Make-Your-Own Chocolate Bowls for Serving Ice Cream or Fruits

I saw a video clip where the world-famous French chef Jacques Pepin used an incredible technique to make a version of these chocolate bowls. In the recipe described below, white and dark chocolate are gently tempered together until warm and smooth.

You inflate some birthday balloons to a small size, and dip the tops of the balloons gracefully in the warm liquid chocolate mixture to cover the top section of the balloon. The balloons are then placed carefully on plastic wrap on a plate or sheet tray, and allowed to cool in the fridge and freezer; the balloons are subsequently deflated, and removed gently from the chocolate bowls.

If this recipe doesn’t work out perfectly for you the first time, don’t get discouraged—working with tempered chocolate and chocolate-covered balloons is difficult!

The following recipe makes about 4 small chocolate bowls.

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Make-Your-Own Chocolate Bowls for Serving Ice Cream or Fruits

I saw a video clip where the world-famous French chef Jacques Pepin used an incredible technique to make a version of these chocolate bowls. In the recipe described below, white and dark chocolate are gently tempered together until warm and smooth.

You inflate some birthday balloons to a small size, and dip the tops of the balloons gracefully in the warm liquid chocolate mixture to cover the top section of the balloon. The balloons are then placed carefully on plastic wrap on a plate or sheet tray, and allowed to cool in the fridge and freezer; the balloons are subsequently deflated, and removed gently from the chocolate bowls.

If this recipe doesn’t work out perfectly for you the first time, don’t get discouraged—working with tempered chocolate and chocolate-covered balloons is difficult!

The following recipe makes about 4 small chocolate bowls.

Ingredients

• 4 birthday balloons (inflated to roughly 4-inch diameter)
• 3 oz white chocolate chips
• 3 oz dark chocolate chips

Instructions 

• Before you begin melting your chocolate, make sure you have enough empty space in your fridge.
• Inflate four birthday balloons to a diameter of roughly four inches.
• *I like to use normal sized balloons, so when they are four inches in diameter they aren’t inflated too much. If the balloons are inflated with too much air, they can break the chocolate bowls when you try to deflate them later.
• Arrange a small sheet tray with a tight layer of plastic wrap.
• *This is where your chocolate-covered bowls will sit.
• Melt half of the white and dark chocolate chips gently in a small sauce pot on the stove over medium-low heat.
• Stir gently with a rubber spatula as the chocolate gently melts and heats up.
• Add the remaining white and dark chocolate chips once the first round is almost melted.
• When the chocolate is smooth and has completely melted, transfer to a small plate.
• Quickly and gently dip the top part of each inflated balloon in the warm chocolate mixture, and place the chocolate-dipped balloon gently (top-side down) on the plastic wrap, so the chocolate-covered portion of the balloon is in contact with the plastic wrap.
• Transfer the balloons to the fridge, and allow them to chill for roughly two hours.
• Transfer the balloons to the freezer, and allow them to chill for an additional thirty minutes.
• Remove the balloons from the freezer, and carefully use a pin to deflate the balloons.
• *Don’t beat yourself up if one of them breaks!
• Carefully and gently pull the balloon away from the chocolate.
• *The chocolate has a tendency to stick to the balloon—just do your best here to slowly peel the balloon away, supporting the chocolate bowl structure with your fingers as you pull the balloon away from the chocolate.
• Once you have removed the balloons from your chocolate bowls, you can transfer the bowls back to the freezer until you are ready to serve.

Notes

This past week I filled these bowls with vanilla ice cream and hazelnuts, although you can also fill the chocolate bowls with a whipped cream mixed with fresh berries or fruits. Feel free to add whatever chopped nuts you have at home.