Ever seen a chocolate fountain and thought “that’s a good idea…”?
Well you are not the only one.
courtesy: Flickr
Chocolate fountains are all the rage right now for parties up and down the country and with good reason. While you might think the rental price is high, it covers a lot of things you don’t want to do yourself (we’ll touch on that later) and you may well create a party experience that your guests will be talking about for years. We think that makes it worth the money.
Are Chocolate Fountains Just For Kids?
Absolutely not, but that’s not a bad place to start. Most kids place chocolate on a par with Christmas in terms of pleasure.
Just try standing a child in front of a fully flowing chocolate fountain with a marshmallow or a piece of fruit on the end of a skewer and see what reaction you get. If you cannot remember the last time one of your kids expressed gratitude, this will be the time.
And for your child’s friends, a chocolate fountain is still rare enough that their eyes will be popping out on stalks.
Try not to overfill your chocolate fountain
The impression that chocolate fountains give is of a flowing river of chocolate, a bit like the one in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Willy Wonka’s river suggests endless chocolate – a strong and redolent fantasy image.
While there more than enough for every child at the party, kids tend not to eat until they are ill and the attendants are very experienced in spotting when kids have had enough.
For adults it works in surprisingly similar way. Even sober, adults tend to revert when encountering melted Belgian fondue face-to-face.
Here are some adult events that benefit from a chocolate fountain:
- weddings
- anniversaries
- birthdays
- graduation day
- corporate hosting
- special company days
- office parties
What’s in a Chocolate Fountain?
Chocolate fountains are a bit like water sculptures. To create the illusion of endless chocolate, the liquid is continually transported to the top of the fountain and allowed to flow down. A hidden heater keeps the temperature and viscosity tightly controlled.
Cheaper fountains use a pump to transport the chocolate mix up the middle of the fountain, but these are quite noisy. The ease of manufacture of this style make these the type you would see if you bought your own.
The better fountains, including those you rent, use an augur to transfer the chocolate up. This is based on the Archimedes Screw (there’s a line for the Christmas party) and ensures a lovely gentle flow. It is also much easier to clean an augur than the thin plastic tubing used in pump-based fountains.
The recipes for a chocolate fountain are not particularly secret – they are a blend of the chocolate of choice and a thinning agent, usually milk-based. You choose the chocolate based on your budget and your target audience.
Cheaper chocolate actually works very well in fountains, but you might want to lay on gourmet Belgian for your special guests.
I have heard of white chocolate being used at a wedding, but that tends not to stay white for long.
The more expensive chocolates need more care and attention to operate with and that’s when you get most benefit from having an experienced professional attendant. The best attendants will give tasting tips.
Getting Interactive With Your Chocolate Fountain
The fountain is just something pretty to look at until you arm your guests. The weapon of choice is skewers. Metal sewers are preferred rather than wooden skewers as it avoids the risk of wooden splinters entering the mix.
You need to lay on an array of food objects to dunk and cover in chocolate and here, the sky is the limit. Anything goes. I have even see some kids stick a favourite confectionery in there just to see how chocolatey a mess they can conjure up.
For adults, pieces of hard fruit such as apple are perfect, but you can also use marshmallows and even bread balls.
Chocolate Fountain Hire
So what do you get if you hire a chocolate fountain?
Someone else does the washing up (courtesy:Flickr)
Short answer: someone else does the washing up.
For most people, there’s no real need to read more detail – you can imagine how long it takes to clear the aftermath of a a fountain after a party. But that is what you are paying for: the chance to enjoy your own party and to spend time mingling with your guests.
Unless you are a real cocoa foodie, you will find that the attendant will gradually disperse all sorts of interesting facts about chocolate and suggest interesting things to dip in the fountain.
Could I Not Just Buy a Chocolate Fountain?
You can certainly buy a chocolate fountain, but if you buy cheap you will end up with a toy that is likely never to be used a second time after you go through the grueling ordeal of getting it squeaky clean afterwards.
The difference between the most modest commercial chocolate fountain and the typical fountains available to buy at your edge-of-town shopping complex is a large one.
If you are going to have a fountain, we recommend you go all-in and rent a fountain and a trained attendant. You won’t regret it.
So Where Can I Hire The Chocolate Fountain Of My Fantasies?
There are lots of places you can rent a chocolate fountain locally. We don’t have room here to cover all areas, but a check of your local listings should reveal two or three places to get quotes from. Try to be as specific as you can early on to get the most accurate quotations.
Chocolate Fountains are The Magic Ice Breaker
As an ice-breaker, few things succeed more than a chocolate fountain. I have seen the most shy child (or office colleague) come alive with joy when getting covered with runny fountain chocolate. We thoroughly recommend you try a chocolate fountain the very next chance you get.