The Simple Hack To Ensure A Good Seal On Homemade Hot Chocolate Bombs

A hot chocolate bomb, for those of you who are unfamiliar, is a ball of hardened chocolate containing hot chocolate mix and marshmallows. Once dropped into a cup of hot milk, it creates an ultra-decadent, extra chocolatey cup of comforting hot chocolate. Not only are they delicious, but they're also super easy to make — with Tasting Table's hot chocolate bombs recipe, developed by Kristen Carli, you'll be done with a batch in just 30 minutes.

While making hot chocolate bombs is simpler than you may initially think, there are a couple steps that are really important to get right. One of these steps is creating a proper seal so that there are no holes in the outer layer of chocolate. Luckily, there's an easy hack to ensure that you get a good seal: touching up. 

After you initially remove the empty molds from the freezer, you can use any leftover melted chocolate to touch up any noticeable holes or thin spots. Then, you'll need to touch them up once more after taking the filled, sealed bombs out of the freezer the second time. Use a pastry brush to again touch up any thin spots or holes — and once you've done this, put the hot chocolate bombs back in the freezer one last time. When you take them out, they'll be completely sturdy and ready to go. 

Making hot chocolate bombs is definitely simple, but it is a bit tedious, so you may be tempted to skip the smaller steps — such as the two rounds of touch-ups. However, if you want hot chocolate bombs that won't come apart or leak, then you definitely need to take the time to touch up the weaker spots of each ball.

Hot chocolate bombs make a great homemade gift for the holidays — and, if you're gifting these, then you definitely don't want the cocoa powder leaking out of the bombs or the balls to break before the person receiving the gift can admire your hard work. And you definitely want to avoid the hot chocolate bombs breaking before they can even enjoy a mug of hot chocolate made from your hot chocolate bombs.

Additionally, recipe developer Kristen Carli suggested using the homemade hot chocolate bombs for a make-your-own hot chocolate bar at a holiday party. If this is your plan, then you'll want your hot chocolate bombs to be as impressive as possible. Plus, you'll want to avoid any more cleanup than is already necessary — you can avoid having to clean sticky chocolate flakes and messy cocoa powder by sealing up the hot chocolate bombs properly, including by taking the time to touch them up.