Chocolate Fountain

When setting up a chocolate fountain for a home party you're going to need to know a few things. You can not just toss some Hershey bars into your chocolate fountain and expect to get that signature chocolate waterfall. You need to pick the right chocolate, add vegetable oil if necessary and maybe some extra ingredients to make sure that your chocolate fountain recipe is a good one.

First of all, almost all chocolate fountains for home use will not melt the chocolate for you. You'll need to use a double boiler or microwave oven and then transfer the melted chocolate to your fountain.

Regular chocolate is too thick for use in a fountain. It needs to be thinned out or have its viscosity lowered. This is accomplished with vegetable oil. Neutral flavored oils such as canola or safflower are added so that the chocolate flavor isn't overpowered by oil.

Couverture is chocolate with high cocoa oil content. Anything that's got from 32% to 40% cocoa oil is considered a couverture. Technically you're not supposed to need to add vegetable oil to Couverture chocolate when using it in a fountain but it really depends on the chocolate. Your results may vary based on the brand that you choose. A good idea is to do a test run when you don't have guests over and check how viscous your brand is. You can always add more oil but remember that you can't take it out.

The best way to melt your chocolate is in a plastic zip lock bag. Make sure it's one of those heavy duty freezer bags or use two of them just to be safe. You don't want your microwave coated by an oozing bag of melted chocolate. For every five pounds of chocolate add a half cup of vegetable oil. You can use less oil if using courveture.

You could also add a splash of Grand Mariner or another liquor. If there will be kids at your party a splash of vanilla extract or cinnamon might be a better idea. As you might imagine a splash of flavor will only enhance your fountain. So the most important thing to remember is to get a high quality chocolate.

Set your microwave oven for one minute and then mix the chocolate by gently squeezing the bag. Be careful the bag will get hot. Oven mitts will make the squeezing much safer. Do not overcook the chocolate. When there are no more chunks you are done.

Melting chocolate in a double boiler is great but the plastic bag in the microwave method is preferred because of this last step. All you have to do is snip off one of the corners of the bag with a scissor and squeeze the chocolate directly into the fountain as if you are using a pastry bag. Don't forget those oven mitts because the chocolate will still be hot.

A chocolate fountain is a great addition to any get together. If you follow the advice in this article, you should be on your way to a delicious time with your friends and your chocolate fountain.