Chocolate often delivers a message of elegance. Rich, pleasing cakes decorated with chocolate will draw even the most reformed chocoholic to your bakery case. Decorating with chocolate is fun, rewarding and extremely flavorful. Tempering real chocolate can be time consuming and expensive, and is often limited to smaller, specialty retail shops. Good substitutes are pre-made chocolate icings and chocolate coatings. The following chocolate cakes will appeal to customers of all ages.
A heart cake is perfect for Valentine’s Day or any special ocassion. Base ice and fill a heart shaped double layer cake with chocolate icing. Heat chocolate fudge icing to pouring consistency, about 115°F, and pour the icing directly over the top of the cake, letting it drip down the sides. Using star tip No. 22, pipe a bottom shell border with fudge icing. Once the icing on top of the cake is completely dry, fill a pastry bag, fitted with writing tip No. 2 or 3, with warm fudge icing. Drizzle squiggles of icing on the top of the cake. Or, instead of a pastry bag, heat a parchment bag filled with chocolate fudge icing in the microwave, and cut it to the size of writing tip No. 2 or 3.
The chrysanthemum cake is ideal for almost any occasion for any chocolate lover. The chocolate cake is iced with two types of chocolate icing and decorated with colored chocolate icing. Base ice the cake in chocolate icing. Fill a parchment bag or a disposable plastic bag with chocolate fudge icing, and heat it to about 115°F in the microwave. Snip the bottom of the bag to about the size of writing tip No. 6 or 8. Test the flow of the icing from the clipped bag, and pipe a rim around the top of the iced cake, letting the icing drip slightly down the sides of the cake. Using star tip No. 22, pipe a shell border along the bottom of the cake and inside the chocolate fudge top border. Color chocolate nondairy icing with liquid, gel or paste coloring. I used leaf green, lemon yellow, soft pink and sky blue. Pipe a series of green vines using writing tip No. 3. Add leaves with leaf tip No. 104. To pipe leaves, hold the tip with the small end away from you in a horizontal position. Pipe the chrysanthemums using a u-shaped No. 143 tip. Start by piping an inverted cone on a flower nail. In a squeeze-and-release motion, pipe petals starting from the top of the inverted cone and working down. Pull the petals out as you release the pressure. Place the finished flower along the vine. Pipe an appropriate message to finish the design.
For additional decorations, I often use chocolate garnishes made from melted almond bark. Draw patterns on a sheet of paper, and place parchment over the drawn designs. Trace the designs with melted almond bark using a small writing tip. The decorations will dry in a few minutes. As the almond bark dries, it loses its shine and becomes dull when completely dry. Another option for chocolate garnishes is to use pre-made decorations available from suppliers. The creative options are almost endless.
An elegant chocolate dessert cake always makes a lovely centerpiece. Start by filling and base icing a round double layer cake with chocolate icing. Use a No. 127 rose tip to pipe layers of petals on the top of the cake in a clockwise motion, beginning at the outer edge and working inward. Add a large chocolate rose in the center of the cake, and garnish it with some of the almond bark decorations. Add a bottom border with the rose tip, and cover it with chocolate shavings or curls.
A scored chocolate cake is simple to execute but has a stylish presentation. Fill and ice a chocolate round two layer cake with dark chocolate icing. Score the cake into eight sections. Pipe a rose bud on each section using light chocolate icing and tip No. 104. With tip No. 352, add dark chocolate leaves. Using star tip No. 22, pipe a bottom shell border and a rosette in the center of the cake. Garnish the cake with a chocolate decoration.
Offering sinfully delicious chocolate desserts will not only help to satisfy your customers’ cravings, it will help to improve your profit margin. The cold winter months are prime time for chocolate cravings.
 | Fit a pastry bag with writing tip No. 2 or 3, and fill it with warm fudge icing. Drizzle squiggles of icing over the top of a heart-shaped cake. |
| Base ice a quarter sheet cake with chocolate icing. Heat fudge icing until it flows, and pipe it around the top edge of the cake, allowing it run down the sides. |  |
 | Use writing tip No. 3 to pipe several vines in the corner of the chrysanthemum cake. To add leaves, use tip No. 104 and pipe with the small end of the tip facing away. |
| To create chrysanthemums, use tip No. 143, and pipe a cone on a flower nail. Add the petals in a squeeze-and-release motion and work from the top of the cone down to the bottom. |  |
 | Create chocolate decorations by piping melted almond bark on parchment. The parchment should be over paper containing sketched versions of the final decorations. |
| For a lovely dessert cake, cover the top of a round cake with layers of petals piped using tip No. 127. Use the same tip to pipe a bottom border that will be covered with chocolate shavings. |  |
 | Pipe a rose in the center of the cake, and accent it with dried almond bark decorations. |
| Score a round cake into eight sections. Pipe a rosebud and leaf in each section. Garnish the cake with almond bark decorations. |  |