Recipes: Percy Jackson Themed Hot Chocolate Bombs

As promised, a complete set of recipes for how to create my latest ‘Stories Turned to Food’ creation. I hope you enjoy them as much as we did.

FLAVOURS:

ANNABETH: Salted Caramel ‘Popcorn’ Hot Chocolate Bomb

LUKE: Lemon Mocha Hot Chocolate Bomb

PERCY: Liquid Blue Chocolate Chip Cookies (White Chocolate and Cookies) Hot Chocolate Bomb

GROVER: Ruby Chocolate, Salt and Pepper Hot Chocolate Bomb.

To make you will need a silicon large hemisphere mould (mine makes 6 hemispheres/3 Bombs). Each recipe will make 2 Hot Chocolate Bombs (4 hemispheres).

To Temper Chocolate for the Outside of the Hot Chocolate Bombs:

1. Find a saucepan that fits a heatproof bowl on top.
2. Fill the saucepan with water to a point below the bottom of the bowl (don’t let the water touch the bowl).
3. Bring the water to the boil and then turn down to a simmer. Place whichever type of chocolate you’re using into the bowl and place the bowl on top of the heated saucepan.
4. Allow to slowly melt and keep checking with a thermometer to reach the 1^st Temperature (45-50 degrees C/113-122 degrees F for White, Milk and Blonde, and 50-55 degrees C/122-131 degrees F for Dark). Remove from the heat as soon as you reach this temperature.
5. Allow your chocolate to cool, stirring every couple minutes or more, until the chocolate reaches your 2^nd temperature (26-27 degrees C/79-81 degrees F for White and Blonde, 27-28 degrees C/81-82 degrees F for Milk and 28-29 degrees C/82-84 degrees F for Dark).
6. When the chocolate has reached its 2nd temperature it will have started to thicken. Place back onto the heated water/saucepan and bring the chocolate back to it’s 3^rd temperature (28-29 degrees C/82-84 degrees F for White and Blonde, 29-30 degrees C/84-86 degrees F for Milk and 31-32 degrees C/88-90 degrees F for Dark).
7. Your chocolate is now ready to use in your hemisphere moulds.

To Create Your Chocolate Hemispheres:

1. Put 4tbsp white chocolate in two hemispheres and 4tbsp blonde chocolate in 2 others.
2. Use your tablespoon (different ones for both the blonde and white, don’t mix them) to push the chocolate around the edges of the moulds. Keep pushing it around and up, whilst it cools, to get a relatively thick top (it doesn’t matter if you have gaps at the bottom for now).
3. When you’ve reached your thicker top and the chocolate no longer tries to run back to the centre, add another tbsp chocolate into the bottom and fill in the gaps.
4. Leave your moulds for at least an hour (un-refrigerated to keep the shine or if you are short on time speed it up in the fridge) or until fully set. It’s important not to try and pull them out too early as they will break.
5. When ready, release your hemispheres gently from the mould and place on a cold plate ready to use for your Hot Chocolate Bombs.

FOR GROVER: Before filling 2 moulds with dark chocolate, melt some milk chocolate (doesn’t need to be tempered). Dip a fork into the milk chocolate and create lines around the outside of your moulds, getting more milk chocolate as you go until the mould is covered with lines. Set moulds in the fridge. After they lines have set, add dark chocolate following the instructions above.

FOR LUKE: When the hemispheres are halfway to setting, run a knife carefully (so you don’t cut the mould) and make a slit through the bottom centre. After the chocolate is set, remove from the mould. They should break in half. Put them back into the mould and fill the gap created by the break with the opposite coloured chocolate (white into the dark and dark into the white). Allow to set again before removing and finishing your Bombs.

To Create Your Bombs:

1. Heat a large plate in the microwave until hot.
2. Take one hemisphere and rub the edges (i.e. the non-closed side with the hole) around on the hot plate until you have a smooth, level edge.
3. Turn upside down and fill with your fillings.
4. Take your other hemisphere for the top and rub the edges on the hot plate until level and smooth. Whilst still hot connect it to the bottom hemispheres and enclose your fillings. Make sure the sides are lined up to create a tight seal.
5. Run a spoon around the outside to smooth off the finish (this isn’t always necessary but is still a good habit to do).
6. Decorate, set again and enjoy.

ANNABETH

1. To make 2 balls requires 100g White Chocolate and 100g Blonde Chocolate (leaving around 10g Blonde for the filling). Create two white chocolate hemispheres for one side of your Bomb, and two blonde chocolate hemispheres for the other sides.
2. For your filling (1 Bomb): Mix 1tsp salted caramel with 2tsp (barely any). This is just to loosen the salted caramel so the other ingredients mix in, it shouldn’t be too wet. Mix 1tsp cocoa powder into the salted caramel until you get a thick paste.
3. Put your salted caramel mixture in the Blonde bottom half of your Bombs.
4. Add a tsp chopped up blonde chocolate, a pinch of salt and 2 large marshmallows (in that order).
5. Close your Bomb with a White Chocolate hemisphere.
6. TO DECORATE: Melt 100g Dark Chocolate and pour into either a small piping bag or a food-safe preserving bag with the tip cut off one side (you’ll only need a tiny hole, around 1mm-2mm wide). Practice piping the NY Yankees logo on a plate first, before piping it onto both of your balls (See the picture above).

LUKE

1. Create 2 White Chocolate Hemispheres (100g White Chocolate) with Dark Chocolate scars and 2 Dark Chocolate Hemispheres (100g Dark Chocolate) with White Chocolate Scars, following the directions above.
2. For your filling (2 Bombs): Mix 3tsp Cocoa Powder, 1tsp Instant Coffee Powder (Regular or Decaf), 1tsp Brown Sugar and zest of ½ Lemon.
3. Put 1/2 filling each into your white chocolate hemispheres and top with 2 large marshmallows each.
4. Close your Bombs with a Dark Chocolate hemisphere top.

PERCY

1. For the filling: Melt 70g white chocolate either in a bowl over a pan of simmering water (like with tempering but without needing to temper) or melt in the microwave, remaining vigilant so it doesn’t burn. Add a few drops of blue oil-based colouring, mixing and adding more until you reach the desired colour. It should be very vibrant as the colour will dilute when put into your milk later. Spread this chocolate in a thin layer on a silicon mat or baking paper and place in the fridge to set. To use, break it into small pieces.
2. To make your hemisphere moulds: Use 200g white chocolate for 2 white chocolate halves to your Bomb (makes 2 Bombs).
3. To Fill your Bomb: Add around 1tbsp broken blue chocolate into your balls with a tiny pinch salt, some cookie cereal and mini marshmallows (enough to fill half your hemispheres).
4. Use another white chocolate hemisphere to enclose your filling (instructions above).
5. To Decorate: Melt the remains of your blue chocolate and then allow to cool slightly until you have a thick chocolate that will still drop from your spoon but won’t run down your Bomb. Spread over the top of your Bombs. Cover the blue chocolate with blue sprinkles (whatever you can find).

GROVER

1. For Your Filling: Melt 2tbsp ruby chocolate couverture with 1tbsp milk chocolate couverture. Spread out in a thin layer on a silicon sheet or baking paper and put into the fridge. When set break into 1cm pieces.
2. For 2 Bombs, you will need: 100g tempered Dark Chocolate to make 2 hemispheres, 100g tempered Milk Chocolate to make 2 Milk hemispheres and an extra 40g Milk Chocolate, melted, to create the lines in your Dark Chocolate hemispheres (see instructions above).
3. To fill 1 Patterned Dark Chocolate Hemisphere: Add 1tsp cocoa powder, 1tbsp ruby chocolate shards, pinch of salt and a crack of mixed pepper to the bottom of your hemisphere. Top with a couple of hedgehog marshmallows (you can also use other shaped marshmallows e.g. bear… or even plain, if you can’t find anything else).
4. Seal your filling with a Milk Chocolate hemisphere (see instructions above).
5. To Decorate: Using the same dark chocolate as Annabeth (if not doing Annabeth’s follow the same instructions for Annabeth’s decoration) pipe two dots of dark chocolate on the top of your Milk Chocolate hemisphere for horns.