Chocolate Cups

This recipe for chocolate cups lets you serve candies, mousses, and ganache in a delicious, edible container! Chocolate cups are best known as the base for peanut butter cups, but you can also do so much more with them. Learn how easy it is to make edible chocolate cups, and you might find yourself making them on a regular basis. Don't miss the photo tutorial with step-by-step photos showing how to make chocolate cups!

Ingredients:

Chopped chocolate or chocolate candy coating
Small candy cups, preferably the foil variety
Small clean paint brush (optional)

Preparation:

For this recipe, you will either want to temper your chocolate or use chocolate candy coating. Tempered chocolate will taste better, but chocolate candy coating is faster and more convenient to use. I recommend that you do not simply use melted (untempered) chocolate, as it gets soft at warm temperatures and tends to bloom, or develop grayish-white streaks that are unappetizing. So begin by either tempering your chocolate by following these directions or melting your chocolate candy coating.

There are two methods of making edible chocolate cups. For the first, you will want to take a spoon and fill each candy cup to the brim with chocolate. You can use any style or size of candy cup. I prefer the foil variety, since they seem a little sturdier to me, but the paper cups will also work.

Let the chocolate sit for a few minutes, just until it starts to set around the edges. Then grasp a candy cup by the bottom and invert it over the bowl of chocolate, letting the excess drip out. Once the extra chocolate is gone, you'll be left with a thin, even coating on the sides and bottom of your candy cup. This method is fairly fast if you're doing a large number of cups, since by the time you have filled them all the first cups will be ready to invert over the chocolate. The downside is that it does require enough extra chocolate to fill the cups to the brim, so it's not ideal if you're working with a limited amount of chocolate.

The second method involves using a small, clean food-safe paintbrush. Fill a cup about a quarter of the way full of chocolate, then use the paintbrush to paint the chocolate up the sides of the cup to the top. Try to create an even layer, and inspect the cups as you finish them to make sure there are no weak, streaky areas.

If you want to make larger chocolate cups, you can use regular muffin cups (paper or foil) and cut a strip off the top so that they are not quite so tall. Then use the same method of filling and dumping the chocolate, or painting the chocolate up the sides.

Let the chocolate cups set completely, either at room temperature or in the refrigerator. You can now fill them with ganache, mousse, ice cream, or any other candy filling of your choice. They can be left open on top, or sealed with more chocolate on top of whatever filling you choose.

Click Here to View All Candy Cup Recipes

Or browse these recipes that use chocolate cups:
Peanut Butter Cups
Crunchy Peanut Butter Cups
Almond Truffle Cups
Crispy Almond Cups
Mint-White Chocolate Cups
Hot Chocolate Truffle Cups
Peanut Caramel Chocolate Cups
S'mores Candy Cups
Eggnog Truffle Cups
Bananas Foster Truffle Cups

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