These Chocolate Dessert Bowls are made by dipping balloons in chocolate! The recipe is easy to follow and chocolate bowls can be filled with fresh fruit. Sponsored post for Socialstars. #TargetCrowd
Spring, oh glorious spring! The weather we’ve been waiting for all though the long, cold winter has finally arrived. During the past week, we met friends at the park, played tennis a couple of times and went for several walks. My kids have spent more time outside, than in the house.
We are enjoying every minute of it! Along with the nice weather comes fun spring celebrations. Today, I am excited to show you how to make chocolate dessert bowls filled with fresh fruit that would perfect for serving at a spring brunch.
I saw this Behind the Pin: #Adorabowl video from Target and knew I had to try to make the chocolate bowls. I found all of the ingredients at Target Grocery. I shop at Target at least once a week because I love how easy it is to get everything I need in one place and I like knowing that I am getting a great value.
To make the chocolate dessert bowls, first wash and dry the Spritz balloons. I tried making the chocolate bowls with both water balloons and regular balloons. I found that the regular balloons worked better for me because they were easier to remove from hardened chocolate.
Blow up 12 balloons (or as many as you want), making sure they fit into the bowl you will be dipping them in. To make the balloons rounder on the bottom, I first blew them up so that they were large and then slowly let the air out until they were the size I wanted them to be. I squished and squeezed the air around, to help shape the balloons, before tying the top.
Next, melt the chocolate CandiQuik in a small bowl. Melt as much chocolate as will fit into the bowl and melt more as needed. I found this super cute dip bowl at Target and since it is microwave safe, I used it for melting the chocolate and dipping the balloons.
Spray the bottom of a balloon with a little cooking spray. This step is optional, but I found that it was easier to remove the balloons once the chocolate hardened. One thing I noticed is that the cooking spray left small spots in the bottom of the chocolate bowls (see picture below). Since the bowls are filled with fruit, it didn’t matter to me, but I wanted to give you a heads up.
Use the back of a spoon to make small circles of chocolate on a piece of parchment paper. This will help form the base of the chocolate bowls.
Dip the balloons in the melted chocolate and set them on the chocolate circles on the parchment paper.
Allow the chocolate to harden for at least one hour. Then, melt more chocolate and re-dip the balloons. Re-dipping the balloons helped to make the chocolate bowls more sturdy and less likely to break.
Allow the chocolate to harden for at least one hour. Then, s-l-o-w-l-y let some of the air out of the balloons. Start by pulling up on the knot, use a pin to poke a hole near the knot and let some of the air out of the balloon. If you pop the balloon quickly, some of the chocolate bowls may break.
With the balloon slightly deflated, carefully pull the balloon away from the chocolate bowl. Remove more air if needed and then completely remove the balloon.
(Here you can see the spots from the cooking spray in some of the chocolate bowls.)
Put the chocolate bowls on a tray. I found this pretty serving tray at Target. It is perfect for spring and Target is the perfect place for picking up everything you need for spring entertaining.
Fruit is an essential ingredient for so many spring brunch ideas from main dishes to desserts. It is ideal for filling the chocolate bowls. The bright colors look pretty on display and the chocolate tastes great with both the strawberries and the blueberries. Once the chocolate bowls are ready to be filled, wash the strawberries and blueberries. Then, slice the larger strawberries into smaller pieces.
Fill the bowls with the blueberries and strawberries.
Before serving, top the fruit with Market Pantry Whipped Cream. I am delighted with how these chocolate bowls turned out. I made a double batch of these mini fruit bowls and we shared them at a spring celebration last weekend. Everyone loved them, from the little kids to adults, and I even noticed several people go back for a second chocolate dessert bowl filled with fruit! The red, white and blue in this dessert, would make these perfect for 4th of July as well.
Chocolate Dessert Bowls
Equipment
- 12 Spritz balloons
Ingredients
- 16 ounces chocolate almond bark I used Chocolate CandiQuik
- cooking spray
- 1 pound strawberries
- 1 pint blueberries
- 12 tablespoon whipped cream
Instructions
- Wash and dry the balloons.
- Blow up 12 balloons so that they will fit into the dipping bowl.
- Melt the chocolate CandiQuik in a small dipping bowl.
- Spray the bottom of a balloon with a little cooking spray.
- Use the back of a spoon to make a small circle of chocolate on a piece of parchment paper.
- Dip the balloons in the melted chocolate and set them on the chocolate circles on the parchment paper.
- Allow the chocolate to harden for at least one hour.
- Melt more chocolate CandiQuik and re-dip the chocolate bowls.
- Allow the chocolate to harden for at least one hour.
- S-l-o-w-l-y let some of the air out of the balloons.
- Carefully pull the balloon away from the chocolate bowl.
- Wash the strawberries and blueberries. Slice the larger strawberries into smaller pieces.
- Fill the chocolate bowls with the blueberries and strawberries.
- Before serving, top the fruit with whipped cream.
Cathy says
Can I make the chocolate bowls ahead of time?
Tonia Larson says
Yes! You definitely can. 😊
Sally says
How far ahead can you make the bowls?
Tonia says
You should be able to make them pretty far in advance. The only issue might be that the sheen on the chocolate could get dull looking.
Julie says
Will my balloons pop from putting them in the hot chocolate?? Or do I let it cool for a bit then dip the balloons in it
Tonia says
Hi Julie,
I don’t remember any of them popping from the melted chocolate. You can allow it to cool for a bit though if you prefer, it just has to be melted enough to stick to the ballons.
Enjoy!
~Tonia
Michal says
Hi from England:) thank you for the recipe.
Can I fill these with chocolate mousse? And how long in advance would you recommend making them before filling and after filling?
Cheers
Michal
Tonia says
Yes, that would be delicious! I would make the bowls and chocolate mousse a day in advance, store it in the fridge, and fill right before the party or dinner. Best of luck! ~Tonia
Penny says
How far ahead can I put fresh fruit in and store for party
Tonia says
I would put the fruit in the chocolate bowls right before serving. I’m not sure how the wet fruit would affect the chocolate over a period of time. Best of luck! ~Tonia
Lora says
Making these for my wedding reception in 10 days…thank you for an adorable idea.
I thought about trying white choc. With yellow and green swirled affect for my John Deere colors???
Tonia says
You might be able to do it with Wilton Candy Melts (affiliate) http://amzn.to/2qwNqNE
deirdreagale says
Wow, it’s really really fantasic….You are so creative to make a chocolate cup like this. Thank you for this post then I can learn a good way to make a cake or a cup of fruits for my friend in the party.
Sherrie D. says
These are the best chocolate bowls made that I have seen. You did an amazing job. Can’t wait to
Try after seeing yours.
Debra Poulsen says
I have made these in the past, putting green dyed coconut and candy eggs so they looked like nests. I wish I would have sprayed them with cooking spray, some of the balloons stuck to the chocolate. Do you think if I fill them with cheesecake filling they will hold up?
Tonia says
They should hold up as long as your chocolate bowls are thick enough. I would wait as long as possible to fill them so that the cheesecake filling doesn’t start to react to the chocolate and make it get mushy.
Mike says
make bowls so smartly! Thank you very much! :))
Crystal says
Hi there just wondering if you think these need to be refrigerated if I make them the day ahead? Also I have Wilton candy melts in hand, will these work and not require tempering?
Alicia says
Hi tonia,
I tried this with the water balloons and baking chocolate with some colourants to make it orange. As soon as i dip it in the chocolate, the balloon pops… 😒 Any advice on what im doing wrong?
Tonia says
Hi Alicia! I have a couple of suggestions. Try cooling the baking chocolate for a while so that it isn’t so hot. And as I mentioned, I tried both water balloons and regular balloons and found that the regular ones worked better for me. I’m guessing they would be less likely to pop too, because they are stronger and thicker. Best of luck! ~Tonia