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Chocolate fountains are a fun alternative to plated desserts at a reception, cocktail party or other celebration. While it may look effortless to your guests, a chocolate fountain requires some preplanning and preparation on your part.
Chocolate fountain instructions. Download: Nostalgia electrics 3 tier chocolate fountain instructions fondue recipes on Pinterest. See more about fondue party, chocolate fountain recipes and fondue. I pinned this 3 Tiered Chocolate Fondue Fountain from the Nostalgia Electrics event at Joss and Main!
You can use any type of chocolate in your fountain, but there are differences to consider:
- Couverture chocolate has between 32 and 39 percent cocoa butter. Pastry chefs turn to couverture for dipping or enrobing fruits and other items.
- Regular, or eating, chocolate often contains emulsifiers to replace some of the cocoa butter. This lowers the price, but also lowers the quality of the chocolate.
- Chocolate chips contain stabilizers that allow them to hold their shape during baking.
If you use a high-quality couverture chocolate in your fountain, you will not need to add oil to it. The high cocoa butter content allows it to flow smoothly. If you use less expensive chocolate or chocolate chips, you will need to add between 1/2 and 1 cup of oil per 5 pounds of chocolate, depending on the brand and the atmospheric conditions.
Humidity and temperature can affect the viscosity of melted chocolate. Oil thins the chocolate, helping it flow more smoothly through the fountain. If the room is cold or humid, you will need to use more oil than you would on a warm, dry day.
Use a neutral flavored vegetable oil, such as safflower or canola oil, in your chocolate fountain. Its purpose is to alter the viscosity, not the flavor, of the chocolate.
Add the smallest amount of oil you think you'll need to the chocolate before melting. If the chocolate is still too thick, stir in small amounts of oil until you reach the ideal consistency.
Depending on the size of your gatherings, you may want to display more than one fountain. A small unit will serve 100 to 150 guests, while a large one can serve up to 800. Using two or three units allows you to offer a variety of dipping sauces. Consider these ideas:
- Chocolate trio: Set up three fountains offering dark, milk and white chocolate
- Sundae fountain display with chocolate, caramel and strawberry sauces
- Savory sauces such as ranch dressing, queso and barbecue sauce.
Tips
Be sure to use a smooth strawberry sauce without chunks of fruit that will clog the fountain.
Perfect for my party. I did use all four pounds of the Wilton Chocolate Pro chocolate melts to get the full 'fountain' affect and as it was enjoyed by guests, the fountain affect began to fade, but that's to be expected with less chocolate. I melted the chocolate in the microwave as directed, then poured it into the preheated fountain, waited a bit to make sure it was completely melted, and then turned it on. Ran it for several hours and it was great. Cleanup is a bit tedious, but again expected with an appliance like this.
I will definitely continue to enjoy use of it. We bought this chocolate fountain for our daughters Dessert buffet themed graduation party and was a hit for young and old alike! Would recommend purchasing 2 - 32 ounce bags of chocolate for about 80- 85 people. We bought Wilton Chocolate Pro melting chocolate wafers in the 32 ounce microwavable bags.
Served with strawberries, rice krispie bars, chunks of Angel food cake and marshmallows. Was easy to assemble and fairly easy to clean afterwards.Recommendations:-Make sure the table is level or won't work properly.-Soak removable parts after use until can properly wash or wash all parts very soon after use. If you let the chocolate dry and harden it is more difficult to scrub off.-The next time we plan to melt the wafers in a large glass Pyrex measuring bowl with pour spout instead of melting in the bag. We had challenges pouring the nicely melted chocolate into the fountain from. I have had this just slightly less than a year. It's gotten very light use (about once a month or less).
I have so far only used it for chocolate and caramel desserts and cheese. The unit overall looks nice and has a compact footprint.
It heats very quickly and holds a consistent temperature. The variable temperature feature is very useful although for chocolate or cheese it's probably best to use on the lowest setting or the slightly above that. If it's much higher and/or not watched closely they will burn.
I imagine the higher settings would be better for clarified butter, broth or oil for cooking meats.Clean up is a breeze. The base wipes up quickly. Even after badly burning two separate batches of chocolate in the pot it cleaned very well and looks just like it did when I bought it with no staining or residue.The 6 forks. ASIN:B000GPGVF2 Sephra Classic 18 Inch Home Fondue FountainI bought this cautiously after reading Amazon reviews. I had never even seen a chocolate fountain before, but the doctor I worked for wanted to have 2 going for a Ladies' Nite he was hosting at his clinic. Everything went without a hitch and they were the focal point of the party.My biggest concerns after reading the reviews was that it wouldn't work, or that it wouldn't work right, or that it would be hard to clean. However, I found the instructions very, very clear and simply followed them to a 'T'.
The instructions aren't hard, long or really detailed, and they seem to be written to take care of any potential problems beforehand.From this experience, I will tell other novice users a couple things I learned that aren't in the manual that may have contributed to this being such a positive experience. Wilton sells products to accommodate this chocolate, of course, but the chocolate works with any vessel that can keep melted chocolate warm. Here is a sampling of what Wilton sells: ASIN:B07BY9R72J Wilton 2104-3826 Mini Chocolate Fountain, Small, ASIN:B000OP623U Wilton Chocolate Pro Chocolate Fountain - Chocolate Fondue Fountain, 4 lb.
Capacity, and ASIN:B00KBUGQNY Wilton Candy Melts Candy Melting Pot.The chocolate, when melted, is smooth and flows well and is very dunk-able. Flavor is fairly average. Our family would prefer it to have more depth, richness, with a touch of bittersweet. But, as it is, I am very happy that it is not too sweet, because there is no un-doing that. Maybe Wilton formulated it with a more neutral taste to let the flavor of whatever is being dunked to stand out.I ordered this in the hot month of July in mid-Texas. It arrived in.