Chocolate lovers in the United States are indulging their passion at chocolate fountains, which have become popular for parties, according to chocolatier Hillary Bradley.
Bradley, who arranges chocolate fountains for clients, is setting one up for a private party today. She starts by putting together the fountain mechanism itself. When she's done, she uses a leveler to make certain the device is level on both the bottom and the top.
Bradley has run a successful business for nine years in the Virginia suburbs of Washington. Making and decorating chocolate is not only her profession but her passion as well. And she says chocolate fountains are extremely popular among her catering clients.
“A chocolate fountain is a catering equipment in which you put melted chocolate that flows through and then you dip wonderful things into it," she explains. "And I melt it [chocolate] down because it has to be at a certain viscosity to go through the fountain. So, I melted it at home and I brought it here. We've added a little cocoa butter in it because the higher the cocoa butter content, the more it's going to flow.”
Bradley serves a variety of foods with the chocolate fountain, including pretzels, cookies, marshmallows and fruit.
“These are pretty much the favorite," she says. "The fruits that are popular are strawberries, pineapple and bananas. So those three, we also use dried fruits, dried mangoes, dried apricots which are really good.”
The chocolate fountain she uses requires nine or 10 kilograms of liquid chocolate, enough to serve anywhere from 50 to 150 people.
“I love it," says one guest at the private party. "I really love chocolate and having things to dip in it makes it even better.”
“It's fabulous," says another. "It's such a great break from the day. I mean, who doesn't love chocolate?”
With testimonials like that, how can anyone resist? But you might want to check the calorie count first.
