mini brownie parcels, v. 2

this is what i've been working on:

after attempting bakerella's" cupcake pops last time when i had a long weekend, i tried again last weekend with some more store-bought cupcakes as a small sample. they turned out slightly better as i got a bit more experience with dipping the little bites, but overall still not up to my standards. however, i threw those pictures out there anyway and convinced tina at work that she wanted them for her holiday party this weekend...and so off i went on my third try.

i baked my "holy mother chocolate cake" this time, which by the way is the best chocolate cake recipe ever. it is the perfectly moist basic chocolate cake for any type of project, except maybe cupcakes because they're that moist that they don't hold their shape as well as a typical cupcake. i made a delicious chocolate buttercream icing from melted dark chocolate, and added my own twist to it with reducing some icing sugar in the recipe and substituting in some cocoa powder for an even richer chocolate flavour. yum!

blended altogether, i froze them first as they were shaped into balls, and then took them out from the freezer a couple of hours later to shape into squares. i found it was much easier to shape them into decent looking squares that way because they're not as pliable and melty when they're half frozen. then back in the freezer so the dipping process will be easier and faster.
dipping turned out to be rather smooth (ha, no pun intended) for the first 4 or 5 i did, then the cake started flaking off whenever it felt like it, and i had to change the white chocolate and start over, and then the chocolate was all lumpy and wouldn't melt nicely...ughhh! by this time it was about midnight and i was ready to call it quits and pretend the whole thing never happened. i was also ranting on and on about how people should stick to what they know. i like my chocolate chip cookies (all versions), my cupcakes (all versions), and my sugar cookies. i think that's a good enough repetoire for an average person. anyway...i stuck it out and made some more horrendous looking brownie parcels that were clearly sub-par but at this point i just wanted to get it over with.

then this morning i got up early and finished off with the red ribbons in fondant. would have loved to do actual bows on top but the ambition just wasn't in me at 6 in the morning...so here they are, finished product!

the little brownie parcels dipped in white chocolate

and finished off with red fondant ribbons

all packaged up as party favours!