Chocolate Fountain - any tips!

whizzing

Thanks for moving me. I think I will try the Sainsbury Belgian -as a few people have suggested this.

wammy77

Hi all

Lakeland used to sell milk, dark, white and pink chocolate for fountains - I'd really love the pink chocolate for DDs birthday, but can't find it anywhere.

Anyone know where I can get this, or remember the brand they stocked???

TIA

Wammy

BOBS

Considering getting a small chocolate fountain off amazon for dd 13th birthday party. but .... the price of the chocolate to use in it is very expensive.
Any MSE recipes or tips of anything cheaper I could use or do.

Many thanks,.:beer:

PasturesNew

Regular/cheap chocolate will be too thick, once melted. So you need to add paramount crystals. e.g. http://www.thecakedecoratingcompany.co.uk/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=2284

These thin the chocolate.

But they're not cheap either .... and then there's the faffing around. And then the fountain's got to be thoroughly cleaned ...

So - will you really want all the effort/faff? Or will it end up being an expensive gadget in the cupboard harbouring germs?

How about a chocolate fondue instead?

Edit: Plus, there'll always be one t1t at the party who thinks it funny to do something daft that breaks it or makes the chocolate unusable (e.g. snotting in it).

BOBS

Thanks pastures new you kinda confirming what i am starting to think. Do I just melt chocolate in the fondue ?

ETA - I think i have a small fondue set lurking in the back of a cupboard unopened ...eek!!

PasturesNew

12oz of regular chocolate to 8oz of a heavy cream.
Pinch of salt.

Here's one recipe: http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/chocolate_fondue/

Then there are the dippables.

Strawberries, other fruit, even tinned pineapple, slices of sturdy madeira style cake or cookies. So you could do an MSE-style baking session to make lots of tiny cakelets for it.

Then you will need forks/cocktail sticks for the dipping.

But.... it's cheaper, easier - and if somebody does something daft it's cheap/easy to do a new batch. It's also easier to clean away afterwards.

BOBS

Thanks - def the way to go I think. Have lots of nice mini dessert forks which they can use - now to clear out the dreaded corner cupboard and try and find the box that i hope has a fondue set in it.

Lynsey

Take PasturesNew's tip and use a fondue instead.
I got a chocolate fountain as a [STRIKE]bad[/STRIKE] Xmas pressie and used it once and never ever again. To much waste and faffing - 100% novelty value.

Lynsey

McKneff

They are a bit like Foot Spa's, use them once and they go in the back of a cupboard never to be seen again, till your looking for things to either ebay or sell at a car boot sale.

You see hundreds of both at car boot sales now for a couple of quid, 1.50 after haggling lol.
And you'll probably find that the first time they use it, there will be dribbles of chocolate all over the place.

Meadows

You do know you have to add oil to the chocolate to allow it to flow especially if you have the less expensive chocolate or a cheap fountain.
The amount of oil to be used will depend on your chosen chocolate brand.