How To Use A Chocolate Fountain

Simply put, a chocolate fountain (also called chocolate fondue fountain) is an electric gadget with 3 main parts: the top dish, the central column that holds the dish, and the small base at the bottom of the piece that has the engine.

The way the fountain effect is achieved is by filling the bottom part with melted chocolate, which will then be pushed to the top so that it overflows. Then once the chocolate is down, it gets pushed back up again, just like the water is pushed upwards in a real fountain.

You can put various sweet things around it that can be dipped in the chocolate. I love to use fresh strawberries (time of year permitting) to dip in the chocolate. It's really yummie!

(Image public domain courtesy of wikipedia.org)

To use your chocolate fountain you need a couple of things. First of all, of course, you need... a chocolate fountain...or two.
Then you also need the right type of chocolate. Afterall not just any chocolate goes in the fountain. So below you will have a few popular fountains to choose from and couverture chocolates to melt.

Cleaning your chocolate fondue fountain is quite easy. You need some really warm or even hot water, but beware! never dip the base of the fountain the water. It has an electrical engine part, and like all electrical objects it should stay clear of water.

* Clean the fountain right after you switched off the machine. Don't let the chocolate harden in it because you'll have a tough time cleaning it afterwards.

* You first need to empty the chocolate from the fountain (take care, it can get messy!). I use a spatula to take out all the chocolate from it by simply scraping it out.

* Take apart every piece from the fountain and clean them (except the base). These parts are usually dishwasher safe, so once the chocolate is out, you can put them in the dishwasher (except the base, of course).

* For the base, you can add water in the bowl for cleaning, but make sure that you don't actually plunge in the entire base in the water.

* As for the discarded chocolate, you can either reuse it for some dessert or simply throw it away.