Hot Chocolate bombs

[JeanneCake]

This trend is .... wow.  I'm grateful for it because it's bringing in business I might not otherwise have; everyone wants one/some and I am literally making 50-75 of them a day.  And selling out.  Mine are not even half as pretty as the ones in those articles Being the competitive spirit I am, you can bet that NEXT year mine will be prettier!  (I've since corrected the label to be jtcakes.com instead of jtcakes)

 

@pastrygirl, thanks the comparison to crystallization of sugar helped!

@JimD thank you for your message; I took a look at it and it made a lot of sense - I will have lots of questions after Christmas!

@Kerry Beal I HAVE SILK!  I got Felchlin cocoa butter on Saturday, and I have silk today! 🥰

[pastrygirl]

@JeanneCake those look great! 

[RWood]

I'm gonna attempt some this weekend. Since I've got chocolates going anyway, why not?

I send my dad marshmallows and my hot chocolate mix in his Christmas box, so I thought these might be something different. 

[kayb]

This perhaps should go in the Food Funnies section. Someone got my grandson a hot chocolate bomb. His mom (Child C) fixed it for him last night. He didn't like it, so she poured it out. Then at bedtime, he wanted it (he didn't like it hot; wanted it after it had gotten cold), and she had to tell him she'd poured it out. A meltdown ensued. She thought she had the kid appeased, but he was playing in his room before bed and messaged his aunt, Child A, on his iPad (he can only message certain numbers). 

 

"JiJi, your sister poured out my hot chocolate. Me sad. I think she did that on purpose."

 

Child C is now grounded, and the kid has another hot chocolate bomb he can drink after it gets cold.

 

[heidih]

Several years ago a friend who managed a gift shop brought in several specialty chocolate vendors. One sold the bombs. We all saw it as a novelty item and I am glad it is still working for you guys who make and sell. Some moms who purchased reported back that the kids treated them like a  Kinder Egg  https://www.amazon.com/Kinder-Joy-Chocolate-Surprise-Inside/dp/B079M6Y8VL  No hot liquid involved.

[teonzo]

On 12/16/2020 at 2:07 AM, JeanneCake said:

everyone wants one/some and I am literally making 50-75 of them a day.  And selling out.

 

A good reason to stop sleeping and produce 200 a day.

 

 

 

Teo

 

[Eatmywords]

My wife made some pretty white ones earlier.  The stars are stuffed w coconut.   She used the Ghirardelli line for both.

 

[Tri2Cook]

On 12/15/2020 at 4:45 PM, Kerry Beal said:

I did like that idea in the Ecole link where she used bars instead of spheres.

Yeah, I like that too. I was trying to pretend I didn't though, ideas of heart molds for Valentines and eggs for Easter were already creeping into my head and I needed to try to sweep them back out before they got too comfy.

[BeeZee]

I guess this has become quite a thing...the local pastry shop posted that she sold out all 300 hot chocolate bombs in an hour today. Must be people stocking up for gifts, I don't get it.

[Corny]

Theese are a big thing here in Norway as well. If I had time and more moulds I could have sold a lot more.
I’m making these four varieties for now: Dark, Milk, Dark & milk, White & dark (“snowballs“). Unfortunately my polycarbonate moulds only arrived today, so I have been working with Silikomart moulds (soft silicone half spheres). I fill them with chocolate, empty them, wait a bit and fill/empty them a second time to get them thick enough. This way it’s easy to have two types of chocolates (dark/milk and so on).

 

My issue with them is why put instant hot chocolate inside? If you use the right type of good quality chocolate it should be enough. So that’s why I only make them with chocolate and don’t have powder inside (but I do put mini marshmallows inside). 
 

I have tried different couvertures the last few years for different variety’s of hot chocolate (grated, blocks on sticks and now bombs). My conclusion so far is that Manjari and Jivara from Valrhona are the best ones, and melts nicely in hot milk. Not found any from Callebaut, Cacao Barry, Casa Luker or Agostoni that works as well as Manjari and Jivara. 

[JeanneCake]

It's worse than Cabbage Patch dolls.

 

Next year you'll find them in the local drugstore, made by Nestle. 

 

I am working 14 hour days, coming home and updating our order sheets, sleeping 6 hours and repeating.  I've run out of labels, containers (I'm actually now using clear plastic drink cups with lids because everywhere is out of the 3x3x3 clear boxes.) and I am almost out of chocolate.  I stopped counting at 600.  I'm so tired I can't even cry.  

[heidih]

Ride the tide (but don't fall off the raft).. Self care is not just a woo-woo phrase. Best wishes in interesting times.  Still appreciating yeast angel

[JeanneCake]

I'm still on the raft!  Final count 909 (in the last two weeks).  I expect demand to fall off drastically for this and we will probably only make 20 or so a week if that.  I had been planning to do different flavors for the winter months (Jan/Feb/March) but I'm not sure about that any more.  I wanted to do one with colored marshmallows and a superhero one.  Or a Dr Seuss one - a lot of elementary schools do a reading festival around the birthday of Theodore Geisel - at least the ones around here did when I had a child in elementary school!

 

I cannot tell you how excited I am to know that I can sleep in tomorrow morning (no young children in our house   At the moment I am feasting on lobster dip, prosecco and crackers.  Eventually I will begin dinner which is a sort of seafood fra diavolo (hitting four fish instead of 7) and go to sleep!

 

 

[heidih]

Yes and for the non hot chocolate times trending them towards kids like KinderEggs as I noted earlier opens so many possibilities. We look forward to your continuing adventure.

[Anna N]

24 minutes ago, JeanneCake said:

I cannot tell you how excited I am to know that I can sleep in tomorrow morning (no young children in our house

Enjoy every minute. It is well deserved. 

[Elkyfr]

I have never seen this bombs, it will be nice in these cold winter, when we are cover with a sheet on the sofa, and playing with balls in hot milk, to make nice instant hot chocolate.

 

[Kim Shook]

Mr. Kim gifted Jessica and I with them for Christmas:

Very pretty.  I am assuming that we just put them in a cup and pour almost boiling milk over them?

[Kerry Beal]

A rather hilarious post on a chocolate forum I follow by one of our eG members - @Louise nadine brill - thought here would be a great place to share it.

 

 

Louise Brill

Rising Star

  · December 27, 2020 at 9:06 PM  · 

 

I gave my dad a hot chocolate bomb before the holidays. Spoke to him on Christmas Day and he was unimpressed. Didn’t care for it at all. Said it was very difficult to eat and when he bit into it the cocoa powder went everywhere.

 

[heidih]

Ha! Well it is a bomb.

[curls]

32 minutes ago, Kim Shook said:

Mr. Kim gifted Jessica and I with them for Christmas:

Very pretty.  I am assuming that we just put them in a cup and pour almost boiling milk over them?

Indeed, that is what you do for the single serving hot chocolate bombs.

 

They also make larger ones that make a few cups of hot chocolate -- if that is the case, bring milk to a simmer in a pot and add the hot chocolate bombs to the milk, let melt, stir, and pour into suitable drinking vessels. https://player.vimeo.com/video/296300793

[pastrygirl]

Now onto heart-shaped ones for Valentine's day

[JeanneCake]

OMG that FB forum is FULL of people experimenting with Valentine's designs.  The last post I read was someone struggling to get the shell out of a heart shaped silicone mold (she claims they keep breaking) and people are telling her she should go to the dollar store and get these plastic hearts meant for packaging and use those as molds.  Another person chimed in that they were doing round red shells and adding (🤢) red velvet instant pudding in place of the cocoa mix. 

 

For the  love of God people .....! LOL

 

I do have to admit that I was surprised we sold another 50 this week to repeat customers, who asked if we were going to keep making them through the winter.......

[CaliPoutine]

My FB feed is filled with people in my town making these hot cocoa bombs with cheap Merkins coating or Wilton Candy melt.  Gag.  

[jimb0]

18 minutes ago, CaliPoutine said:

My FB feed is filled with people in my town making these hot cocoa bombs with cheap Merkins coating or Wilton Candy melt.  Gag.  

i honestly try not to be too much of a snob but...grody. 

 

for valentine’s day i bet you could make some really attractive mixes with white chocolate and freeze dried berry powders on the inside. or a super finely ground earl grey, perhaps. 

[CaliPoutine]

29 minutes ago, jimb0 said:

i honestly try not to be too much of a snob but...grody. 

 

for valentine’s day i bet you could make some really attractive mixes with white chocolate and freeze dried berry powders on the inside. or a super finely ground earl grey, perhaps. 

I fully admit to being a food snob. I'm more of a baker than a candy maker.  LOL. Btw,  Long ago, I lived in SW Ontario and had a very popular cooking for seniors thread here on Eg.  Those were the days.