Valentine's Day is right around the corner and with the approaching holiday I simply could not think of a sweeter way to serve ice cream, pudding, homemade candies or cookies than in an edible chocolate bowl. It took me several tries to get the technique down - so don't be discouraged if at first you don't succeed. This bowl was try number 3 - and yes, there was some breakage but I think it turned out pretty good. I will share my tips and techniques with you so hopefully you can get it right the first time around.
Begin by gathering your supplies. You need a balloon, chocolate candy wafers, spoons, bamboo skewers, parchment or wax paper, a cup that is large enough to hold the balloon and either microwave safe containers, or a double boiler.
I used glass measuring cups to melt my chocolate in. I used the bamboo skewers to stir the chocolate but you could use spoons just as easily - but be sure to have a spoon for each individual color of chocolate wafer.
The first step is to blow up the balloon. Ones under 6 inches are ideal for creating an edible chocolate bowl. Mine was 9 inches because that was the smallest I could find. Once the balloon is inflated, select a glass or other container large enough for the tied end of the balloon to rest comfortably in.
Spread a bit of melted chocolate around the rim of the container. I put chocolate on four sides because I found out during my first attempt at doing this that the chocolate makes the balloon top heavy and it will fall over. Then you have a mess not to mention a messed up chocolate bowl!
While that is fixable, it is easier to just secure the balloon with a dab of chocolate before you begin.
Use a spoon to scoop two big dollops of white chocolate on top of the balloon, spread the chocolate out slightly then add two dollops of red chocolate. The red chocolate melted runnier than the white chocolate. This was a good thing because it helped the white to start to flow over the side of the balloon. I continued in this fashion until I had all the white chocolate on the balloon.
Keep an eye on the chocolate running down the sides and don't let the chocolate fingers get too lengthy because the longer they are. The thinner the chocolate is, the more likely it is that is it going to break without the support of the balloon. Use a spoon to scoop off areas that are too long and add the chocolate to other areas. What you are doing is sculpting the chocolate to create the bowl you want. Once you are happy with the way the bowl looks and the first round of chocolate quits running, drizzle another color on top to create a pretty design. I used red for this edible bowl but on another one I used black chocolate. The color you use is up to you. Just remember to keep a couple spoonful's of chocolate to create the bottom of the bowl.
Once you are done drizzling chocolate on the bowl, lay down a small sheet of parchment paper or wax paper. Pour the remaining melted chocolate onto the parchment paper. What you want to do is create a circle for the base of the bowl. Once that is done, pick up the container with the balloon in it. Hold the size of the balloon in place to make sure the balloon does not fall off.
Place the rounded part of the balloon - which is the bottom of the bowl - onto the melted chocolate, then carefully remove the balloon from the container. The easiest way to do this is to gently pry the balloon away from the edges of the container where the chocolate is holding it in place.
Allow the balloon to sit just like this for about 2 hours. You want the chocolate to harden. Then place the balloon in the refrigerator on the parchment paper or wax paper for 10 minutes to chill the chocolate. This makes the chocolate slightly harder and thus the balloon is easier to remove.
Once the ten minutes is up, remove the chocolate bowl from the refrigerator and begin to press on the balloon around the areas where the points of the bowl are. What you are doing is creating air space and making sure the balloon is not stuck to the chocolate at these points as they are the ones that will break first.
Then carefully cut a tiny hole in the balloon as close as possible to the top where the balloon was tied off. I held the hole shut allowing just a tiny amount of air at a time to escape. This gave me a chance to look for potential breaking points where the balloon was not releasing like it should have. There were a few of these.
Once the balloon was completely removed, I looked for holes in the chocolate bowl. I had one that needed repaired.
I chose a small, thin piece of chocolate that broke off during the balloon removal to patch the hole with. I used a bamboo skewer to spread a bit of chocolate on the outside of the bowl around the edge of the hole, then pressed the piece of chocolate into the melted chocolate. I continued adding melted chocolate until the entire small piece of chocolate was covered.
Then I began adding melted chocolate to the inside of the bowl where the hole was. I had to be careful so I did not knock the chocolate patch off as I was working. The last step was to smooth the chocolate on the inside of the bowl so no one could see the patch. That was it. I put the bowl back into the refrigerator and will allow it to harden overnight before I decide what to put in my edible chocolate bowl.
I really do hope you will try to make one of these edible chocolate bowls. I had fun doing it and the mistakes were simply eaten.