Sunday, October 16, 2011

Girls Night Dessert!


I have wanted to make chocolate cups since I saw this post on bakerella, I just needed an event to make them for! So when we had a girls night dinner for Christmas, last year, I finally had the excuse I needed! I made two types of mousse to fill the cups with: peanut butter mousse and chocolate mousse. With a big group of girls, I think it's needless to say that they were a pretty big hit!

Chocolate Cup
Semi-sweet chocolate chips melted
Chocolate Almond Bark
Water balloons filled with air to the size you want your cups

Melt the chocolate mixture for dipping the balloons, blow up the balloons to the size you want, get a cookie sheet with parchment and put a little dollop of chocolate on the parchment paper for a base for the balloons to sit on. Dip the balloons in the chocolate and set it on the chocolate base. Let the chocolate cool.

 There will probably be thin spots from dipping where the chocolate layer is not even thickness. Take a basting brush or the back of a spoon and fill in the thin spots so that the bowl will be full thickness. If you try to pop the balloon with thin spots, the chocolate will tear instead of holding its shape.

When the chocolate has all hardened, pop the balloon and pull out the rubber from the shell! Voila, chocolate cups!

I used regular balloons, but since I only blew them up half way, when I popped them, they weren't super stretched out, so I had to pull the rubber out of the cup. I would recommend water balloons, they will be a bit more taught!

One awesome tip about dipping chocolate: whether it is strawberries or chocolate cups, I find that mixing half chocolate pieces and half chocolate almond bark (or even just 1/3 almond bark) keep the same taste while hardening harder and having a nice shiny coat when it cools!

Peanut Butter Mousse
1 cup cream cheese (softened)
2/3 cup smooth peanut butter
4 T sugar
3/4 c. whipping cream
(whip to soft peaks and fold in)

With an electric mixer blend together the cream cheese, peanut butter, and sugar. In a separate bowl whip the cream into soft peaks. Once soft peaks have formed, fold the whipped cream into the peanut butter mixture!

Chocolate Mousse
2 packages of instant chocolate pudding mix
4 cups half and half

Follow the directions on the back of the pudding box for the amount of cream and pudding, using the half and half instead of milk. Now stop following the directions and use mine. Using electric mixer, beat together the pudding mix and half and half about 5 minutes until mousse forms. This is the absolute easiest chocolate mousse ever, but it is thick and rich! It's even thicker and creamier if you use cream instead of half and half... but that seemed just a little too indulgent for me with everything else we were eating at this particular girls night.

Once all the components are finished, layer the two mousse types into the chocolate cups and garnish with chocolate shards or curls! Pretty and delicious!

If anyone else tries this let me know how it turns out, for you!

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