How To Make Day of the Dead Hot Cocoa Bombs for Día de Los Muertos
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Acknowledge and appreciate the Dia De Los Muertos in style with these colorful Day of the Dead Hot Cocoa Bombs. Ready in just 30 minutes and delightfully indulgent.
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Day of the Dead Hot Cocoa Bombs
The full ingredients list and instructions are found in the printable recipe card at the end of this post. I highly recommend reading the blog post all the way through so that you don’t miss any tips or substitution suggestions, to ensure that you have all the ingredients and equipment required and understand the steps and timings involved.
Día de Los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, on November 1 and 2, is a Mexican holiday that celebrates loved ones who have passed away.
It is associated with the Western Christian Allhallowtide tradition of All Hallow’s Eve, All Saints’ Day, and All Souls’ Day, which is a more somber affair.
Day of the Dead, on the other hand, is a joyful celebration, with family and friends remembering their deceased, and recalling funny events and anecdotes about the departed.
One popular way to honor those lost family and friends is by making special foods and drinks in their memory. You’ve probably heard of sugar skulls (Calaveras), but there is also Pan de Muerto, a type of sweet roll.
Last year I shared some Disney’s Coco-inspired Cupcakes, and this year I thought that these Day of the Dead Hot Cocoa Bombs would be a delicious way to commemorate Día de Los Muertos!
Ingredients & Equipment Used In This Recipe
While most ingredients can be bought in grocery stores, for your convenience, any specialized or notable ingredients and equipment needed for this recipe have been linked to Amazon or other stores if available online. Staple ingredients such as oil, salt, sugar, etc., aren’t always included here as you’re likely to have those in your kitchen. The complete list of ALL ingredients with measurements is found on the recipe card.
- White Chocolate Wafers – in the UK I highly recommend Callebaut White Chocolate Callets
- Hot Chocolate/Cocoa Mix
- Blue Candy Melts
- Day of the Dead Sprinkles – you can either buy a ready-made mix or combine skull-shaped sprinkles with brightly colored rainbow sprinkles
- Special Equipment:
- Chocolate Sphere Mold
- Squeeze Bottle – or you could use a plastic food bag and snip off the corner
Recipes on The Purple Pumpkin Blog use both cup measurements and/or weighted measurements. American cups and kitchen food scales are handy pieces of equipment to have in your kitchen as it means you’ll be able to make all of the different recipes on my blog. I try to give American, imperial, and metric measurements in my recipes. Please note, that you can mix cup measurements with weighted measurements, but never mix imperial (pounds, ounces, pints, etc.,) with metric (kilograms, grams, litres, etc.,).
More Recipes Using Candy Melts
One of the hero ingredients in this dish is candy melts, so here are some more recipes using the same:
- Fun and Easy to Make Candy-Coated Rainbow Unicorn Oreos!
- Make These Lion King Paw Print Cookies For Your Little Cubs!
- Aladdin Oreo Cookie Pops
More Hot Cocoa Bomb Recipes
Looking for more cocoa bombs to make? Check these recipes out next:
- Salted Caramel Gold Skull Hot Cocoa Bombs (with Spiced Rum for Adults!)
- Mickey & Minnie Hot Cocoa Bombs for Disney Lovers!
- Snowflake Hot Cocoa Bombs Filled with White Hot Chocolate Mix
Hot Cocoa Bomb Making Tips
Hot cocoa bombs are a lot easier to make than you might think. The very first time I made them I thought I would fail, but I couldn’t believe how easy it actually was! Here are my tips for success!
- Place a plate in the freezer before you start making the outer shells (half-spheres). Place the shells onto the cold plate when assembling the cocoa bombs to help keep them cool.
- Work quickly, but steadily when forming the half-spheres. I find using the back of a measuring spoon helps to spread the melted candy (or chocolate) evenly around the mold.
- You may want to add a second layer of melted candy after the first layer has hardened. This is absolutely fine to do, and I often add a second layer to make sure the bombs are sturdy – they will still melt when the time comes!
- Carefully peel the silicone mold away to pop out the spheres. If you are worried about other ones breaking, you could always cut your mold into individual spheres. As you become more experienced and skills you’ll find that it is not as tricky as you might think.
- Before filling your cocoa bombs, you will want to ensure the edges are even so that when you seal them together they adhere well without any gaps.
- My preferred method is to place a small plate in the microwave for 30-60 seconds until warm. You then rub the candy shell over the plate to gently melt the edges.
- You can also heat up a shallow pan on the stove, place a piece of wax paper into the pan, and rub the candy sphere on that to gently melt.
- Follow the directions on the package of the hot chocolate mix to see how much you need to make a mug of hot chocolate, and place that inside the bomb. 1-2 tablespoons should probably be enough and will fit inside the cocoa bombs.
- To attach the top half-sphere to the bottom, gently melt it again and place it carefully onto the filled sphere, holding it in place until it sets. If you find there are any gaps, use a little melted candy to seal up the hole. You could also pipe melted candy around the edge to stick the two halves together.
Melting Tips for Candy Melts
You can melt candy melts/candy wafers in the microwave or a double boiler, or if you plan on making lots of candy-covered treats in the future, I recommend investing in a Wilton candy melting pot as treat-making life is then so much easier!
Try this PME one if you’re in the UK, as the Wilton one is not available on Amazon.co.uk.
If you use the Wilton Candy Melting Pot, you can check out Wilton’s demo video on YouTube which is really helpful. They also give tips on how to melt candy melts in the microwave, as well as using the double boiler method.
The two most important things are
- Do not overheat – use an even melting temperature
- Do not add water – it makes the candy seize up and become unusable. Make sure the equipment used is completely dry, and avoid using utensils that retain moisture like a wooden spoon.
If you find that the candy is too thick, add vegetable shortening or (solid) coconut oil in 1 teaspoon increments, up to 1 tablespoon, and stir well.
Another reminder – do not add water. The very first time I used candy melts I managed to get water in the bowl and it was ruined. Learn from my mistakes! Additionally, do not use vegetable oil, butter, milk, or any other liquids as this will also make the candy seize up.
If you are using your microwave, test melt a small amount of candy melts first, to see how it works. You may need to adjust the temperature and time to suit your machine. Heat in 15-30 second increments, stirring the candy melts each time. They may not look melted, but they might have started melting from the inside. Stirring helps to distribute the heat.
How Do I Make Day of the Dead Hot Cocoa Bombs?
Check out the printable recipe card below with full ingredients and instructions. Any demonstration photos do not print out to save your ink.
Day of the Dead Hot Cocoa Bombs
Acknowledge and appreciate the Dia De Los Muertos in style with these colorful Day of the Dead Hot Cocoa Bombs.
Ingredients
- 7oz/200g white chocolate melting wafers
- 6 Tbsp hot cocoa mix or Mexican hot chocolate mix
- 1oz/28g blue candy melts
- Day of the Dead sprinkle mix
Instructions
- Place a large plate in the freezer - this will help to keep the candy shells stay cool when assembling.
- Melt the white chocolate candy according to the package instructions.
- Add a tablespoon of melted candy to one cavity of a medium/large (2.5") hot cocoa bomb/dome mold, using a spoon (or a pastry brush) to cover the entire cavity with melted candy, making sure to get all the way up the sides. Do this until all 12 cavities in both of the molds are covered.
- Place in the freezer for 5-10 minutes. Take the molds back out and coat only where you can see through the mold. If you cannot see through the mold you do not need to add more. You want the bomb to stay together but not be too thick. If you add more melted candy, place the molds back in the freezer for another 10 minutes.
- Remove the plate from the freezer.
- Remove and carefully pop out each half of the bombs and place them on the chilled plate.
- There are three methods for melting the rim of each sphere to even them out and for attaching the top half-shell to the bottom one:
Method 1: Pour some melted chocolate into a disposable piping bag, then pipe it around the edge of the bottom shell. Carefully place the top shell onto the bottom one and gently hold them in place for 30-60 seconds to allow the piped chocolate to harden and "glue" the pieces together.
Method 2: Warm up a shallow frying pan on the stove. Place a piece of wax paper into the pan, and holding the top half-shell, rub gently on the wax paper until the edges start to melt a bit. Use this to then stick the top to the bottom, holding together until set
Method 3: Heat a plate in the microwave for approximately 60 seconds. Remove it from the microwave then place it directly onto the hot plate for 5 to 10 seconds. You just want the rim to gently melt. (My preferred method.) - Before filling the hot cocoa bombs, use one of the methods above to gently melt the edges of each dome to even them out.
- Spoon a serving of hot cocoa mix into 6 half-spheres.
- Gently melt the top half as above and place one on top of each filled half. This will seal them together evenly. Use your finger to gently rub any melted candy to fill in any gaps. You want a firm seal without holes.
- Melt the blue candy melts according to package instructions.
- Transfer melted candy to a plastic food bag or disposable piping bag (with the corner/tip cut off), or a squeeze bottle.
- Drizzle blue candy over each hot cocoa bomb and add sprinkles. Leave to set.
- Serve by placing a Day of the Dead hot cocoa bomb in a mug and pouring hot milk over to melt. Stir well and enjoy!
Recommended Products
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Make It A Special Dinner!
You’ve made the hot drink to go with dessert, but what about the rest of the courses?
Here are additional recipes to create a menu for a dinner party or special meal:
- Appetizer: Crispy Taco Cheese Cups Are A Great Low Carb Snack!
- Soup: Pozole Rojo de Pollo (Red Pozole with Chicken)
- Salad: Mexican Chopped Salad with Creamy Avocado Dressing
- Main Dish: Cast Iron Carne Asada Bowl
- Side Dish: Instant Pot Cilantro Lime Rice
- Beverage: Jalapeño Cucumber Vodka Lemonade
- Dessert: Disney • Pixar’s Coco-Inspired Sugar Skull Day of the Dead Cupcakes
There are 500+ Recipes on The Purple Pumpkin Blog for you to enjoy – please feel free to check them out too.