Guest Post: chocolate bowls DIY review

We had a family reunion in Virginia this weekend and got hungry for treats so we attempted to make these chocolate ice cream bowls.  You have probably seen them floating around Pinterest.  My sister Heather was the head hancho of the operation and she learned a lot of things about making these bowls.  So she is going to be writing this article from here on out.  Take it away Heather!

Hello People, Heather here! Let's get down to the niitygriiity.

Here are the instructions that we are given online.  It seems so simple huh?


1 Melt chocolate let it cool, 
2 Dip in low filled balloon, 
3 Pour Chocolate onto pan for base, 
4 Let harden, 
5 Pop balloon, 
6 Load up with your favorite treats, 
7 EAT THE BOWL!!


Well, let me tell you, it's not so simple.

It’s a cute idea that I’ve wanted to try for a long time, but it’s not as easy as it looks! You actually have to be a certified bona fied Swiss Chocolatier. The danger of this project, for me, and hundreds of others, is that the balloons keep exploding like landmines with chocolate shrapnel. Though I was wounded I was determined to bring honor to my chocolatier ancestors.   It took me about a half hour to finally get it right. Now that I’ve figured out the secret, I will share it with you so that you don’t have to make the same mistakes everyone else has made.

Tip 1) Wait till the chocolate is cool.. SERIOUSLY.

One of the biggest problems is, you are like, “Oh the chocolate isn’t hot anymore, I can dip it now.” NO! YOU CAN’T! It needs to be COOL. Cool to the point where in another few minutes it is going to be hard again.

Tip 2) Blow the balloon up just a TINY bit.

We originally blew water balloons up all the way. This was a mistake, you only need to blow them up a tiny bit. Think in terms of only two spoonfuls of ice cream fitting in the cup. Very small cups. You see in the picture above that only two of the big ones worked. That was a miracle after about a million big ones exploding. Just don’t do it. You don’t want them anything but tiny anyway. The chocolate cups are so rich that even the biggest chocolate lover couldn’t finish it. We had the smallest bowls ever and no one could even finish theirs.

Tip 3) ONE BALLON AT A TIME!

The problem here is once you get three or four dipped balloons on your tray and then they suddenly all explode and you have nothing (except a big mess). You need to do one at a time, and as SOON as you get that chocolate on, throw it in the freezer ASAP!!! Don’t let anything distract you, this time is critical! Then let it cool, pull out the tray and do the next balloon/layer.

 Tip 4) Small protective layer.

This was also a big (if not the biggest) help in my success. If you can manage to get a quick tiny, thin layer of chocolate on and freeze it ASAP, then you are more likely to have success with the rest of the dipping. Because the thin layer of chocolate helps prevent the balloons exposure to the melted chocolate. And the balloon doesn’t have to support the weight of the chocolate, the layer is there as a hard shell to give it extra support. So if you do layer by layer it won’t put so much stress on your balloon. If you try to do it too thick too fast the balloon will pop. So at the beginning, the smaller the better.

**I used water balloons. I was thinking it would be smarter to use birthday balloons and just blow them up a tiny bit. That would make them thicker plastic and would help them not pop as easy, but after doing some research I found out that the thicker balloons are tougher, so they will often pull tight and collapse your cup when they pop. I didn’t use non-stick spray for my water balloons or anything and they came off great.

I hope that this post offered some help. I know that a half hour into the process I sure could have used some advice! Good luck, don’t wear nice clothing, remove anything important from the kitchen area, and enjoy!


Have you tried this?  Do you have any tips that you have found helpful?