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.

119 Comments View Comments

  1. Rating: 4.5

    Hi Anne, ever since I was little I wanted to be a chef. But now that I’m older, I’m only 10. But I just like to learn how to do new cakes, cupcakes, and. Choclate. I know how to cook a cake because all the time my dad makes cheese cakes, and my mom makes the birthday cakes. But now I’ll get to the question. Out of all the amazing things you do with chocolate. Which one should I make for Mother’s Day. Thanks.

  2. Rating: 5

    Hello again…Ann…these chocolate bowls are amazing…i cant wait to make some to try…my mom doesn’t really like a lot of chocolate but when she saw this, she wants me to do them…i love to bake and cook and i wish i can be as good as you and come up with ideas…

    you are amazing and continue spreading the love for cooking…thanks for these great ideas!!!! 🙂

  3. Hi Ann, thank you so much for your tips! I love your youtube channel and you make it look so easy.

    I just came back from semi-disastrous experiments attempting to make a chocolate bowl. First I had to MAKE a diabetic-friendly chocolate. I tried tempering an unsweetened chocolate cube using your microwave method, but the moment I added in a liquid sweetener the chocolate seized.

    I also tried a Magic Shell recipe using cocoa powder, coconut oil, liquid sweetener and a sugar-free confectioners sugar, but it seemed too runny and now that I think of it, I don’t think this well set well in room temperature at all.

    My last resort, which I haven’t tried yet, is melting Hershey’s sugar-free chocolate chips. Or do I need to temper it first in the microwave? It has cocoa butter in the ingredients. I’m at my wit’s ends! Any advice? I’m in the US btw.

    • Magic Shell only sets when cold. It will melt at room temperature because of the coconut oil. So it would not work well for chocolate bowls or any other chocolate item that you want to set and keep set when at room temperature.

  4. Hi! I would like to try your chocolate bowls but I am lost to what chocolate to use. Please help.

  5. Hi again i was just wondering if you’ve heard of Eeyoe from Winnie the Pooh? If ou have could u make a video on how to cook that. I would love to make it for my little brother.:)

    • added to requests list

  6. Rating: 5

    I love your desserts. I will deffently try them out.

    • 🙂

  7. Dear Ann! Your videos are amazing and I have been tempted to try. I did your pipped balloon bowl but I used fake chocolate which contains palm oil. All my curved lines was very runny and then joined together in one smooth surface.
    Can you advise me what I have done wrong?
    Thanks so much.

    • Hi Victoria, try flattening your bag of chocolate and leaving it to cool a little, as it cools it will start to thicken up a bit which will make it easier.

      • Rating: 5

        Oh thanks so much. I will try to do what you advise. You are amazing , helping soo much people and support them. Thanks again for such quick response .

        • 🙂

  8. Hi, may I ask what you, the kent balloons? 🙂

    • hi kpop I am not sure what you are asking, I am using helium quality balloons and sprayed them with cooking oil spray

  9. Rating: 3.5

    Dear Ann,

    I usually turn to cooking to seek stress-relief from work and everything else…

    I first attempted tempering the white chocolate (Using Melts) and made a oval bowl (easter egg-like shape) A bit of water got into that, so it didn’t set very well… -__- ||
    Then I used real milk chocolate, (it actually had Mousse fillings instead of pure chocolate) as it’s close to Halloween, so I tried the spider-web design with that, I had to put more strands of chocolate on it as you said it will collapse if the gaps a too wide.
    Took a picture of those and uploaded to show you, (Pity replying sets a limit on images you’re allowed to upload)…
    I used the remaining chocolate in a mould, I desperately wanted to try those truffles or make fillings in the chocolate, but had to wait for various occations, otherwise got no one to give it away to >_<; (that's the major problem after you cook up something decent ^0^)

    PS: You have the most affectionate (chocolate-like) voice~~ it's a pleasure to listen to.
    Hope you don't mind my incoherent reply… ^_^;

    • lovely work Gintoki, That is a cute flower mold that you have.

  10. Hi Ann ! , i’ve just watch your channel recently and i have a bunch of question to ask you because i have just started baking and cooking . So i was wonder that the milk you use to baked is it sweetend or unsweetend ? , and about the Minion cake how long does it take you to make it ?? . Oh and does the cake dry and stop being moist when we decorate it for days and days ??? Sorry to bother you with so question , hope you reply to me soon
    Thank you !!!

    • Hi Tom , the milk i use is unsweetened unless the recipe states otherwise. For the minion cake allow about 8 hours all up. You can make your details ahead of time then bake the cakes one day, once cooled cover in platic wrap and decorate the next day. You can use simple syrup on cakes to keep them moist, see the princess cake tutorial for an example on how to use it.

  11. Rating: 3.5

    Hi Ann,
    Thank you for this awesome idea 🙂
    here is my choclate bowl i fild it with white mousse au chocolat.
    But i have a problem : i dont really like how this fake choclate tastes. can i temper couverture and then it will work, taste and wont melt?

    Thank you !

  12. Hello Ann!, can I use chocolate melts for the bowl instead of tempered chocolate?
    Thanks!
    Gianna 🙂

    • Hi Gianna yes you can, check if your melts are real (has cocoa butter in it) or fake chocolate (has vegetable oil in it) if real they will still need to be tempered. If fake then you can just melt and it will reset firm

  13. I Will sooon try it and thanxxx for these awesome videos!!!!!

  14. Rating: 5

    Amazing!! All of your videos are amazing! You have a natural talent for teaching & are very, very clear. I love your site, love your videos & recipes. I can’t wait to get started. Please keep the info coming! I am a youtube subscriber and have your web page bookmarked. My only regret is not coming across your site sooner. THANK YOU

  15. Can I use fake chocolate for making decorations and bowls by just melting it or any other method is required?

    • Hi coolhead, yes fake chocolate can just be melted and will reset firm. Just don’t overheat it and burnt he sugar in it so melt either in a bowl over a pan of simmering water or in the microwave 3osec stir, 20 sec stir 10 sec stir 5 sec stir, repeat 5 sec until done.

  16. If the chocolate burns, how would I know?

    • hi vanessa, it would be dry and lumpy and if you keep heating it starts to stink and smoke

      • Okay. Thanks

  17. 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

  18. Rating: 3

    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.

      • why does it snap so easily? I peel the bowl off and it snaps so easily…please help

  19. Rating: 5

    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!

  20. 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.

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