I saw another blogger post something similar to these and I had to try them. I didn’t own any silicone pans, so I ordered the necessary pan from Amazon and followed her instructions and… failed. So I tried again. And failed. I went back to the post and reread her directions. She noted that she had trouble with this particular method as well. It worked at times but not at other times. Dang. Why don’t I read instructions more carefully before I start these kinds of projects?!

And so, with my husband’s and friend’s help, we kept trying new things again and again until finally, at the 11th hour, my dad’s Father’s Day chocolate bowls were done. And now that I know the trick to perfect bowls every time, I can’t wait to share it with you!

I have to give my husband, Brant, the credit for the idea that finally worked. The original blog suggested buying a silicone pan, freezing ice cubes in the shape of the pan, and then dipping the ice cube into melted chocolate. That worked exactly once. After that? Disaster. So, after attempting this about 13 more times, Brant finally suggested removing all the ice cubes and painting the inside of the silicone pan with chocolate and freezing that. Better, but still not perfect. And finally Brant came up with the winning solution – fill the silicone pan with ice cubes and then turn the pan over (leaving the ice inside) and pour chocolate over the outside of the pan. Perfect! The pan and ice were cold enough to freeze the chocolate instantly and made removal easy. And the ice never melted into the chocolate since it was separated by a layer of silicone.

chocolate bowls
inspired by www.mykitchentreasures.com with major adaptions and perfected by the marvelous Brant Wong

To make these delicious chocolate bowls you need a silicone pan with fun shapes. Don’t have one? I bought this one from Amazon. Place the silicone pan in a small baking tray, fill with cold water, and freeze until ice cubes are solid.

You also bittersweet chocolate; I used about 2-3 cups of chocolate chips to make 6 chocolate bowls. Heat the chocolate in the microwave until melted, stirring every 30 seconds to keep the chocolate from burning. Let chocolate cool for 5 minutes if it’s too hot to touch.

Remove silicone tray with ice from the freezer. Working quickly, flip the tray over so that the ice cubes are on the bottom, keeping the ice cubes in the tray. Break off any ice crystals that may have formed on the design. Pour chocolate over the molds, quickly smoothing out the chocolate so that it drips over the sides of the mold. Repeat with the remaining five molds. Let sit for a few minutes until the chocolate has a matte sheen and does not give under gentle pressure. Working in the same order that you applied the chocolate, carefully remove the molds from the silicone pan. Place the molds on wax paper and transfer to the refrigerator immediately.

If you want to make more than 6 molds, you will need to add more water to the ice cubes to replace the water that has surely melted and re-freeze. This will not take long since most of the ice will not have melted in the previous steps. Once frozen, repeat the above steps.

Fill with ice cream, top with chocolate sauce and whipped cream and any other favorite sundae toppings, and enjoy!