Expecting a glut of chocolate this Easter? These devices could help turn it into a new treat. By Keeley Bolger.
Cookworks Chocolate Fountain — Silver, £34.99, Argos
A home party staple for many years, the chocolate fountain rarely fails to delight. After all, there’s little to split hairs over when there’s an opportunity to guzzle or gape at flowing chocolate. This chocolate fountain by Argos has three tiers, suitable for four to six people, or one very greedy person to gorge themselves on. Once plugged into the mains, turn on the power switch to heat for three minutes before adding your already melted chocolate to the bowl, ensuring you use chocolate that is no more than 60% cocoa for the best results. Flip from ‘on’ to ‘flow’ and have fruit, biscuits, cake and treats at the ready to dunk into the drink.
Pretty Pink Chocolate Fondue Set, £14.99, Argos
Unlikely as it is that Easter eggs could lose their allure, if you have kids, chances are your kitchen cupboards and fridges will be chock-full of the treats kind aunties, uncles, neighbours and friends have bestowed upon them. So if space is at a premium, this petite fondue set could provide a tasty and expedient solution. Set to ‘warm’ before breaking chunks of chocolate into the bowl, switch to ‘melt’ and dunk snacks of choice in the bowl using the skewers provided. You could also ladle molten chocolate onto cakes, breads or anything else that could be improved with a lashing of choc.
Gourmet Gadgetry Retro Red Hot Chocolate Maker, £36, Debenhams
Whether it’s a cocoa, a hot chocolate or something altogether more sophisticated-sounding to you, this nifty device can whip up creamy chocolate drinks for very little effort on your part. Plug it into the mains and select ‘hot’ or ‘cold’ before letting the machine froth away and create a hot chocolate, or chocolate milkshake, in about two minutes.
Dualit Milk Frother, £59.99, www.dualit.com
Creamy hot chocolates are hard to beat, but when using pure muscle power to whisk milk isn’t an option, let technology take the slack. After adding milk to the electric jug, the creamy liquid will heat and froth within two minutes. The froth lasts until the final sip and can be used to simply heat milk, make chocolate milkshakes or to add frothy milk to coffee. Milk moustache optional.
Chocolate melting pot, £12.99, aldi.com
Melting chocolate over a saucepan or in the microwave is straightforward enough, but, naturally, tech has an even easier solution. This electric melting pot is an Aldi specialbuy and melts chocolate for dipping, slathering or dunking other snacks into (there are 10 skewers provided). There’s also two silicone moulds included, in case inspiration to create mini chocolates takes hold.
Brownie maker, £15.99, Wilko
This is one for brownie superfans. Make the batter, pour into the six non-stick compartments, plug in and press start to kick off the baking process. Fitted with a safety handle to ensure cool handling, the top of the machine is also non-stick so your goodies can be peeled away smoothly. Delicious.
[Source:_belfasttelegraph]
