How to Make Chocolate Dessert Cups

Chocolate dessert cups are edible serving dishes made from chocolate that is melted and formed into a rounded shape. They can be used to hold creamy custards, mousses, sorbet or even chopped fresh fruit. Chocolate dessert cups can add an artistic, elegant touch to the end of a meal, but require little equipment or baking experience. They can also be practical because they save you from having to set up and wash extra serving dishes.

Things You'll Need

• 6 oz. piece of chocolate (any type)
• Knife
• Medium glass bowl
• Spatula
• 6 paper muffin wrappers
• Muffin tin
• Pastry brush
• Platter

Instructions

1. Chop chocolate as finely as possible. Put half into a medium glass bowl and set aside the rest.

2. Put the bowl of chopped chocolate into the microwave. Heat it on full power for one minute, then remove the bowl and stir the contents with a spatula. Repeat if necessary, heating for 10 seconds and then stirring before returning to the microwave, until the chocolate is completely melted.

3. Place six paper muffin wrappers in a muffin tin. Add 1 tbsp. of melted chocolate into each paper wrapper. Spread the melted chocolate with a pastry brush in a thin, even layer across the bottoms and up the sides of the wrappers.

4. Transfer the muffin tin to the freezer for approximately 30 minutes, or until the chocolate hardens,. Remove it from the freezer. Add to a glass bowl the remaining chopped chocolate you had set aside earlier, and melt it in the microwave as you did in Step 2.

5. Add another tbsp. of freshly melted chocolate to the hardened chocolate inside the wrappers. Use the pastry brush to evenly coat the melted chocolate across the bottoms and sides of the cups. Transfer the muffin back into the freezer for one hour or until both layers of chocolate are completely solid.

6. Remove each chocolate-coated paper wrapper from the muffin tin. Peel away and discard each paper wrapper, and transfer the solid chocolate cups onto a platter. Add your desired filling to the chocolate cups and serve.

Tips & Warnings

• If you want to make the chocolate cups ahead of time, keep them in the refrigerator and remove them one hour before you are ready to fill and serve them.

• Do not heat chocolate in the microwave for longer than the recommended intervals because it is extremely susceptible to scorching, which gives a bitter taste.

References

• Food Network: Chocolate Cups Recipe