Thursday, July 14, 2011

DIY Chocolate Cups Filled with Fruit and Cream

How easy can a dessert be?  Buy some candy wrappers (1" size from Wilton that you can buy in any craft store or specialty cooking store, (they look like mini-cupcake papers).  Then use a small paint brush to paint the inside of the wrappers with melted chocolate (no licking your paint brush please!), and let it set until it's completely dry and formed.  Then carefully peel the paper off leaving you with a great chocolate shell.  Now comes the big decision--what to fill it with? Martha Stewart Weddings offers a recipe for a light filling that you can top with anything from fruit to edible flowers that we featured in a previous post on our cookie blog.  Any broken leftover chocolates are your bonus (snack for finishing the project, or just to keep you going!).  You can buy the chocolate dessert cups at a variety of specialty stores but that will up your cost considerably. 



A similar trick can be used to make larger bowls using small balloons and chocolate.  Ghiradelli Chocolate has a recipe on their web site and the photo above is theirs.  They do recommend using these the day you make them so it might be a better project to hand off to your favorite aunt and cousins or someone not closely involved in getting you ready for your wedding so your day isn't too insane.  They can also be used for wedding showers.  I'd check and see how long these survive in your freezer--some chocolate recipes will last a couple of weeks in the freezer.  My friend Debbie E. turned me onto this idea and the chocolate nests below--kudos Deb! These are a great option--for any party any time! 


The following video from YouTube can give you visual learners a fun way to watch and learn the art of chocolate balloon bowls too!



There are lots of ways to make chocolate dessert bowls on the web--here's another one from the Deluxe Chocolate Melter web site.  A reminder to all--only fill with cold items--you can imagine the results if you filled them with a hot filling--ych! Suffice it to say--BIG MESS!


Another chocolate dessert option Debbie suggested is chocolate nests filled with ice cream or sorbet, whipped cream and some fruit.  For step by step directions and a recipe you can't beat Kitchen Table Scraps recipe and directions.  Sometimes someone else has just done it way better than you ever could and you need to acknowledge their mastery! Kudos to the writers at Kitchen Table Scraps for great directions and photos.  Head over their not only for this recipe and additional 'how to' photos but also for other great ideas to add to your recipe box.

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