Ann Reardon

How to Make Chocolate Bowls

chocolate bowls howtocookthat ann reardon

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 that 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
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.

chocolate bowl recipe chocolate bowl balloon howtocookthat
howtocookthat chocolate bowls chocolate bowl how to cook that ann reardon

 

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.

how to make a chocolate bowl howtocookthat ann reardon howtocookthat chocolate sphere ann reardon

 

 
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.

chocolate bowl howtocookthat ann reardon chocolate bowl dessert

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 and walaah you have Piñata birthday cake!  Boys love to smash things so why not karate chop the cake.
chocolate bowl pinyata filled with lollies howtocookthat ann reardon

You may also be interested in
* how to temper and chocolate and what chocolate to use for decorations
* How to make a box out of chocolate
* chocolate decorations for desserts

2013

My Cookbook

ann reardon crazy sweet creations cookbook
Stores that sell my book listed by country: http://bit.ly/ARcookbook
All recipe quantities in the book are in grams, ounces and cups.

120 Comments View Comments

  1. Rating: 5

    This is so cool am going to learn to do this

  2. Rating: 5

    Love your channel! Could you use the above recipe to make “Hot Chocolate Bombs”? Or is there another, better way (like a mold or something like that)? I’d prefer to learn how to make them myself, rather than ordering… they are pretty pricey. Thanks!

  3. 1russian

  4. Rating: 5

    Beautiful work Ann! Love the ideas! It’s so much better than all the other plain and common chocolate bowls you see all over the net.
    SHould I use compound or normal chocolate for this?

    • Hi Kat I like to use real chocolate whenever possible because it tastes so much better. For the long trip one though compound will be easier if you let ti cool a bit so it’s not too hot on the balloon and it’s closer to setting point. You may also like this post… https://www.howtocookthat.net/public_html/chocolate-balloon-bowls-part-ii/

    • hi i have made amazing chocolate bowls and filled them with chocolate truffles, they are such fun to use

      • chocolate trays as well and put my truffles on, i love making chocolates i use belgium chocolate, i also make marshmallow sticks decorted i make rocky road cakes all from chocolate. Your work is magnificent thnk you for this platform to share

  5. Rating: 5

    Brilliant, thank you they turned out great

    • Awesome to hear, thanks min ?

  6. I tried making the chocolate bowls with balloons & they collapsed on me. I put Pam on the ballon but when I poked the balloon to release the air, they fell apart. What am I doing wrong

    • Hi Annie, You may need to address the tempering of your chocolate or use chcolate melts instead. The chcocolate must be tempered if you use block chocolate. Then you want to release the air very slowly not quickly. If the balloon pops then your chocolate generally will too. You can make your chcolate shell stronger but doing rpeated layers. This helps it be more stable. Practice with small bowls till you sre hsppy with your technique.

    • Have you tried filling the balloon with warm water/

      • warm water would melt the chocolate i would imagine.

    • there is an easier way to make a bowl i cant do the balloon i paint over the bowl when it is thick enough it will release itself, spray the bowl with oil, as u coat it, not too thick it will be too heavy but thick enough to release without breaking, then i double pour choc over bowl once it is released. ill try send pic i hope i am allowed to share, i am a chocolatier.

      • Hi Michelle, yes please do share a picture ?

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