Hot Chocolate bombs

Hot Chocolate Bombs"A Hot Chocolate Bomb is a hollow, chocolate shell filled with hot cocoa mix and marshmallows.  Place it in a mug and watch it explode as you pour warm milk on top of it and the marshmallows float to the top. Stir it up and you’ll have a delicious cup of chocolate goodness! They make great DIY holiday gift ideas."I have just recently discovered this trending idea of hot chocolate bombs and I have quickly become obsessed with them.  I searched for stores that carried them in my area so I could buy some but I only found a few and they were already booked up.I searched for posts and tutorials to make my own and in doing so, I discovered that different kinds of chocolate were used but the same type molds.I ordered my  Round Silicon Molds from Amazon that night, hoping they would make it before Christmas. They arrived this weekend and I was excited to try them out.As I was researching hot chocolate bombs on the internet, I ran across a blog post from Dear Lillie Studio where she talks about her version of them.  She has beautiful photos of her creations with a precious gingerbread house on top of the mug. She referenced getting her recipe hereSome of the recipes I found called for a high-quality 24-ounce chocolate bar that you could order but in the recipe she used, they called for chocolate chips!  That made them look doable to me so I followed her tutorial.I melted one bag of chocolate chips in the microwave in 20-second intervals, stirring in between until they were all melted.Once the chocolate was melted, I began to fill the molds.  I put about 1 tablespoon in each mold then used a plastic spoon to help spread the chocolate up the sides of the mold. I let the molds sit and rest for about 5 minutes.Then I re-coated the sides, to be sure they were thick enough to not break easily.At this point, it doesn`t really matter how messy this inside looks cause it will not show. After I had built up the sides a bit, I put the molds in the refrigerator to finish hardening.The tricky part is getting them out of the molds. I carefully stretched the mold away from the sides by tugging around the cavity to loosen the chocolate.Then, while the sides are stretched, I used my fingers to push the bottom of the cavity up so that the chocolate pops out of the top. It really comes out pretty easy this way.(Oops!  It is ok if a couple of pieces crack off the edge of the bomb like this one since you are going to melt the edges a bit anyway.)On a small plate, I added a bit of water until it covered the surface. I microwaved the plate for about 15 seconds or until warmed and removed the water and dried off the plate.I got one of the half-spheres and placed it edge side down on the plate for a few seconds. (This should melt the chocolate just a little bit as it makes the edges clean.Then, I filled that half with the hot cocoa powder, marshmallows.  I grabbed the other half of the bomb, melted the edges on the plate, and brought the two halves together as I pressed gently. You can use the tip of your finger to smooth the chocolate around the seam. Turn over the mold to place them so they can dry.I had some red chocolate pieces that I melted and put in a zip lock bag then, just barely cut the tip-off so you can use it to pipe the chocolate. I piped the red chocolate around the center of the bomb to cover the seal. Then immediately pushed it gently in a bowl of sprinkles, and kept dipping until the whole center was covered.I went a little overboard at this point with leftover red chocolate and made a bunch of letters to personalize them.I tried to dip the letters in a bit of the melted chocolate and let it stand on top, like the "H" one below.  That would be a great idea if you were using them that day, although I would make the letters a little smaller.  But that made them too fragile to wrap and seal,  so I will just lay the letters in the clear bag with the "BOMBS"!!They say these can last up to a few weeks. They need to be sealed tightly and at room temperature. The refrigerator can cause discoloration to the chocolate.I can`t wait to try them out in a few days when my grandsons and their parents get here from Dallas and join the rest of us for the celebration of the birth of Christ.Merry Christmas to you all and a blessed 2021 new year!Love,