I have a question about modelling chocolate figures: How long in advance can they made, so that they are still fresh and edible? Also, what is the best way to store them until you place them on the finished cake? I will be making animals out of modelling chocolate, but they will also have fondant components (spots, eyes, etc) and some of them (i.e the lion) will have piped hair in buttercream. My only thought is to do the chocolate modelling ahead, refrigerate, then do the fondant detailing closer to the date..

Think of a candy bar sitting on your counter....chocolate doesnt have to be put in the fridge and it takes a long time to "go bad", just store in an airtight container. If you do put in the fridge, allow to come to room temp before doing anything with it because it will sweat and the condensation needs to dry before you fiddle with it again.

Ive used modeling choc 2 weeks later with no problems....it probably has an even longer shelf life than that.

Thank you cangela4re