How To Make Chocolate Bowls With Balloons
I started by melting bittersweet chocolate over the stove, double boiler-style. You can do it in the microwave too, but there’s a better chance of scorching it.
Basically you just keep stirring the chocolate in a bowl (or double boiler) over simmering water until the chocolate melts. Takes about 5 minutes. Nothing to it!
When it was completely melted, I ladled the chocolate into a plastic squeeze bottle (you can get them at any restaurant supply store).
And blew up some small balloons. I couldn’t find any water balloons, so I had to make do with some heavier-duty balloons from a helicopter toy (you gotta make do with what you can find at the grocery store, sometimes).
Then I placed the finished balloon on the chocolate base.
Now came the fun part: squirting melted chocolate all over the balloons in a random lacy pattern to form the nest.
At long last, it was time for the moment of truth. I cut the balloons open at the knot. The balloon is supposed pull away from the chocolate as it deflates…
Instead it just slowly imploded on itself.
I repeated the process with more balloons and set them aside to dry for a few hours, until the chocolate was no longer glossy. (You could probably get away with 30 minutes, but I didn’t want to take any chances.)
The third time, I tried to give the chocolate a fighting chance by easing it away from the balloon before popping it.
The same thing happened with #2 and I started to get nervous.
It worked! This one had more chocolate surface area, which helped it resist the pressure of the balloon, I think.
