Fondant Sweet Hearts

1. Lightly dust your work surface with powdered sugar. Prepare a cookie sheet by lining it with aluminum foil or parchment paper.

2. Form your fondant into a disc shape. Add a teaspoon of the flavoring extract of your choice to the center of the disc, and fold it over on itself. Knead the dough ball for 30-45 seconds to evenly disperse the flavoring, dusting with powdered sugar as necessary. Taste the fondant to ensure the flavoring is strong enough; if not, knead in an additional amount.

3. If your fondant is white and you would like to color it, decide how many colors you want to use, and separate the fondant into that many equal parts. Knead a small amount of food coloring into each fondant ball, working the color until it is even throughout.

4. Using a rolling pin, roll the fondant out on the prepared work surface until it is slightly less than ¼ inch thick. Cut out heart shapes with cookie cutters or fondant cutters. If you have different sizes of cutters, cut several sizes from each color. Some will be dipped, and some will be used to decorate. Repeat rolling and cutting with remaining colors. Place in refrigerator to firm for at least an hour.

5. Temper the chocolate.

6. Using dipping tools or two forks, dip the hearts in the melted chocolate. Drag the bottoms across the lip of the bowl to remove excess chocolate, and place back on the prepared baking tray. While the chocolate is still wet, place some of the smaller hearts on top to decorate. If your hearts are all one size, this is an optional step.

7. Allow chocolate to set before removing from the baking sheet. Trim excess chocolate around edges.

Note: You can use whatever cutters you have on hand, or even free-hand shapes with a sharp knife. If you want to cut very small shapes, look for “Fondant Cutters” in craft or cake stores. Wilton makes a series of small cutters that I like.