In the spirit of one of the happiest holidays on the globe, today’s recipe focused on teaching you how to make St. Patrick’s Day-themed cocoa bombs.
Even if it’s mainly an Irish holiday, St. Patrick’s Day is now celebrated all over the world. It’s a great occasion for friends to get together and have a few drinks, with some countries even hosting parades for people of all ages.
Origin of St. Patrick’s Day
17th of March is when people celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. This day has been honored as a holy festival by the Irish for more than 1,000 years. Irish families would typically attend church in the morning on St. Patrick’s Day, which occurs during the Christian season of Lent, and then celebrate in the afternoon, according to tradition. The customary supper of cabbage and Irish bacon was served, and people were encouraged to feast, drink, and dance in celebration of the end of Lent and the beginning of summer.
Patrick is the national apostle and patron saint of Ireland. He is also known as St. Patrick of Ireland. He was kidnapped and sold into slavery in Ireland when he was 16 years old. He was born in Roman Britain. When he escaped, he returned to Ireland, where he is credited for introducing Christianity to the country’s inhabitants.
In the years that followed Patrick’s death, the mythology surrounding the life of St. Patrick grew further engrained in Irish culture. One thing that people think of when remembering St. Patrick is that he explained the Holy Trinity by using the three leaves of a native Irish clover to illustrate the relationship between them.
St. Patrick’s Day Today
Even though this is mainly an Irish celebration, St. Patrick’s Day is celebrated all across the globe, being the perfect excuse for friends to get together and have a drinking party.
Residents of Brussels participate in Irish sports such as camogie, hurling, and Gaelic football on March 17 in addition to a customary march around the city. For those who want to dust off their sporting gear and tidy up later, the black-tie St. Patrick’s Day Ball is a great option. Guests can salute at a champagne reception. It’s not evident if the champagne is green or not at this point.
One of Japan’s St Patrick’s Day parades begins at the Ise Shrine, which is devoted to a Shinto sun goddess and is the starting point for the march. Residents dress up as leprechauns, play the bagpipes, and dance to the beat of the music as the Irish and Japanese flags fly together. Towards the end of the day, an oyster festival is held.
No one does a parade quite like the people of New Orleans. The Irish Channel neighbourhood hosts a true street party every year on St Patrick’s Day, drawing in people from all around the city.
Are These Safe for Kids?
Yes, the St. Patrick’s Day themed cocoa bombs don’t contain any alcohol and, as long as you’re ok with your kids having sugar-based products (like chocolate), then these cocoa bombs are good for them as well.
How Can I Make These St. Patrick’s Day Themed Cocoa Bombs for Adults?
If the recipe itself is safe for kids, there are ways to turn it into a more adult-favourite one. You can add ingredients such as instant coffee instead of cocoa and you can pour different kinds of alcoholic hot beverages on top (from mulled wine to hot liquors).
How to Make St. Patrick’s Day Themed Cocoa Bombs
The following recipe will yield three cocoa bombs.
Equipment
- A bowl that microwave-safe
- A spoon
- A mold with 6 cavities
- Some piping bags or plastic Ziploc baggies
- A pair of scissors
- Plate or frying pan you can warm
- White candy melts
- Green candy melts
Ingredients
- 5 cups of white candy melts (or almond bark)
- 5 cups of some green candy melts
- Powdered coffee creamer (French vanilla)
- Large marshmallows
Directions to prepare the St. Patrick’s Day Cocoa Bombs
Step 1: Melting the chocolate
Start by placing your plate in the freezer. Put the green colored candy melts into a microwave-safe bowl and set the microwave on high heat for about 30 seconds. Remove the bowl from the microwave and stir the chocolate to determine how much of it has melted.
Continue to heat the chocolate in easy 30 second increments, removing it each time to stir it around some more. You might have to do this up to four times, until the chocolate is melted (it should be smooth and without any lumps).
Using a clean spoon dipped in the green melted chocolate, create some random swirly patterns in the mold and place the molds into your freezer.
Following the exact same steps, melt your white colored candy melts. Once the chocolate is melted, remove the molds from your freezer and then coat them with white chocolate entirely (you can use the curved side of the spoon to make the process easier). Wipe away any extra spilling chocolate and put the molds back in the freezer for another 20 minutes.
Step 2: Prepare the contents
Remove the mold and the plate from your freezer. Remove the bomb halves from the mold carefully not to break them. Place each half on the cold plate to prevent them from melting.
Pipe some fun St. Patty’s Day designs on them.
Add some mini marshmallows in a bowl with two spoons filled with cocoa mix. Divide this mixture evenly to fill each of the three cocoa bombs. Additionally, you can add some larger marshmallow pieces inside, on top of the cocoa mixture. Connect two bomb halves together using one of these two methods:
- The hot plate method is basically just placing a plate in the microwave and heating it for two minutes. The plate should be warm enough to gently melt the rim of the ball halves so that you can glue two halves together to form a sphere. Easy peasy!
- The piping method involves using the remaining leftover melted chocolate. Add it to a piping bag, cutting a small piece of its corner to create a pen tip sized hole. Squeeze the melted chocolate out of the bag and onto the cooled rim of a sphere half. This will allow you to stick two halves together to create a ball. Smooth the chocolate around the whole circumference using your finger. Be extra careful with the step because if you drop hot chocolate on something else than the half-sphere rims, it will burn and create holes in the bombs.
Step 3: Using the bombs
When you place your hot cocoa bombs inside the mug, make sure that you pour the hot liquid on the seams to allow them to melt properly. Also, remember that whatever you put inside the cocoa bomb will end up in your drink, and some types of candy or other ingredients will not melt properly, posing a choking hazard for your kids.
Additionally, to stay true to the St. Patrick’s Day theme, you can use melted green chocolate and a piping bag to make adorable clovers on the exterior of the bombs.
Leave a Reply