Gluten Free Chocolate Bowls Recipe
Updated Oct 30, 2018, Published Mar 23, 2010
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Spring has sprung! It is popping up all over around these parts and after suffering through the coldest winter in recorded Floridian history (mind you, Floridians are the same people who can’t vote properly and who call 911 to take them to bars, so who knows how accurate those records really are) it is nice to see the sun shining, the flowers blooming and the birds bouncing around the yard.
Spring is a time for pretty things. With that in mind I thought I’d show you how to pretty up that simplest of all gluten-free desserts; ice cream. Instead of serving ice cream (or mousse, pudding, etc.) in a boring old dessert bowl, how about making a lovely chocolate bowl instead?
Your guests will think you are a freaking creative genius, your desserts will look tres chic and I guarantee you won’t have to wash the bowls afterwards. The best part? They are so much simpler to make than they look like they would be.
Think how pretty these would be on Easter made of white chocolate and filled with a variety of pastel ice creams.
Gluten Free Chocolate Bowls Recipe
Directions
Here’s a step-by-step how-to:
First take small balloons (water balloons work great) and wash them with some soap and water – you don’t want your bowls to taste like rubber. I hold the tops so water doesn’t get inside.
Take a deep breath and blow them up! The size of the balloons determines the size of the bowls. Tie knots at the top of the balloons.
Put about 2 ounces (or 1/3 of a cup) of chocolate chips for each bowl in a microwavable bowl and melt for a minute or two.
Stir the chocolate until smooth and glossy.
Pour the melted chocolate into a plate or onto some parchment paper and let it cool a little – trust me on this one. If the chocolate is too hot it will pop the balloon and you will end up wiping, scrubbing or licking chocolate off your kitchen and self! Warm is good – hot is bad!
Place the bottom of the balloon in the chocolate.
Slowly tip the balloon down covering it with a thick coating of chocolate. For a straight top you can just roll the roll the balloon all the way around or …
for a pretty scalloped edge, bring the balloon back up straight, turn it a few degrees and
dip again. Continue all around the balloon, turning and dipping.
The scallops don’t all have to be the same height so don’t obsess too much over this.
Place the chocolate covered balloons on a baking sheet lined with waxed paper pressing down gently to form a flat bottom. Refrigerate or freeze for about 30 minutes.
When the bowls have chilled, grasp the balloon just under the knot and hold firmly.
Take a pair of scissors and snip off the knot but hold the balloon firmly to control how slowly you let out the air.
Slowly release the air, too fast and the bowl might break. Take out the balloon and voila! a pretty little chocolate bowl. If the deflated balloon sticks to the bottom of the bowl, just pop in the freezer for a few minutes and it will come right out. These can be made ahead and stored in the fridge or freezer.
Fill with whatever your heart desires and be ready to take your bows at the dinner table!
For some ideas of what to put in them how about:
David Lebovitz’s Vanilla Ice Cream
White on Rice Couple’s Silky Chocolate Mousse
Tasty Eats At Home Sweet Risotto
Use dairy free gluten free dark chocolate for the bowls and fill with dairy free ice cream if dairy is an issue.
Servings
This Gluten Free Chocolate Bowls recipe makes 1; increase portions for multiple servings
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Ooooh, so tempting…. Yum!
Balloons?! You are hilarious!
Fabulous work – love that it looks so flower like!
Jenn – Washing the balloons with soap and water gets rid of that rubber taste – no one wants rubbery tasting chocolate :)
This is such a fanatastic idea.
You've inspired me again! I tried it: https://yardtofork.wordpress.com/2010/03/27/chocolate-balloon-cups/ Yay! Thank you :)
You really have some great idea on how to making things look great. I love your gluten free diet recipes very much.
We saw these on your website today and just had to try them!!!
It was fun to make them!
We made 6 but 3 broke because we couldn’t get the balloons out, even though we kept putting them back in the freezer. I think ours were too thin.
It was still a blast making them and they tasted so good! Thank you!
You can see what we filled them with here:
https://juniorglutenfreechefs.blogspot.com/2011/02/ice-cream-sundaes-w-edible-bowl-dairy.html
I love this idea! i tried it, but the balloon was stuck to the chocolate when i tried to deflate it. sad days! :/ Could I have possibly done something wrong?
Try putting them in the fridge first – if the chocolate is really cold, it won’t stick.
Wouldn’t you not want the balloons to touch your food? Balloons aren’t food-safe. Do you have any suggestions as to which kind of balloon to use in order to minimize harmful toxins?
From my understanding tit is the powder on the balloons that is not good for you which is why it is important to wash them first.