The only horrifying thing about these cute Ghost Fruit from Godiva is the price - $4.50 each! We saw them in Epicurious' roundup of Halloween treats, and we think they would be very easy to make yourself.
If we had time to try today, here's how we would do it:
• Fruit: Small seasonal fruit. Strawberries are completely out of season. Instead, look for small green figs, globe grapes, or very small lady apples.
• Chocolate and wax: We wouldn't use very expensive chocolate on these; the fun is in the look. Also pick up a small bar of paraffin wax and a bar of white chocolate.
• Other things you'll need: Wax paper or parchment. Small saucepan. Toothpicks.
• Melt chocolate: Add a walnut-sized lump of paraffin wax to about 8 ounces of chocolate and melt over very low heat. Let the wax completely liquefy and whisk together with the melted chocolate.
• Let chocolate cool: Here's where the project gets a little tricky. You would want the chocolate melted but thick so that it won't run off the fruit immediately. Let it cool for a few minutes then stir and try dipping the fruit.
• Dip and swipe: Dip the fruit in the chocolate and immediately drag out the excess chocolate on the wax paper or parchment, using a toothpick to swirl the end like the ghostie tails above. If the chocolate is too thin let it cool longer. If too thick, warm up again.
Alternatively, you could use a small spoon to create individual ghostie swirls on the paper, then immediately dip the fruit and place it on top.
• Eyes and mouths: Let the fruit cool until the chocolate is hard, then dab on mouths and eyes with the flat end of a toothpick dipped in melted white or dark chocolate.
© 2009 Apartment Therapy
Anyone know where you can get paraffin wax? I've been looking everywhere and can't find it. I did find those candies that have liquid in the middle and are coated in wax. It says its enriched wax which I assume is close to or the same as paraffin wax.
view brianest's profile
brianest - look in the canning section of your hardware or grocery store. It's usually with the canning jars and pectin. Sometimes it's on the baking aisle, too, with the chocolate coatings.
view faith's profile
I don't know why you would want to eat paraffin wax just so that the chocolate would look a little shinier. It is not digestable by your body.
view tarah's profile
People eat all sorts of non-digestible substances, sugar substitutes, fat substitutes, fiber, etc. Helps clean out the digestive system you know. Anyway, no need for wax if you substitute almond bark (in the baking section of most generic groceries) or those "chocolate" wafers designed for molding. Both are chocolate-like taste decent and have no wax. What is done is the cocoa butter is removed and substituted with other fats that way you don't have to worry about tempering and the chocolate will not bloom. The wax is no just about shine but also preventing blooming which alters graininess, meltability and whether the surface looks splotchy and chalky, but hey if you just want something cute without eating wax, I vote for almond bark.
view sally599's profile
Everbearing or day-neutral varieties of strawberry produce fruit during the entire growing season. I was at a berry farm near Santa Cruz this past weekend that still has U-pick strawberries.
view Katie in Berkeley's profile