Of all the recent trends captivating our attention on social media, one has to admit that hot chocolate bombs have been perhaps the most compelling! There’s something rather hypnotic about watching a spherical chocolate ball explode in a cup of piping hot milk, revealing a gush of marshmallows and hot chocolate mix. A quick stir later and you’re sipping on a beautiful cuppa cocoa!
As it turns out, making these hot chocolate bombs is almost as fun as putting them in action. I’ll admit, it does require a bit more effort and patience than most other hot chocolate recipes. However, we have none other than Isha Shetty, pastry chef extraordinaire behind Vanilla Miel, sharing the step-by-step process to guide us along the way!
From recommendations for the best chocolate to use at home, to tips for intensifying that chocolatey flavour and getting a super smooth finish on a ganache cake – Isha has also shared her hacks for better baking with chocolate! Do have a read, here to level up your skills baking chocolate desserts!
Hot Chocolate Bombs
Ingredients
For Chocolate Mix:
- 25 g icing sugar
- 22 g cocoa powder
- 60 g milk powder
- 60 g good-quality dark chocolate, cold *
- 60 g good-quality milk chocolate, cold *
- ¼ tbsp cornflour
- ½ tsp cinnamon
- ½ tsp nutmeg
- pinch of salt
For Bombs
- Dark chocolate chips/ pellets (there is no fixed quantity here; use more chocolate if you’d like to make more hot chocolate bombs or vice versa)
Instructions
To Make The Hot Chocolate Mix
- Sift the dry ingredients (icing sugar, cocoa powder, milk powder, cornflour, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt) in a bowl. Whisk until evenly combined.
- Blitz or grate the milk and dark chocolate until it becomes a fine powder. Make sure the chocolate is cold (as otherwise it will turn pasty)
- Add the grated/blitzed chocolates to the dry ingredient mixture and give it a good whisk.
To Make The Chocolate Bomb
- Take a silicone half-sphere mould. If you are using couverture chocolate (highly recommended), you will have to temper it first (see below for a guide on tempering)**. If you are using compound chocolate (e.g. Morde’s), simply melt the chocolate (there is no need to temper it).
- Take the melted/ tempered chocolate and cast it in your mould.
- Tap & scrape out excess chocolate.
- Fill the chocolate mix in one half of the sphere mould.
- Slightly melt the edges of second shell, pressing it down against the back of a hot pan or a heated steel plate for a couple of seconds. This will make it easier to stick the moulds together.
- Once the two spheres are sealed, garnish them as you’d like!
In Action:
- Boil milk; sieve boiling milk and pour into a cup containing the bomb.
- Once poured in, you can either stir with a spoon to an even consistency; or for a smoother experience, blend it with a hand-blender!
Notes
To Temper The Chocolate
- Add 2/3 of the chocolate to a heat-proof bowl. Then place this bowl over a pan of gently-simmering water (this is known as a bain marie). The bottom of the bowl should not touch the water as this would cause the chocolate to get too hot and lose its shine.
- Remove from heat once the chocolate mixture reaches 45°C on a cooking thermometer. Stir in the remaining chocolate; and then stir the melted chocolate gently at intervals. Once smooth and shiny, the tempered chocolate is ready to use and you can proceed with the recipe as outlined above!
About Vanilla Miel
Taking inspiration from the simple elegance of vanilla and honey, Vanilla Miel is one of India’s only artisanal and art-inspired patisseries.
At the helm are the talented sister duo Mansi and Isha Shetty – a former corporate lawyer and qualified Le Cordon Bleu-trained pastry chef respectively. Their vision for Vanilla Miel is a sanctuary where their passions of art and pastry are combined. Their gourmet petit gateaux, entremets and tarts have anywhere between 3 to 6 layers each, with every single layer channeling a varying flavour and yet coming together beautifully once eaten, into a transporting experience. Follow them @Vanilla_Miel.