Chocolate Cups

Recently I bought a Cusinart ice cream maker, which has become my favorite kitchen appliance. And if you like ice cream as much as I do, you’ve got to have one. The ice cream maker bowl is kept frozen until needed, so it does not require ice, and makes ice cream in 15-20 minutes. It’s also very easy to clean! So far I've only used it to make vanilla ice cream (will post the recipe soon), but it can be used for making healthier alternatives like frozen yogurts and sorbets too. I’ve already tried out two different ways of making ice cream (with and without eggs) and I’m planning to do a lot more experimenting with the taste and texture….so if you love ice cream, let me know what flavor you would like me to experiment with ;-).

Although this post is not about ice cream, here is a fun way of serving it. These chocolate cups can be used to serve ice cream, pudding or any other dessert that goes well with chocolate. (Recipe source: Crazy for Chocolate, published by Bay Books).

Ingredients:

Dark chocolate chips (1 packet of 12 oz. chocolate makes about 18 cups).

1. Melt the chocolate chips.

2. Cut squares of plastic wrap and spread about a tablespoon of melted chocolate on the plastic wrap using the back of a spoon to form a circle.

3. Carefully pick up the plastic wrap holding the ends and gently place over an inverted styrofoam cup (chocolate side up).

4. Place the cup in the freezer for a couple minutes till the chocolate hardens. Remove from the freezer and carefully peel off the plastic wrap.

The chocolate cup is ready for serving your favorite dessert. The cups can be stored in an air-tight container in the freezer.

~Gayatri