In this recipe, I will show you how to make these fun vegan hot chocolate bombs that melt and burst open when you pour hot milk into your cup. These hot cocoa bombs are perfect for a cute gift or a cold day during winter.
How to melt vegan chocolate for hot cocoa bombs?
There are a couple of ways to melt vegan chocolate. Two methods I regularly use are au bain-marie and in the microwave. For a small amount of chocolate, I will usually use the microwave. I melted these 5 pieces of chocolate for 1,5 minutes in the microwave and scooped the melted chocolate over the parts that were not melted yet. And for larger amounts, I usually use the au bain-marie method. So if you’re are going to make a lot of spheres you may want to melt the chocolate in a hot water bath (au bain-marie).
Which mould should I use for hot cocoa bombs?
Technically you can use anything with the correct shape that is resistant to the cold temperature of the freezer. My mold is actually a ball-shaped ice cube maker. The best thing would be to buy a silicone mold. The silicone is soft and therefore the cholate will be very easy to remove from the mold. But if you do not want to buy a mold you can also get creative and make one from aluminum foil or find an object that has a similar shape as I did.
How to make the sphere for the hot cocoa bombs?
To make the perfect sphere we’re going to coat the mold twice. First, add a thin layer of the melted chocolate that covers the entire mold and place it in the freezer for 5 minutes. After five minutes the first layer will have set and you can add a thin second layer. Freeze the chocolate for another 15 minutes and they’ll be completely ready to remove from the mold.
If you’re using a silicone mold you can directly remove the chocolate out of the mold after freezing. But if you are using a plastic mold you have to make sure that the mold looks white (left mold on the picture). If you can still clearly see the chocolate (right mold on the picture) you won’t be able to remove the chocolate from the mold. Because the chocolate is still stuck to the bottom.
If the mold doesn’t turn while you can gently press the sides of the mold a little until you see a small white spot. Be careful when you press, the chocolate can break if you use too much force. Once you have the white spot put it back in the freezer to loosen up completely. To remove the sphere gently move the chocolate up and down with your fingers and pull it out when it is moving.
Which vegan ingredients can Iuse for the hot cocoa bomb.
Marshmallows are the pretties to put in the hot cocoa bomb. Unfortunately, most marshmallows are not vegan. So if you want vegan marshmallows make sure you buy them ahead of time. I wasn’t able to get any vegan marshmallows because they were all sold out. I did find some vegan candy canes. Most candy canes use a red food coloring that isn’t vegan so make sure you check if they don’t contain E120. You can of course also just use vegan chocolate milk powder. Or make vegan chocolate milk powder as I did.
When you stuff the sphere make sure you place it on something that will keep it in place. The sphere will melt if you hold it in your hand. I put my sphere on a heart-shaped cookie cutter but many other things will work as well.
How to seal the sphere for the hot cocoa bombs?
To seal the sphere first take a second-half and melt the bottom a couple of seconds in a pan on low heat. Next place the second half on top of the first half. Seal the sphere with the melted chocolate. You can use your fingers or a toothpick to spread the chocolate.
How to decorate the vegan chocolate bombs?
You can go as crazy as you like with the decorations. Or keep them really simple. You can glue the decorations on the sphere with the melted chocolate. I coated a couple of larger candy cane pieces with edible gold and silver powder. And crushed a couple of candy canes to sprinkle them on top. A really cute look is also to use a piping bag and make lines on top of the spheres. Especially if you can find white vegan chocolate.
How to make hot cocoa with the chocolate bombs?
Once the hot cocoa bombs are ready the chocolate milk is really easy to make. Put a hot cocoa bomb in a glass and warm your favorite plant-based milk on the stove or microwave. You want the milk to be really hot.
Next, pour the hot plant-based milk on the sphere and watch it melt and pop open if you put vegan marshmallows inside.
Give it a good stir and enjoy your delicious vegan hot cocoa.
Ingredients
Instructions
