The Polar Vortex is here… well, not here in Florida, but we do feel for those of you suffering the frigid weather. Should I mention it’s 72 and breezy here?
Over the holidays I heard a lot of chatter about Hot Chocolate Bombs. These are hollow chocolate spheres filled with hot chocolate powder and mini marshmallows. You place in a big mug and pour steaming milk over them to create a fun cup of hot chocolate. While I do a lot of baking, I don’t often work with chocolate so these were a first. They are not difficult to make, just messy. With the cold weather being so unrelenting I thought I’d post something that might warm you up! I followed the recipe on SugarGeek and have the link for you here. But having done this once I have some tips for you below:
Have everything organized before you start and lay out some wax paper or parchment. This is messy!
24 oz is a lot of chocolate. I used a combination of Lindt 70 percent and Ghirardelli 72 percent dark chocolate. I had some left over so you could probably make 6 bombs with about 15 oz.
I tempered the chocolate in a glass bowl in the microwave and it takes longer than the 5 minutes mentioned in recipe. Just be patient and do the 15 seconds at a time, stir, and don’t let it go above 90 degrees.
To keep chocolate from firming up along sides of bowl in between coatings, keep a pot of barely simmering water on stove and place the glass bowl with chocolate over top (not touching any water!). You don't want to reheat, just keep warm.
You need a spatula. It is not mentioned in the list of items, but you need one.
Wear gloves. It gets a little tricky sealing the spheres together and impossible not to make some imprints, but you can decorate that away with drizzled chocolate and sprinkles.
The paintbrush bristles should be about 1/2” (1/4” too small) and not too firm. This gets caked up pretty good so you may want to have a second brush handy.
Make sure to give a little extra attention to the top edge of the silicone while building up the chocolate. I probably coated more than twice. Watch for thin spots showing through and keep coating. Chill in-between coats.
These are scary to pop out but they really do pop out easily. Just take your time.
These are BIG. You would need a very big mug - each calls for 14 oz of milk - so you might a drop bomb in a pot of steamed milk instead of a mug. I sent these to my brother in Montana (30 below the other day) and that’s how they were going to make them.
If not making for yourself, place in cupcake liners then wrap individually in cello bags as gifts.
Enjoy!
