Chocolate Fountain

[springandmac]

Anyone have any recommendations for a chocolate fountain?

I'm renting a party room and to host a dinner and dance for dd's sweet sixteen. Today my hostess called to tell me that the chocolate fountain they have is on the fritz and they're not going to offer it for me to use.

My dd was really looking forward to the fountain and I don't have time to run around and try to find one before Friday.

I'm too busy putting the finishing touches on 100 cupcakes, a 3 tier zebra themed cupcake tower, 12 pans of baked ziti, salad for 50, 8 balloon table centerpieces and cleaning my house for 8 girls to spend the night on Friday after the party.

Oh and I almost forgot, I haven't packed a single thing for my upcoming trip to WDW.

 

[hipchickie]

was the use of that on the rental agreement?

Around here a lot of rental companies have them, as well as a few chocolate shops - your best bet is to call around.

 

[KarlaG4Kids]

Make sure to get someone that knows what they are doing. They can be really touchy and the next thing you know the choc. is all clumped up in the bottom. I've seen it happen at 2 different wedding receptions. Not a pretty sight!

 

[figment41]

Just my opinion but you may be lucky it is broken. With every thing that is going around these days sharing chocolate in a fountain may not be the best idea.

We bought one for our holidays at Bed Bath and beyond. It is very cute but you have to make and melt the cholcolate and oil seperately then pour it into the fountain. We had 20 people sharing it and you would not believe how many people double dipped or stuck their fingers in it. As the previous poster wrote the clumps at the bottom could be nasty and could be caused by what people are dipping in them.

Just another way of looking at your situation. I hope it all works out for you and your DD. It sounds like you have a great party planned. She will be so grateful for all that you are putting into making her day special.

 

[springandmac]

Just my opinion but you may be lucky it is broken. With every thing that is going around these days sharing chocolate in a fountain may not be the best idea.

I didn't think about that.....

DD and I have been working so hard to not get sick.

 

[britfish]

I agree, they can be messy and w/ so many being sick lately you may be better off. You could always put out a candy bar if you want a chocolate fix and then they could all take a little home with them!

 

[Motherofboys]

I agree with the PP, a candy buffet would be so cute for a sweet 16, you could get lots of pink candy, bubble gum, and maybe get it cheap since you can get halloween candy on clearance right now! Use chinese take out containers for the bags for the girls to take home, you can get those at craft stores usually.

I won't eat the chocolate from a fountain again since I saw the amount of oil that goes into it Totally gross, and it gives my kids the runs, even grosser!

 

[JandJ]

I have to agree with the PPs - not just the sharing germs part - but they're not that good. I've gone to several parties that had chocolate fountains and the chocolate is always nasty (I'm guessing the extra oil to make it flow?). A candy buffet would be so cute and a lot of fun!

Have a great time on your girl's only trip!

 

[HunnyPots]

I wouldn't be worried about getting sick from one, but they are a pain to clean. I've only used mine a few times because I always dread the 45 minute clean-up afterwards.
Candy buffets are very trendy right now so the kids would probably love that.

 

[ceecee]

My friend bought one at Target and we used it at several class parties, the kids loved it. She also has used it at several birthday parties. If the dippers are bite size you shouldn't have double dippers. We just had the kids dip and put them on a plate. Clean up was a little messy but worth all the fun and I thought the chocolate was good, I do remember her saying she tried different way and brands before getting it just right.

 

[jacobsmom]

I might be the only one here--but I LOVE our chocolate fountain. It's not that difficult to clean up-- just do it right away while things are still warm. The faces of adults/children alike at least for us has been priceless!: We had people dipping things (no double dipping) and coming up with amazing combinations!
Our faves:
pineapple (I know sounds weird but they are good)
marshmallows
mini cream puffs
brownie bites
cake
bananas
apple slices
chips (the whole salty sweet combo)
pretzels
We got our chocolate fountain at goodwill believe it or not... cleaned it really well just to be safe and use it a few times a year. It's great!

 

[springandmac]

The candy buffet sounds like a good alternative. My DD loves her some candy too.

But I'm nervous about trying to amass enough candy for 50-60 kids by Friday! Not to mention the containers and the set up idea.

I'm going to go after work and look and see what I can find in the halloween clearance section.

Wish me luck.....

 

[bumbershoot]

I once was a naysayer of the chocolate fountain until I went to an otherwise really unique and personal wedding that had one...and it was SO good. No one even dipped, they just held the fruit, with nice long sturdy skewers, under the flowing chocolate. So strange that someone might actually *dip* when there's a chocolatefall, LOL.

And the chocolate was good, too. But it was a big rental, so maybe the catering company just had a better recipe than the home-based ones?