafts.
Caramel Chocolate Fudgy Bears (makes 9-10 bears)
Ingredients:
14 ounces of milk chocolate
1 (13.4 ounce) can Dulce de Leche (caramel)
Teddy Bear Face:
dark brown or black frosting/sugar sheet*
*You can also just color some of the caramel modeling chocolate with black food coloring or some cocoa powder then roll it out thin and use the cutter that comes with the teddy bear rice mold to cut the face.
Supplies Needed:
plastic teddy bear-shaped mold
teddy bear face nori punch*
(you won't need this if you don't use the frosting sheet)
Instructions:
Finely chop the milk chocolate.
Melt the milk chocolate and allow it to cool to about 91 degrees Fahrenheit.
Stir in the Dulce de Leche.
See my How To Fix Greasy Modeling Chocolate Tutorial for a detailed explanation of melting chocolate and why using melted chocolate that is too hot will result in oily modeling chocolate, read this tutorial.
The mixture will thicken very quickly, but you need to make sure all of the caramel is mixed into the chocolate, so use your hands if needed.
Once well mixed, wrap it in plastic wrap and let it rest for at least 30 minutes.
When you unwrap it, knead it in your hands until smooth, about 30 seconds.
Divide the caramel modeling chocolate into 9 pieces (about a heaping ¼ cup.)
Press one piece into the front of the teddy bear mold mounding it up on the backside.
Press the backside of the bento bear mold over the caramel modeling chocolate.
You can, if you want, put the front side of the mold in the white holder to keep everything straight then you can press in the back part of the mold. I found I really didn't need it, though.
Squeeze the two sides of the mold together until the edges touch.
Remove any caramel modeling chocolate that has oozed out.
Remove the backside of the teddy bear mold. Your chocolate bear should have little dots all over it.
If it doesn't, you didn't use quite enough of the caramel modeling chocolate. You can just re-roll it and mold it again.
Gently tug on the chocolate bear, peeling it away from the front of the bento bear mold.
Pull the chocolate bear completely out of the mold.
Smooth out any rough edges.
Use a nori punch with a bear face to punch out a dark brown or black frosting sheet. Press the eyes and mouth onto each of the bears.
If you look at the picture at the very top of the blog post, you'll notice one bear has a different face. I used a different punch.
If you have chosen to color some of the modeling chocolate with food coloring or cocoa powder, dust your work surface with some cocoa powder, roll it out thin, and use the cutter that comes with the teddy bear rice mold to cut the face. You can press the pieces on the bear. If needed use some corn syrup to make them stick.
More Bear-shaped Dessert Ideas
Chocolate Reese's Cup Bear Cupcakes
Chocolate Peanut Butter Fudge Buckeye Bears
Chocolate Peanut Butter Fudge Potato Candy Bears
If you are looking for other treats or gifts to make for Valentine's Day,
you might like these other recipes too.
- How to make peanut butter? - February 15, 2024
- OREO Penguins - December 20, 2023
- OREO Snowmen - December 20, 2023
AH
I used to make Bentos for my husband...yes, really. Everyone in the office was jealous. Then he got a new job and I really miss it!!
Kathrynn
I haven't tried Bento but I would like to, thanks for the chance to win
katy h
i love all things bento box related. this is such a great idea i never would have thought of it.great giveaway
Just Another Day
I follow Hungry Happenings on Pinterest
Heather Roberts-VanSickle
I already like Bento USA and CuteZCute on Facebook 🙂
kluckingbear
I haven't made a bento. Yet. Those are so cute that I now really want to give it a try!
Violet
Liked CuteZCute on Facebook
Cassie
my niece would go nuts over these! SO cute
Teresa
Those are just crazy cute! I have girls who would love BentoUSA!
Violet
Very cute idea to use them as chocolate molds!
NedLi Sakurai
I do Bento for my lunch pack.. but it's still at the basic level (^_^)
K&E'sMama
I just liked BentoUSA on Facebook!
K&E'sMama
I love making bentos for my kids lunches! My husband is the one who make the onigiri (rice balls) and would love to get some molds for them.
Thanks!!
Julie Nesst
I would love to try using the molds for rice crispy treats. I wonder if the punches could be used with thin sheets of polymer clay. Too many crafts lol
KarenB
Those bears are very cute!! That was really clever to use the sugar sheets to punch out the facial features!!! I need to try bento out!!! I would love to win some molds and punches to play with!!
Thanks for sharing!!
Leigh AKA Tyce's Mom
Those bears are adorable...what a clever idea!
Stephanie M.
ugh... too cute. This is the first I have heard about it where have I been? Okay gotta run I have shopping to do! :))
KMurphy
I have never done bento but would LOVE to learn!
eyes2theocean
These are so cute I want them in my lunch. lol
sar tann on pinterest
sahara_0000 on twitter
Nikki
It all looks so cute!! I can't wait to try making your bears!
Nikki