Love is in the air! Valentine’s Day is less than a month away and will be here before we know it. After making a lot of different flavors and decorations for hot chocolate bombs over the holiday season, I thought it would be fun to come up with a yummy flavor for Valentine’s Day as well as some lovely decorations! These hot chocolate bombs make great gifts for family, friends, or your significant other!
I made a video for my YouTube channel containing everything in this post! You can check it out here:
Disclosure: There are Amazon affiliate links provided in the post below. If you click on any of the Amazon links and make a purchase, I do get a small percentage of the sale which helps me pay for my ingredients and my website. I genuinely use anything that I link, and I want to make it easy for you to find these ingredients and kitchen tools, too, if you want to utilize them!
Check out my first hot chocolate bomb blog post to learn basic information about hot chocolate bombs, how to make simple hot chocolate bombs, and how to make 6 additional fun flavors!
Check out my second hot chocolate bomb blog post for more flavor ideas and some adorable holiday decorating ideas!
Before we get to the decorations, we need to make the hot chocolate bombs. Trying to come up with a red velvet recipe was honestly one of the most challenging hot chocolate bomb flavors I have made so far. The key ingredients that make red velvet cake are red food gel (obviously), a hint of cocoa, and buttermilk. That slight hint of sour flavor is key when making red velvet, but I was not sure how I could achieve this in hot chocolate form. After looking up recipes and thinking for a while about how I could actually make a red velvet hot chocolate bomb work, I found out that there is such a thing as powdered buttermilk! That was exactly what I needed. After multiple test recipes, I finally came up with the recipe that follows. I hope you enjoy!
Red Velvet Heart Hot Chocolate Bombs
Course: Drinks, DessertDifficulty: EasyNote: Makes 8 hot chocolate bombs.
Ingredients
2 1/2 cups Ghirardelli Vanilla Melting Wafers (or Wilton Red Candy Melts)
1/2 – 3/4 teaspoon red food gel color
16 teaspoons Hot Chocolate Powder
16 teaspoons Powdered Buttermilk
4 teaspoons Unsweetened Dark Cocoa Powder
8 teaspoons Culinary Crystals (optional)
1 teaspoon Salt (optional)
Directions
- Add the melting wafers to a microwave-safe bowl and heat for 30 seconds. Remove the bowl, stir the candy melts around, and then heat for an additional 15 seconds at a time until all the wafers are completely melted. Make sure to stir in between each heating because if you burn them, you will have to scrap the chocolate and start over.
If using Ghirardelli vanilla melting wafers, mix in the red food gel after the first 30-60 seconds in the microwave, and then continue to heat in small increments until completely melted. - Now that the vanilla wafers are fully melted, spoon a little bit of it into the wells of the mold. Use the back of the spoon (or a food paint brush) to brush the candy melts up the sides. Once all the wells are coated, gently tap the mold on the counter to remove excess bubbles, and to allow the melting wafers to coat any spots you may have missed. Place this mold on a flat surface in the freezer for about 1-2 minutes, or until the candy melts have completely hardened.
- Now that the shells have hardened, once again use the back of the spoon to brush melting wafers on the sides of the mold. Work quickly to add the secondary layer of candy melts, making sure to focus on the sides of the mold so that they are reinforced and less likely to crack or break when removed from the mold. You may need to add a tiny bit of candy melts to the bottom because the geometric heart mold goes slightly up in the center, so you want to make sure that this part of the mold is completely covered as well. Work diligently because the cold melting wafers from the freezer will start to quickly set this secondary chocolate layer. Once this done, pop them into the freezer for a minute or two to harden.
Note: There are a few different ways to coat the sides in candy melts. This is how I personally prefer to make them. I always recommend playing around with techniques until you find what works best for you! - Next, carefully remove the shells from the molds. I like to press on the bottom of the shells and then carefully separate the sides from the mold.
- Now, assemble the bombs. First, add 2 teaspoons hot cocoa powder. Second, add 2 teaspoons powdered buttermilk. Third, add 1/2 teaspoon unsweetened dark cocoa powder. Fourth, add 1 teaspoon Culinary Crystals (optional). And fifth, add 1/8th or less of salt (optional). Repeat for all the hot chocolate bombs.
- Seal the bombs. Check out my first Hot Chocolate Bombs Tutorial for techniques on sealing the hot chocolate bombs.
- Once the hot chocolate bombs are completely sealed, it is time to decorate!
Notes
- To enjoy your hot chocolate bomb, add about 6-8 ounces of hot milk. The powdered buttermilk does clump up a bit when exposed to the liquid. To fix this, you can just press the clumps onto the side of your mug and continue to mix until everything is thoroughly combined.
- In addition to the geometric heart hot chocolate bombs, I also used a Wilton silicone lips mold I purchased last year at Joann’s before Valentine’s Day. I have not found this particular mold for sale this year, but they do have an adorable rose silicone mold that would make super cute hot chocolate bombs!
Basic Hot Chocolate Bomb Supplies:
Ghirardelli Vanilla Melting Wafers:
Geometric Heart Molds:
My favorite hot chocolate to use: Swiss Miss Dark Chocolate Indulgence Collection:
Powdered Buttermilk:
Hershey’s Unsweetened Dark Cocoa Powder (best price if you have Prime and purchase through AmazonFresh):
Hershey’s Unsweetened Dark Cocoa Powder (6 containers – one of best values I found on Amazon):
Culinary Crystals (16 oz.):
Decorating Ideas:
Edible Glitter:
For the first decoration, use a food brush to brush the hot cocoa bomb with some Wilton Glitter Shimmer Dust. For these hot cocoa bombs, I used the pearl edible glitter. What is great about this option is that you can also use it at the beginning of making your hot chocolate bomb shells. Simply brush the mold with the edible glitter before adding the candy melts and make the rest of the hot chocolate bomb as usual.
Wilton Glitter Shimmer Dust (Set of 3):
Edible Metallic Gold Paint Splatter:
Just like the first decoration, the next one can be done either before or after you make the shells of the hot chocolate bombs. Simply dip a small food brush into edible metallic gold paint, hold the tip of the brush about 4-6 inches away from the hot chocolate bomb and repeatedly hit the back of the brush. If you are doing the splatter before making the shells, then do the same method, just over the silicone mold, let it slightly dry for about 5-10 minutes, and then proceed to make the hot chocolate bomb as usual.
Wilton 5-Piece Brush Set:
Candy Melt Drizzle with Sprinkles:
For the third decoration style, heat some candy melts in a microwave safe bowl. Once they are completely melted add a little bit of vegetable oil and thoroughly mix it into the candy melts. Add the candy melts to a piping bag and drizzle it over either part of the hot chocolate bomb or the whole hot chocolate bomb. Immediately add sprinkles before the candy melts have a chance to harden.
Sprinkle mixes are great for edible decorations! For the left hot cocoa bomb, I drizzled white candy melts and then added a combination of 2 Wilton Valentine’s Day sprinkle mixes. For the right hot cocoa bomb, I added a drizzle of black candy melts and then some of Sprinkle Pop’s Vintage Rose Gold sprinkle mix.
Wilton Valentine Sprinkle Mix:
For these next two hot chocolate bombs, after adding a drizzle of white candy melts, I added a mixture of red, dark pink, light pink, and purple sugar sprinkles. Sugar sprinkles are great way to add a cool, bling look to your hot chocolate bombs!
Wilton Valentine Sugar Sprinkle Set:
For these hot chocolate bombs, I added a drizzle of white candy melts to the one on the left, and a drizzle of black candy melts to the one on the right. I then added some edible pink heart sprinkles. I love these edible pink heart sprinkles because they add pretty color and adorable Valentine’s Day vibes!
Wilton Pink Hearts Edible Sprinkles:
Covered in Sugar Sprinkles:
This next decoration is one of my favorites! Use a large food brush to brush a light layer of melted candy melts onto the hot chocolate bomb. The candy melts can set really fast, so immediately add a generous amount of sugar sprinkles. Once the candy melts harden, you can shake off the excess sugar sprinkles. You can either use a solid color, like the gorgeous red on the left, or use a combination of red and purple like the one on the right, or use a combo of red, dark pink, light pink, and purple like the one in the middle.
Wilton Sprinkle Assortment:
Decoration Combo Complete with Edible Gold Leaf:
Finally, we are doing a combination of some of the other decorating techniques! First, drizzle either part, or all, of the hot chocolate bomb with melted candy melts. Then, immediately add a generous amount of the multi-color sugar sprinkles combo. Next, add a few of the larger pieces from one or a couple of your sprinkle mixes. You may need to gently press the larger sprinkles into the candy melts to ensure that they adhere.
An optional, fancy finishing touch is to add edible gold leaf. I follow a lot of baking content creators on Instagram that sometimes add edible gold leaf to finish their projects. I have wanted to give it a try for so long, so I finally purchased some! Use a food paint brush to transfer pieces of gold leaf onto the hot chocolate bombs. Gold leaf can be a little finicky to work with, but it is pretty easy once you get some practice.
And last, but certainly not least, to finish these glamorous hot chocolate bombs, add a few sprays of edible glitter for the perfect shimmering touch.
Wilton 2-Piece Brush Set:
Edible Gold Leaf:
Wilton Candy Melts (6 pack of bright white color):
Wilton Candy Melts (6 pack of black):
Wilton Edible Gold Glitter Spray:
Thank you so much for checking out this post! Let me know how you enjoyed these hot chocolate bombs in the comments below!
