Chocolate Fountain

xxdilemmaxx

having a party at the weekend and thinking of using a choc fountain I got as a Chrimbo pressie. Just wondering if anyone knows what chocolate to use? And quantities?

Am heading shopping after work so won't be able to check the instructions that came with it...

Also for dipping thinsg I'm thinking of using strawberries, pineapple and maybe marshmallows, anyone any other ideas?

Magic Monkey

You'd ideally use couverture, which is chocolate with a high cocoa butter content - it'll flow better than regular chocolate. I know Thornton's Chocolates do/used to sell it in bags for microwaving, that would be perfect.

Otherwise just use a supermarket brand chocolate, milk or dark, whichever you prefer. If your fountain doesn't have a built in melter, the safest way to melt it is in a double boiler - heatproof bowl over gently simmering water. How much to use would depend on the size of your fountain, but you'd probably need at least 1kg.

Anything that is bite-sized (so people don't double-dip), and won't spoil the chocolate (e.g. biscuits, crumbs would get into the fountain) are good - bananas, apples, cherries are all nice.

rubadub

Magic Monkey wrote: »

You'd ideally use couverture, which is chocolate with a high cocoa butter content

Could you add something to regular chocolate, e.g. a little butter or cream. I saw one in action before it went sort of dry after a while.

Magic Monkey

Yup, any neutral oil (sunflower, rapeseed, groundnut) work well too, just stir in a little at a time until it's fluid.

olaola

rubadub wrote: »

Could you add something to regular chocolate, e.g. a little butter or cream. I saw one in action before it went sort of dry after a while.

YIPES! Don't put in cream - it will whip up and solidify. Happened to us (against my advice may I add) someone put it in to make it more liquidy. Que chucking the whole shebang in the bin.

rubadub

olaola wrote: »

Que chucking the whole shebang in the bin.

:eek: I hope by "bin" you mean your mouth!

xxdilemmaxx

Thanks everyone for the rplies, I got 1k of chocolate yesterday. Got a mixture of cooking chocolate (supermarket brand) then got some fancier Green & Blacks to mix with it. I have a bottle of oil marked "cooking oil" at home, no idea if it's sunflower or what, come to think of it I have no idea where it even came from. Should I risk adding this? It says in the manual you need a full cup of oil which seems like a lot....

rubadub

I'd be wary of cooking chocolate, taste it first, many is really only meant as flavouring for cakes, though some is OK, many is not "real" chocolate at all, just sugar & flavouring. I certainly would not mix in green & blacks with it! thats like mixing a top quality €200 bottle of wine with a €4 of tescos value wine!

I would not add all that oil, I would go a tiny bit at a time, you can always add more, but can't take it out.

xxdilemmaxx

Apparently cooking chocolate has a better consistency for choc fountains, I will let you know how it goes! But then I was thinking that all that cooking choc mightn't taste as nice so came up with the brainwave of mixing and matching

Sure everyone will be too drunk by the time the fountain comes out to notice....