D.I.Y Holiday Hot Chocolate Bomb Tutorial

Hot Chocolate bombs are all the rage this holiday season. I checked out some recipes online and decided to give it a try. If you are new to hot chocolate bombs, these sweet spheres are filled with cocoa and marshmallows and covered in crushed candy canes and icing.

NOTE: You will need patience! Be ready to fail several times in getting the half sphere molds to come out complete (you can see that in one of the photo’s below). Keep in mind the chocolate will melt very quickly when they are touched so handle them as little as possible.

Ok so lets start with what is needed:

Equipment

1. Chocolate Sphere Mold – These are a little harder to find at your local store. I went to Michaels, Hobby Lobby, Walmart and three other stores with no luck. What I had to settle on and that works just as well was a mold for making sphere ice cubes. It’s best to find one that is 2.5 inches (6.5cm) sphere size. Here’s a link to one from Amazon.
2. Pyrex One Cup Measuring Cup – It doesn’t have to be a glass Pyrex cup but they are the most common and it is what I had handy and worked perfectly.
3. Cutting Board – Any will do.

Ingredients

1. Chocolate – Its important to use a chocolate high in cacao. I used Guittard semisweet chocolate (64% cacao) I also used a white chocolate that was 34% cacao. IMPORTANT NOTE: White chocolate is much harder to work with. It tends to melt quickly when handled. It was easier to remove from the mold however.
2. Hot Chocolate Mix – I used Swiss Miss because it tastes a bit sweeter and richer then some other brands. This is a personal choice. Feel free to use your favorite brand.
3. Mini Marshmallows – These are great for adding some color and flavor.
4. Icing – This is optional to add some garnish.
5. Crushed Candy/Sprinkles – There are several options at your local store. I used two types, crushed candy canes and sprinkles.

How To Make:

1. Chop Chocolate and Melt – Chop two chocolate bars into long strips then cut those strips into smaller pieces. Cutting up the chocolate in this way allows  the chocolate to melt in a more uniform way. Place cut chocolate into Pyrex measuring cup and place in the microwave for 2 minutes. At the one minute mark, remove the measuring cup and stir chocolate using a rubber spatula. You should still see some un-melted chocolate. Place back into microwave for the remainder. Remove and stir again.
2. Prepare the Mold – With the chocolate ready, you are now prepped to add the chocolate to the mold. Using a table spoon, scoop a tablespoon of chocolate into the first mold. Using the back of the spoon carefully spread the chocolate until none of the mold is visible. Once all of the molds are full of chocolate, pick the mold up and slowly rotate. You are looking for any bare spots and with the chocolate in this melted state you should be able to rotate the mold around so the chocolate fills any low spots.
3. Place in Freezer – Set flat in your freezer for 10-15 minutes.
4. Remove Chocolate Molds – This is where you got to have patience. Remove the mold from the freezer and carefully remove each chocolate sphere. As you can see from the pic below, it took a few broken spheres to get the hang of it.
5. Add Hot Chocolate and Marshmallows – Now you are getting to the good stuff! Add the ingredients to one side of each of the spheres. The other sphere is used for the top.
6. Seal – This is where patience matters. Heat up a small plate in the microwave for 20 seconds so its a little warm. Pick up the empty side of the sphere and place it on the plate to get a little of the edge melted. Remove and place on the other half of the sphere.
7. Decorate – Time to get creative! I used icing and the crushed candy to decorate and I think they came out great. 
8. Place Back in the Freezer – To fully allow the spheres to harden up, place the completed chocolate bombs back in the freezer for 5 minutes. They can also be kept in the fridge. Remove when you are ready to serve.

Total time to complete these chocolate bombs was a little over an hour. As I mentioned, have patience and the results will be worth it.