Making White Chocolate Bowls for July 4th

I know, right? It's a little on the early side for this but I was doing an article for a client and decided to go ahead and try an idea that I had been tossing around in my head for awhile.

You do see a lot of chocolate bowls these days. They are a cute way to serve ice cream or other cold desserts. Most of the bowls that I have seen have been made from milk chocolate but there is really no reason not to branch out a little... is there?

I really wanted to see how the white chocolate would work and if you could add texture and color with other ingredients... like ... you know... sprinkles.

Guess what? You can!

I wish that I had thought to use vanilla or strawberry ice cream to maintain the red, white, and blue theme but I didn't. I had chocolate for my other project so that is what I used.

Making the bowls was a little frustrating so make sure that you have an entire afternoon (and perhaps xanax or vodka wouldn't hurt) to devote to this project the first time you do it. Make several more than you think you will need and, for goodness sakes, do a trial run before you need to make them for real. Don't worry too much about the edges. I have seen the perfect edged bowls on the internet and they are lovely but I like them to be a bit more free form. That is Marye-speak for "I don't have time, or the patience, to create perfection."

Some websites just use balloons while others suggest using Pam spray on the balloons before dipping. After crumbling the first six bowls that I made I can tell you that the Pam spray is the way to go. The balloons may still stick a little but you will be able to pull them off gently and carefully.

I have seen them with bases and without them so I tried them both ways. The bases help the bowl to sit more firmly on the plate. Duh.

If you get a small hole in the chocolate bowl when you are pulling off the balloon, especially if it is on the bottom, you can "patch" it with a little melted chocolate and let it harden in the refrigerator.

So. Got your afternoon clear? Got your vodka or xanax? Got your balloons? Chocolate?

Let's roll.

How to Make White Chocolate Bowls from Balloons

You will need -

• Small balloons
• Melting chocolate (use white for this project)
• A small, deep bowl
• Pam spray
• A cookie sheet
• Waxed paper
• Red, white and blue sprinkles
• Soothing music

To make the bowls -

1. Blow up the balloons to the size you want. Smaller works somewhat better.
2. Tie them tightly.
3. Cover a cookie sheet with waxed paper.
4. Melt the chocolate according to directions on the package.
5. Spray the balloons with Pam.
6. Form a small disk of melted chocolate on the waxed paper.
7. Dip the balloon into the chocolate, holding it by the stem.
8. Pull it out with a slight twist and dip it again.
9. Hold the balloon upside down and cover with the red, white, and blue sprinkles.
10. Quickly press the bottom of the balloon onto the melted chocolate disk and hold it there for a moment or two.
11. Repeat with the remaining balloons in batches. I made them 4 to a batch because that is all that I could fit on my cookie sheet.
12. Place the filled cookie sheet in the refrigerator and let the chocolate harden. It will turn dull.
13. Remove the bowls from the refrigerator and gently pull the tied part until it is elongated.
14. Make a small snip in the balloon just beneath the knot and let the are escape slowly.
15. When the balloon is completely deflated gently remove it from the inside of the bowl.
16. Patch any holes with melted chocolate.
17. Refrigerate until serving time.

Keep in mind that there are lots of colors of coating chocolate from red to lavender. If you can't find it locally you can for sure find it on Amazon. They also have other supplies and a better quality of melting chocolate than you will usually find locally.