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Most people don’t put much effort into buying chocolate for a chocolate fondue fountain. Perhaps they have a few bags of chocolate chips on hand or they’ll even buy some of those brick sized chocolate bars. Sure this will work fine and the whole fountain concept will still impress your party guests. But true chocolate aficionados use gourmet chocolate in their fountains and you can definitely taste the difference.

Melting regular supermarket chocolate chips is not an option in the most popular home versions of the chocolate fondue fountain. The chocolate will be too thick and if it can actually be pumped to the top of the fountain, you won’t get that cascading waterfall effect that these machines are famous for. Plain chocolate will just drip if you’re lucky. If you’re unlucky, it will clog your fountain, leaving you with a few pounds of chocolate that needs to be melted with hot water before you can use your fountain again. When using regular chocolate, you will need to add a significant amount of vegetable oil in order for the chocolate to be fluid enough for the fountain to work.

The best way to melt supermarket chocolate is with a double boiler. For every two pounds of chocolate, you should slowly add one cup of vegetable oil while stirring. If you can handle your double boiler and an electric mixer at once, then the mixing won’t be too hard. You probably won’t need the entire cup of oil so add it slowly and stop when you think the chocolate looks right. But don’t forget that you can’t add more oil when the chocolate is already in the fountain. So if you are in doubt, add more oil.

The easiest way to set up your chocolate fondue fountain is to use couverture chocolate. Couverture is a French word that means to cover. Courverture chocolate is usually used for making candies or for dipping so it’s perfect for a chocolate fountain. It’s made with a higher percentage of cocoa butter than normal chocolate and melts to a smoother texture. Couverture chocolate will give you that elegant looking waterfall effect without any additional oil or mixing required. The only drawback is that it’s very expensive when compared to supermarket chocolate.

Melting couverture chocolate is the same as regular chocolate. Either use a double boiler or a microwave. Since you won’t be adding any additional oil or using the electric mixer, the microwave can work great. Set the microwave for a minute at a time and stir in between.

Whoever decided that turning a chocolate fondue fountain into a home appliance should be given a medal. Why save the chocolate fountain for weddings and other large parties when you can now set it up every weekend. If you are having a birthday party or a barbeque, why not add some pizzazz to the event with a chocolate fondue fountain. Whether you choose expensive couverture chocolate or regular supermarket chocolate chips, it’s sure to taste delicious.

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As the word chocolate comes to our mind or passes through our ears, our tongue starts licking the lips, filling the mouth with saliva. Chocolates usually tempt all of us. Besides eating, chocolates are also used in baking and cooking many delicacies. But how many of us know about the different varieties of chocolates? Lets us take a look at the most famous chocolate types.

Milk Chocolate: As the name implies, milk chocolate has a creamy, sweet and mild flavor. It is a combination of sugar, whole milk powder, cocoa butter, unsweetened chocolate, soy lecithin, vanilla, corn syrup, sugar, and salt. Milk chocolates work well for dessert sauces, fondue, dipping coatings and chocolate garnishes. This is the most eaten chocolate of all chocolate flavors. Though it is heat sensitive, it works great for cooking and chocolate decorations. In the US milk chocolate is made with 10% chocolate liquor and 12% whole milk as a minimum.  

White Chocolate: White chocolate is different from the other chocolate flavors. It is manufactured from sugar, cocoa butter, dry milk solids and the addition of flavorings like vanilla. However it does not contain any nonfat cocoa solids that gives it an off-white color. White chocolate is used for all types of cooking and baking. It is manufactured from sugar, cocoa butter, milk, lecithin, vanilla, butter, corn syrup, and salt. It is sold in bars, blocks, discs and chips. It has a mild and pleasant flavor and can be used to make chocolate mousse, panna cotta and other desserts.  

Dark Chocolate: Dark chocolate is actually sweetened chocolate with high content of cocoa solids and very little milk or somtimes no amount of milk. Dark chocolate can of various types. It can be sweet, semi-sweet, bittersweet or unsweetened. In general, dark chocolates contain at least 35 percent chocolate liquor. Other ingredients include cream, sugar, butter, chocolate, cocoa, vanilla, and salt. It is very popular for baking and dessert recipes.

Semisweet Chocolate: Semisweet chocolate is a type of dark chocolate with low sugar content. Great way to introduce others to dark chocolate. Semisweet chocolate combines well with other flavors, melts easily and is great for dipping. It is sold in different forms such as, chocolate chips, chocolate chunks, bars, and disks. Semisweet chocolate has a good, sweet flavor, it contains often 40-62% cocoa solids. It is frequently used for cakes, cookies and brownies, and can be used in place of sweet dark chocolate.

Bittersweet Chocolate: Bittersweet chocolate is made with very little or no amount of sugar. It is often referred to as unsweetened or baking or cooking chocolate. It contains sugar, cocoa butter, vanilla and lecithin. Lecithin holds the cocoa and the cocoa butter together in a candy bar. The minimum amount of cocoa solids in a dark sweetened chocolate is 35%. The amount of cocoa solids in good quality bittersweet chocolate is in the range of 60% to 85% depending on brand. If the amount of cocoa solids is more the content of sugar is less, giving a rich, intense and more or less bitter chocolate flavor. It is strongly advised that if a recipe specifies bittersweet chocolate do not substitute with semi-sweet or sweet chocolate. Due to its deep, rich chocolate flavor, it is most frequently used in cakes and other baked or steamed desserts.

Unsweetened Chocolate: It has found many names like bitter chocolate, chocolate liquor or baking chocolate. It is preared without adding sugar. Unsweetened chocolate is made from finely ground and roasted cocoa nibs, and has zero alcohol content. In addition with sugar, unsweetened chocolate can be used in cakes, brownies, and cookies. It is packaged and sold in bars, blocks and discs.

It will be served in a overflowing fondue fountain with strawberries.