Noxcrew - Blog Posts

Adventures In Dark Green Chocolate

“i sure would like too” - saved snip title

I started planning MCC’s Green Guardians dessert back in July and little did I know that acquiring dark green melting chocolate would end up being the hardest part of the project. A real Indiana Jones style adventure lmao. 

(Click keep reading for The Adventure)

Not only does dark green happen to be the only colour Sweet Tooth Fairy doesn’t stock, but Wilton’s candy melts aren’t sold here (although apparently they taste bad now so *shrug*) and Bulk Barn only stocks Merken’s seasonally.

Really wanting to make this, I decided to try Wilton candy dye with white chocolate instead of using coloured wafers. However, the green dye ended up being too light, even when adding a lot, and mixing in black desaturated the colour. Not to mention that the black dye had turned into a paste in its container before I’d even opened it and made it near impossible to measure the amount being added.

Fortunately for me, Jay (chocolate crow) and Autumn in Philza’s chat were kind enough to help with the colour saturation issue (ph1lLove catKISS).

Unfortunately for me, after some trial and error, the Green Guardian’s dark green turned out to be more yellow-green then blue-green. Double unfortunate for me is that Wilton does have a candy dye pack with yellow, but those weren’t available.

Now back at square one, I headed to Micheal's, bought a box of Satin Ice candy dye since they looked darker and… walked into Bulk Barn for white chocolate to find they’d started stocking the Merken’s dark green wafers ahead of the holiday season. Yes, it was November by this time. Yes, it was pain and suffering to see them.

The Merken’s wafers were still more blue-green then expected, but adding some orange wafers (also in stock) helped keep the colour from becoming too light while turning it yellow-green. After that, all I needed to do was make it darker. 

The black melting wafers weren’t in stock (and, with my luck, probably won’t be until Halloween), but I still had the Satin Ice colour I’d bought. Although I might have been able to try melting some Sweet Tooth Fairy black wafers, I was worried that mixing brands would cause the chocolate to separate.

But, ta-da!, I got the dark green I was looking for! … Well kinda. The colour looked perfect in the candy mold, but was way too dark when piped or dipped into. At this point, though, MCC was set for December 3rd and I really wanted to share this, even if it wasn’t exactly right.

However, I do still think I was on the right track and that the edits to my process will net a more accurate colour.

So, what did I learn from this? Aside from Canada’s apparent hatred of dark green chocolate wafers /j. 

I don’t know… I think if there's one thing it would be patience? Even when I was lamenting back in July that the wafers weren’t in stock now, I had reason to assume they would be later. And waiting to see would have saved me money on the candy dye and white chocolate.

So, I guess the thing to bring into future projects is to really think about if what I’m looking for is likely to be in stock/back in stock before trying a workaround - even if I’m really excited. Especially if the season for that thing to be in stock is close(ish) and not after when I’m hoping to have something out for.

Green Guardians: Peppermint Patties

Did you know? MCC 7’s Green Guardians hold the current record for most coins scored in a single event, with 25’346!

Time for another MCC dessert: Green Guardians Peppermint Patties!

They may be the Green Geckos now, but my idea for this predates the change so I’m considering it valid lmao. This was a lot of fun to make and introduced me to coloured melting chocolate and candy food dye.

The white chocolate makes these a little sweeter than you would expect for a peppermint patty and they go great with a hot cup of coffee, tea, or hot chocolate!

Check out below for the recipe to make some of your own, and, of course, thank you Scott Smajor.

(Inspired by the peppermint patties from B. Dylan Hollis’ TikTok)

Prep: 20 mins*            Cook: 1h 40mins            Total: 2 hrs     

* Can vary based on how fast you can trace the pattern at the end. I recommend doing this before you start.

Ingredients (makes ~28):

½ cup (120 ml) sweetened condensed milk

½ tsp. (2 ml) peppermint extract

2 ½ cups (300 g) powdered sugar

2 cups (340 g) bright white melting chocolate wafers*

3 tbsp. (44 g) all-vegetable shortening

40 dark green melting chocolate wafers**

7 orange chocolate melting wafers**

10 white chocolate melting wafers**

Black candy colouring or ~6 black chocolate melting wafers

* I used Sweet Tooth Fairy brand.

** I used Merkens brand.

Prepare a baking tray with a piece of parchment paper.

Combine the sweetened condensed milk and peppermint extract in a medium bowl (left).

Using an electric mixer on medium-low speed, add the powdered sugar until it comes together into a non-sticky workable dough (right).

NOTE: The dough cannot be sticky at all for this. Any amount of stickiness will make it a nightmare to cut out the circles in the next step. This should take most if not all of the 2 ½ cups of powdered sugar.

Lay out a piece of parchment paper as a work surface and sprinkle with powdered sugar. Place the dough on the parchment and sprinkle a little more powdered sugar on top.

Roll out the dough into a ½ -inch (~1.5 cm) thick circle. Using a 2-inch (5 cm) diameter circular cookie cutter, cut out as many peppermint circles as possible (top).

Transfer the peppermint circles to the prepared baking skeet (bottom left). Cover and place the tray in the freezer to chill for at least 10 minutes.

After chilling, cut each patty in half (bottom right).

While waiting for the patties to chill, melt the bright white melting chocolate wafers and shortening using either a double boiler or microwave-safe bowl. To melt them in the microwave, follow package directions.

Dip each patty in the chocolate one at a time. To dip them, submerge the bottom half of one in the chocolate and drizzle more on top. Lift the patty out of the chocolate with a fork and tap the side of the bowl to create a smooth surface. Scrape the fork against the lip of the bowl to remove excess chocolate. 

Return the dipped patties to the prepared baking sheet (left). Once they’ve all been coated, return the tray to the freezer until the chocolate has set, ~15 mins.

Once the chocolate has set, trim the edges of the patties using a knife (right).

Flip the parchment with the traced pattern (see end of post) over so side with the pen/pencil/sharpie is on the bottom. Lay it flat on a movable (if possible) lighter surface so the pattern is visible and tape down the corners to keep it from moving.

To make the dark green: melt together 30 dark green, 6 orange, and all black chocolate wafers in the microwave in 10 second bursts for 30 seconds, stirring each time.

If using black dye instead, melt the dark green and orange wafers together and then stir in 7 drops of black candy dye (top left).

Let the melted chocolate sit for 10 minutes to cool down and let the colour set. After cooling, transfer 2 tbsp. into a decorating bag or into the corner of a ziplock bag. Snip the bag just enough for the chocolate to flow easily when you squeeze the bag, then snip off a little bit more.

Keeping constant pressure on the bag, trace the pattern on the template, going around the edge first. For a smooth look, try not to spread the chocolate too much with the piping bag. Instead, once the border has been traced, pipe a larger line of chocolate in the middle and lightly tap the parchment paper to let the chocolate spread (top right).

You’ll likely still need to spread the chocolate a little using the piping bag, but try not to do it much.

Transfer the parchment paper, and the surface it’s on, if possible, to the fridge to set while you prepare the light green.

To make the light green: melt together 10 dark green, 10 white, and 1 orange chocolate wafers using the same method as the dark green (bottom left).

Let the melted chocolate sit for 10 minutes to cool down and let the colour set. After cooling, transfer all of it into a decorating bag or into the corner of a ziplock bag. Snip the bag just enough for the chocolate to flow easily when you squeeze the bag.

Keeping constant pressure on the bag, trace the pattern on the parchment with only one line of lighter green (bottom right).

Return the parchment paper, and the surface it’s on, if possible, to the fridge to set, about 5 mins.

TIP: You can try and use a toothpick to smooth the ends of the line of light green against the dark green.

Remove the patties from the freezer and dip just the edge of the flat side in the remaining dark green, re-melting the chocolate in the microwave if needed (left).

Attach the chocolate irises to the rest of the eye using a little bit of melted chocolate (right).

And then you’re done, enjoy!

I’m really happy with how these turned out! It’s surprisingly easy to make peppermint patties and I loved being able to put my spin on them and make another dessert for MCC.

The dark green I made is a little darker then I would like, but I think I fixed it in the instructions given.

The pattern to trace:

Formatted for 8 ½ x 11.

Yellow Yaks: Oat-Fudge Bars

Did you know? In MCC 22, the Yellow Yaks were nicknamed The Golden Girls and were MCC's first all-female team!

Welcome to the stage, the Yellow Yaks themed dessert: Oat-Fudge bars! 

I’ve had this idea knocking around in my head since last summer and now it’s done and I finally get to share it! This event is so much fun to watch and participate in as an audience member, so I really wanted to create something that everyone could enjoy!

Check out what I made for the Green Guardians, and, of course, thank you Scott Smajor.

(Check out the recipe below and huge thanks to Garbange for fixing the lighting in the picture! Inspired by these.)

Prep: 5 mins + cutting out the template      Cook:  4h 50 mins*       Overall:  5 hrs

* Includes cooling time (3 hrs).

Ingredients

For the oat layers:

½ cup (113 g) unsalted butter, melted

½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar

½ cup (100 g) packed brown sugar

1 large egg

2 tsp. (10 ml) vanilla extract

1 cup + 2 tbsp. (135 g) all-purpose flour

¼ tsp. (2 g) salt

½ tsp. (1 g) cinnamon (optional)

1 ⅓ cups (105 g) old-fashioned oats

For the chocolate fudge:

¾ cup + 2 tbsp. (170 g) semi-sweet chocolate chips

¾ cup (175 ml) sweetened condensed milk

2 tbsp. (21 g) unsalted butter

¼ tsp. (2 g) salt

First, preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C) and with the oven rack in the middle of the oven.

In a large bowl whisk together the melted butter and sugars (picture 1).

Then, whisk in the egg and vanilla extract (picture 2).

Next, fold in the flour, salt, and cinnamon (picture 3).

Finally, fold in the oats (picture 4).

Lightly grease an 8x8-inch square pan. Cut parchment paper to fit the pan so that the bottom is covered and the parchment only hangs over two sides of the pan.

Then, spoon about a ¾ cup of the mixture into the bottom of the prepared pan and spread it so that it creates an even layer.

Set the remaining oatmeal mixture aside.

To make the fudge, add about ½-inch of water to a medium saucepan over medium-low heat and place a large glass or stainless steel bowl over top (picture 1). Make sure the bottom of the bowl doesn’t touch the water!

Then, add the chocolate chips, sweetened condensed milk, and butter to the bowl (picture 1). Gently stir the mixture as it melts.

Once the mixture has a smooth consistency (picture 2), remove the pan from the heat.

Pour the chocolate mixture over top of the oatmeal layer (picture 3).

NOTE: You can also melt the chocolate mixture in the microwave using a microwave safe bowl and stirring after 10 second increments until the mixture has a smooth consistency.

NOTE: Make sure to hold the bowl with a kitchen towel if using stainless steel - it really heats up!

To make the faces, first place the cut-out template overtop of the fudge layer (picture 1).

Then, fill the void areas with the remaining oat mixture that was set aside (picture 2) reserve a very small amount to fill in the areas where the nose was kept attached (the white spots).

Next, remove the template and fill in the areas where the nose was kept attached (picture 3).

Finally, bake in the preheated oven for 25-30 minutes. The pieces of oatmeal cookie on top should look set.

After the bars are done baking, allow them to FULLY COOL IN THE PAN (about 3 hours).

TIP: I recommend cutting out the faces on the template with an x-acto knife and the pan border with scissors. Don’t forget to leave a little bit of the white area to keep the nose holes and nose bridge attached!

NOTE: You can cook the bars for longer if you want crispier, less chewy bars.

To cut out the faces, start by lifting the bars out of the pan using the overhanging parchment paper and place it on a cutting board (picture 1).

Slice into four pieces (picture 2).

Finally, print a second template and cut the face of one of the Yaks. Place it over top of each bar and use it as a guide to cut out the shape of each face (picture 3). 

TIP: The ears are a difficult since they’re really thin on the cutout. I recommend letting all of that chocolate area be for the ears and to cut out the head starting at the oats. See the title and final picture as an example.

Ta-da! Time to enjoy your tasty treat!

Honestly, I love these so much, 10/10. Not only did the designs come out super well but they taste amazing. 

I’m used to, and still kinda prefer, the ones at Starbucks that don’t include cinnamon (why I made adding it optional) but they’re fantastic either way!

Now, time to get energized and watch our favourite streamers compete in this MCC!

TEMPLATE:

Follow the following instructions to print this in the right size for an 8x8-inch pan (for Windows, sorry Apple users, idk if this works with mac):

Left click the image > Right click > Save image as… > Save

Right click the downloaded image > Open with > Paint

File > Print > Print > Select Print to PDF > Apply > Cancel

File > Print > Page Setup > Select Portrait > Set all margins to 0 > Ok 

File > Print > Print to PDF > Print > Name the file > Save

Double left click the saved PDF > Select your browser of choice > Click the print button > Select your printer > Print