Hot Chocolate Bombs
How to make beautiful, shiny and professional looking hot chocolate bombs! How to easily temper chocolate and simple decorating!
Servings: 6 spheres
Calories: 87kcal
Equipment
- Thermometer
- 2 ½" Sphere Mold (silicone or acrylic)
Ingredients
- 24 ounces semi-sweet couverture chocolate I prefer Callebaut, you can also use any high quality bar chocolate. You can use candy melts, if you're using a silicone mold but they don't taste as good.
- 1 cup mini marshmallows
- 6 Tablespoons hot chocolate mix
Instructions
For Silicone Molds
- Place the chocolate into a bowl and heat for 30 seconds (my microwave is 1000 watts)
- Stir the chocolate, moving the chocolate that is on the outside, towards the center.
- Heat again for 15 seconds and stir again.
- Repeat this process until the chocolate is ALMOST melted but not fully melted. Never heating for longer than 15 seconds and never going above 90F. If you go above 90º you will have to temper your chocolate by seeding (see my blog post for more info)
- Stir until fully melted.
- Fill your molds halfway with chocolate and use a spoon to smooth the chocolate up to the edges, taking care to make sure the walls are evenly coated.
- Turn the mold over and shake out the excess chocolate.
- Use a bench scraper to scrape off the excess chocolate.
- Turn the mold upside down onto the parchment paper and allow them to set up in the fridge for 10 minutes.
- Carefully remove the chocolate shells from the mold by gently pushing up from the bottom until the shell releases.
- Heat a ceramic plate and use it to smooth out the edges of the chocolate shells.
- Place the shells in cupcake liners for stability. Fill the shells with hot cocoa mix and marshmallows.
- If needed, warm the edge of the top shell once again on the plate and place it on top of the filled shell. Hold for 10 seconds to seal.
- Fill your piping bag with about ¼ cup of the leftover melted chocolate. Snip the tip off and drizzle chocolate over the hot chocolate bombs. Immediately top with some sprinkles.
For Acrylic Molds
- Chop your chocolate finely with a sharp chefs knife
- Add your chocolate to a bowl and microwave for 30 seconds (my microwave is 1000 watts)
- Stir the chocolate, moving the chocolate that is on the outside, towards the center.
- Heat again for 15 seconds and stir again.
- Repeat this process until the chocolate is ALMOST melted but not fully melted. Never heating for longer than 15 seconds and never going above 90F. If you go above 90º you will have to temper your chocolate by seeding (see my blog post for more info)
- Polish your mold with a paper towel to remove and residue from the inside to prevent the chocolate from sticking.
- Warm the acrylic mold slightly with a hair dryer or heat gun so it doesn't feel cold but not hot either.
- Pour the chocolate (at 90ºF) into the molds and tap on the table a few times to remove bubbles.
- Dump the chocolate back into the bowl, use the edge of your bench scraper to tap out as much of the chocolate as possible. You don't want the chocolates to be too thick.
- Scrape off the excess chocolate from the top of the mold back into the bowl.
- Turn the mold upside down onto some parchment paper to let the chocolate drain further and almost completely set. About 5 minutes. The chocolate should lift away from the parchment paper easily but still be soft.
- Scrape off the excess chocolate again and then place the mold into the freezer for 5 minutes.
- The freezer will cause the chocolate to contract and pull away from the mold. If it's not tempered, it will not contract and there will be no way to get the chocolate out. You can tell if your chocolate is tempered because if you look under the mold, it wont be stuck to the molds anymore. If you have a couple spots where it still is, it will be ok and still release with no problem.
- Quickly turn your mold over onto the table to release the chocolate from the mold. Now they are ready to assemble.
- Add 1 Tablespoon of hot chocolate mix to half the sphere and some marshmallows.
- Pipe some melted chocolate onto the top of the sphere at attach the top piece of the sphere. Pressing gently but firmly.
- Use a gloved hand to wipe away the excess chocolate for a clean look or roll in some sprinkles to finish decorating them!
Video
Notes
Ingredient notes: Stick with semi-sweet couverture chocolate or another high-quality bar chocolate for the best flavor and shine. Skip chocolate chips, they contain stabilizers that keep them from tempering properly. If tempering feels like too much, compound chocolate like Merckens works in a silicone mold without any tempering. It just won't melt as easily in hot milk and has a slightly waxy taste. Use a simple kitchen thermometer or an infrared thermometer to track your chocolate's temperature throughout. This step isn't optional.
Mold options: Silicone molds are the easiest choice if you're newer to tempering. They just take a bit longer to set. Acrylic molds are more advanced and let you turn out more bombs at once. See the two instruction sets above for both methods.
Make-ahead and storage: Nothing in these bombs spoils quickly. They're shelf-stable as long as your chocolate, hot chocolate mix, and marshmallows are within their own expiration dates. Store finished bombs in an airtight container at room temperature, away from direct sunlight or heat.
Substitutions: Real chocolate (with cocoa butter) needs tempering but tastes and melts better. Compound chocolate, like candy melts or Merckens, skips tempering, but it won't melt as easily in hot milk and has a slightly waxy taste. It's the easier trade-off if you're short on time or new to tempering.
Critical do-nots: Don't let your dark chocolate go above 90º F (86º F for milk chocolate, 84º F for white chocolate). If it does, you'll need to re-temper it by seeding with more chopped chocolate rather than just cooling it back down. Don't skip leveling the shell edges on the warm plate before sealing. Mismatched seams are hard to fix after the fact. Don't add your sprinkles after the drizzle has set. They need wet chocolate to stick.
Nutrition
Serving: 1bomb | Calories: 87kcal | Carbohydrates: 18g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 2g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Sodium: 134mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 14g | Calcium: 15mg | Iron: 1mg
