In this post I will show you how to make seven chocolate bowls using 3 different techniques – balloons, ice and lined containers.
You will need to use chocolate melts or tempered chocolate to make these, if you are not sure how to temper chocolate it is explained here. If you use melts they contain vegetable fat not cocoa butter so they do not need to be tempered.
Let’s start with making four different
chocolate bowls
using balloons as the mold. This is not my favourite method and here’s why…
*As the balloon deflates the inward pull on the chocolate will break any intricate pieces.
*I find that balloons can leave a bit of a rubbery taste to the chocolate
* If your chocolate is too hot your balloon will pop – and yes, trust me that does make a mess in your kitchen!
But they do have a nice shape that can be tricky to recreate with other methods,watch the video below for how to make these four bowls. If you make some bowls yourself remember that you can upload your photo in the comments section at the end of this post.
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You can make more intricate chocolate bowls using ice as a mold like the two below. The larger the bowl, the less stable it becomes – this is because the ice starts to melt so as you are working you get little bits of water in the joins of your chocolate.
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Or in my opinion the best way is to make chocolate bowls using a lined container as a mold. Aluminium foil or waxed baking paper can be used to line a container that is the shape you are after, then pipe your design over the top.
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On the right is a chocolate bowl with white chocolate mousse, raspberries, mango sorbet and pashmak (iranian fairy floss).
If you have no time to bake a cake you can even make a chocolate bowl, cover it in smarties, sprinkles or anything festive looking. Fill it with lollies then invert it onto a plate an walaah you have pinyata birthday cake! Boys love to smash things so why not karate chop the cake.
You may also be interested in
* how to temper and chocoalte and what chocolate to use for decorations
* How to make a box out of chocolate
* chocolate decorations for desserts
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nut free macaron recipe 
choc orange macaron recipe
Thanks for the great videos – can’t wait to try these techniques!
thanks Sue
Hey, thanks for the recipe I tried it and it was great but I didn’t know what to place inside it :/ do you have any ideas ?
thanks
I was thinking of whipped cream but because it has gaps, I’m thinking it would escape out.
Let me know
Hi Royah Baburi fresh fruit and berries always look nice. Or mousse – if you have holes you will need to set the mousse first and then place scoops into the bowl. Or a giant chocolate bowl ice cream sundae to share filled with with ice cream, caramel sauce and chopped nuts. Mini chocolate bowl banana splits – fill with sliced banana scoop of vanilla ice cream and some chocolate sauce…
Hi few minutes is allowed to dry the chocolate on the balloon should I put it in the refrigerator thank you beautiful work
Hi Mafer, Yes, I put it in the fridge.
Mine
TYVM
Looks great Tiff, thanks for sharing a pic with us – did you say that you filled it with cubes of cake? Good idea. I bet there is none left now : )
Thanks a lot for the amazing videos!!!!! they are awesome!!!!
I wanted to know if we can make decorated covered bowls (like u made using a ballon) by using ice/container as a mould????
Hi Mukta, Yes, you could – if you wanted it to be semi enclosed like the balloon shape is you would need to let the ice melt considerably before you could get it out.
Hi..i just saw ur videos yesterday..and i was super excited about trying them…i tried making the chocolate bowls today using a lined container ..the chocolate i used was dairy milk..it contained cocoa butter so i tempered it in the microwave like u showed..after making the bowl i put it in the freezer…but wen i removed it…it started to melt while i was still taking the foil off..it got on my hands..it was a total mess..i was very upset about it..so could you tell me wht went wrong?
Hi Sabah, A couple of possibilities, if it is melting immediately when you only slightly touch it then it is not tempered and must have either not been in temper when you bought it (check it is shiny and has a snap when broken) or it was overheated. If it is only melting when you hold it for a while then that is because chocolate is designed to melt at body temperature so that it melts in your mouth. The thinner it is the quicker you body heat will warm it up and melt it.
really pretty, i love your ideas from cakes to cake pops to cupcakes, i love your website
Thank you manan
another thing i made the multi colored one and my family ate the berries and one fine day i ate the whole bowl……………………i was really tempted
lol
lol chocolate is like that.
hello ann i loved your nest balloon bowl and tried it myself its just that i have no idea on what to fill it with…its just sitting in my freezer waiting to be used.
You are self controlled it is sitting in your freezer uneaten. You could make some chocolate mousse in a seperate bowl and then once it is set put spoonfuls into the next. Or fill it with berries and top with a scoop of ice cream…
This is deffo the coolest thing I have seen in a while. These designs are absolutely amazing. I can’t wait to try them! Thank you so much for inspiration♥
Hi Ann, love your work…so amazing!!! I tried your tall bowl, covered the bottom of the glass with foil like you did, then wax paper around the rest however I could not get the wax paper tight enough at the bottom over the foil some leaked under of course it broke. How do I get around this?
Would a long skinny balloon work instead of a glass?
Thank you for your help!
I only wanna to say that you are really genius and imaginative. Keep posting your new videos. I am your fan now.
what chocolate are you using??
Hi rochelle, If you go to this post here it explains what chocolate to use and how to temper chocolate… http://www.howtocookthat.net/public_html/how-to-temper-chocolate-in-the-microwave/
What type of chocolate do you use?
Hi Suleima Morales, please see this post and it will answer that question in detail… http://www.howtocookthat.net/public_html/how-to-temper-chocolate-in-the-microwave/
In what can i place the chocolate bowl in so i can give it as a gift? So it can look prettier?
Hi Rocio, It depends ont he size of your bowl. If smaller some of the cupcake boxes with windows on the side would be perfect, just place a little non-stick baking paper under the bowl to support it. If larger you could put a dollop of chocolate onto a plate and attach the bowl. Then wrap the whole thing in cellophane. Do let us know what you end up using, take a photo and you can upload it with a comment here.
Thanks so much for all of your videos they have helped me so much when i bake i love them thanks again
thanks Anne
Hi there I have been seen your videos for a while know and I will love to try to make one but the thing is that I dont know what chocolate to use could you please tell me of any brand of chocolate that won’t melt so easy please and thank you!!!
Hi Sofia, there is a whole blog post and two videos that will help you with that here: http://www.howtocookthat.net/public_html/how-to-temper-chocolate-in-the-microwave/
Oh my God… I really love this blog.. especially the chocolate bowl, and this different design of chocolates helped me, co’z my customer really asked for it. Godbless!!
)
Can wait to do some of these
Hi everyone, i’ve tried to make chocolate bowls but my chocolate does not set! I live in the carrebian and I know it’s hot, but my chocolate is not firm.
My costumers are always asking if I have some but they keep failing!
Do you have any help for me?
Hi cookiemonster, You need to use tempered chocolate. Even tempered chocolate will melt if the temperature is too hot – does a chocolate bar melt when left out? If so then the chocolate bowl will too. In that case you would need to use ‘fake’ chocoalte which does not need tempering and has a higher melting point. This post explains tempering and how to tell if it is f\’fake’ or ‘real’ chocolate: http://www.howtocookthat.net/public_html/how-to-temper-chocolate-in-the-microwave/
Hi,
I would like to make a few of these bowls, but I am worried that they will melt if it’s to warm inside or outside.
What do you recommend I do?
Thanx for all your great videos.
Greets
Marcia from Holland
Hi marcia, chocolate that has been tempered melts at 37 degrees so if the room is going to be over about 30 degrees I would not serve chocolate bowls.
Hi Ann,
I learned so much from your chocolate decoration tutorials. Here are some of my chocolate decorations and bowls i made back in Feb. during the Valentine’s day week. I LOVE THEM ! Thanks!!
Andria
Hi Andria, they look beautiful looks like you have a talent for making things from chocolate.
Thanks Ann! Trust me , it took me forever to learn how to temper chocolate! I failed so many times and finally had to take a class in person. Now i am not afraid of tempering chocolate anymore and can use it to make all these cute decorations. Thanks so much!
I bought this bag of white chocolate morsels and instead of finding coco butter, I saw palm oil, is it considered “fake” chocolate then?
yes that is correct ti is ‘fake’ chocolate
I made some bowls but they snapped so easily and melts what happened?
My chocolate contains palm oil, is it fake chocolate?
Hi vanessa, yes if it contains any vegetable oil if is fake chocolate and does not need tempering and shouldn’t melt at room temp.