So it’s February. Where did that come from? I mean I know where it came from, but for reals calendar?! I’ve been wanting to share these chocolate cups with you for a while now and I’m so excited to share them just before Valentines Day! They would make a seriously fun dessert after a romantic (or not-so-romantic dinner if you’re home with kids) and are super easy to make. The best part about them is that you can fill them with ANYTHING and decorate them to match any theme you want. In the past I’ve filled them with mousse, ice cream, fresh fruit, candy– just about anything goes. Plus, people think you’re a fancy pants if you serve them dessert in a delicate chocolate cup and that’s always fun.
The trick behind these little babies is water balloons. Actually, in full disclosure, this time I used a package of small balloons from the dollar store and didn’t blow them up all the way. Turns out that water balloons are hard to find in Oregon in the dead of winter. Go figure. The finished cups will be the size of the balloon used so blow them up as big or little as you’d like.
Next up: Chocolate. Real chocolate can be finicky when melted down and re-hardened so I like to use chocolate candy coating to make things easy. I find mine in the bulk bins at Winco and craft stores like Michaels often have it in lots of different colors which could make for some fun. I haven’t ventured into the world of colored chocolate cups, but if you do I want to see pictures!
Melt down the chocolate in a bowl that is deep enough for you to dip the balloon into it. I like to use a smaller sized bowl that just fits the balloon so I don’t have to melt down a ton of chocolate. Before dipping the balloons, let the chocolate cool down just a bit. If it’s not cool enough it could cause the balloon to pop and you can imagine what a big mess that would be. I’ve found that as long as the chocolate is around bath water warm and the balloon isn’t blown up super tight I don’t have any problems though.
Place each dipped balloon onto a baking sheet lined with wax or parchment paper. I LOVE my Silpat Baking Sheets
Give the chocolate plenty of time to set up before poking a little hole in the top of each balloon. I find that the slower I can let the air out of the balloons the better so I aim for a slow deflation over a quick pop.
Sometimes you’ll end up with a little hole in the bottom of the cup where the balloon sat on the sheet. If your filling needs to stay contained this can be fixed by pouring just a little bit more melted chocolate over the hole and letting it harden.
These are really pretty impressive just on their own but one of my favorite ways to dress them up is by dipping the tops of the cups in a bit more melted chocolate and then pressing them into some sprinkles just like you dip the top of a margarita glass in salt.
Think you can do it? I do! Stay tuned this week for 2 more Valentine’s Day themed desserts!
Ingredients
- 1 lb chocolate candy coating
- 12--16 water or small sized balloons
Instructions
- Inflate balloons to desired size.
- Melt chocolate until smooth and place in a bowl deep enough to dip the balloons into.
- Dip the bottom ⅓-1/2 of each balloon into the chocolate and place on a lined baking sheet.
- Let chocolate fully harden and slowly deflate each balloon, removing after deflation.
- Fill any holes in the bottom of the cup with additional melted chocolate and decorate as desired.
Made this recipe?I'd love to see how you rocked it! Share your photo on Instagram with the hashtag #heatherlikesfood --It will totally make my day to see it!
Great idea
Do u wash the balloons first. My experience is they has a powdery film on them, just wondering.
It kind of depends on the balloons. Sometimes I need to, other times not. If you do wash them, make sure the are super dry before dipping in the chocolate as just a drop of water could ruin the melted chocolate.
I have made my chocolate cups like this too – LOVE them! Such an easy way to get perfect cups (and yours look WAY more perfect than mine ever did), especially with those sprinkles on top, too cute!
Haha, they are definitely far from perfect (the sprinkles hide a lot!) 🙂
please make sure to tell anyone eating these that you used a latex balloon in making them! People with latex allergies can have a very bad anaphylactic reaction to the latex residue left on the chocolate, much like a person with a nut allergy can have a bad reaction from eating a product made on the same machinery as something that had nuts in it. You can find non-latex products out there to use in place of the cheap latex balloons.
can you store these overnight in the freezer if you make ahead?