Quick and easy homemade gourmet chocolate (ice cube candy) with multiple filling ideas. Pack these fancy chocolate in a pretty box for a nice homemade gift.
Coming up with a name for today's post was so hard. I know many people won't agree with the name but it was better than calling them "chocolate ice cubes!" As you have probably guessed, these homemade candies are made in ice cube trays. You can use a fancy mold but this is the way my dear Mom made them. Back in the day when I was little, they didn't have cool molds or cute ice trays readily available at stores. So, my mom was smart and used whatever was on hand. Now these chocolates are not only delicious, but nostalgic too. The possibilities for fillings are endless, making them a sweet surprise on top of everything else! These How to Make Chocolate Leaves {With Mint} and Crockpot Candy {Chocolate Peanut Clusters} are additional unique ways to enjoy chocolate.
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Table of contents
How to make homemade gourmet chocolate in ice cube tray?
- Melt chocolate- Paint a thick layer into the ice cube tray.
- Freeze tray- Then, fill it with add-ins.
- Cover add-ins with chocolate- Spread it smoothly.
- Freeze again- Until chocolate is fully set.
- Remove chocolates- Gently. Enjoy.
Chocolate candy filling ideas
Marshmallows- In the form of marshmallow creme or actual marshmallows.
Chopped nuts- Such as walnuts, pecans, peanuts, almonds, pistachios, or cashews.
Nut butters- Such as Nutella, peanut, almond, cashew, or sunbutter.
Fresh fruit- Like strawberries or maraschino cherries.
Ganache- Such as this Easy Chocolate Ganache {2 Ingredients}
Crushed cookies- Like Oreos, biscoff, graham crackers, or chocolate chip cookies.
Dried fruit- Like cranberries, blueberries, cherries, or apricots.
Other candies- Such as truffles or even mini m&ms.
Edible cookie dough- Because cookie dough makes everything better.
Frostings- Such as Chocolate Buttercream Frosting Recipe, American Buttercream Frosting Recipe, or Best Cream Cheese Frosting.
Sauces- Like this How To Make Homemade Caramel Sauce and Hot Fudge Sauce {Chocolate Fudge Sauce}.
Crushed pretzels- For a salty and sweet version.
Jams/pie fillings- How to Make Strawberry Pie Filling, How to Make Cherry Pie Filling, How to Make Blueberry Pie Filling, How to Make Raspberry Pie Filling, or Easy Homemade Strawberry Jam.
Variations for fancy chocolate
Use a fancy chocolate mold- Simply follow the same tutorial to make cool shapes.
Add sea salt- Before the top layer of the chocolate sets add a sprinkle of sea salt.
Add espresso powder- To the melted chocolate for a coffee version.
Add spices- Such as ginger, cardamom, cinnamon, or even all spice to the melted chocolate.
Add extracts- Such as vanilla, almond, maple, or bourbon.
Tips and techniques for ice cube candy
Wash and pat fruit dry- Because this prevents water from collecting in the chocolates and then creating ice in them when frozen.
Your chocolate coating that you brush in the trays must be thick- If it's too thin, it will stick to the trays and crack when the candies are finally removed from the tray, or it would become too hard to remove them from the trays.
How to melt chocolate? Melt chocolate in the microwave in 30 second increments until smooth, stirring between each interval.
How to remove candies from ice cube trays? Flip the ice cube tray gently onto a baking tray, lined with wax paper and tap it a bit until the chocolate cubes fall out.
Storage
Refrigerate- In a sealed container, separated by sheets of wax paper for up to 1 week.
Freeze- This is not recommended since the chocolate topping can sometimes crack upon thawing.
Room temperature- If there are perishable fillings (such as fresh fruits, jams e.t.c), those cannot be stored at room temperature for more than 2-3 hours because they can go bad. However, non-perishable fillings (such as marshmallows, nuts, Nutella) can be stored in a covered box, separated by sheets of wax paper for up to 3 days.
More easy candy recipes
- Chocolate Bark
- Easy Chocolate Caramel (Salted)
- Easy Caramel Fudge (2 Ingredients)
- Condensed Milk Fudge (Cranberry and Pistachio)
- Maple Fudge (With Maple Syrup)
- Spicy Chocolate Fudge Footballs
- Chocolate Covered Potato Chips
- Chocolate Truffles
- Coffee Fudge
Recipe
Homemade Gourmet Chocolate (Ice Cube Candy)
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Ingredients
- 2 cups Melted chocolate Semisweet, dark, milk or even white
- 2 cups Fillings Such as nuts, Nutella, peanut butter, jams, preserves, fresh berries, marshmallows, marshmallow creme or fluff, caramel sauce, crushed oreos, thick ganache
Instructions
- Melt chocolate in the microwave in 30 second increments until smooth.
- Use a paintbrush to paint a thick coating of chocolate in each cavity of an ice cube tray.
- Freeze this tray for 10 minutes.
- Remove tray from the freezer and fill it with your choice of add-ins.
- Pour spoonfuls of chocolate on top of your add-ins and spread it smoothly.
- Freeze tray again for 15-20 minutes or until chocolate is fully set.
- Flip the tray gently onto a tray, lined with wax paper and tap it a bit until the chocolate cubes fall out. Enjoy.
Notes
- Read all my tips above.
- Leftovers can be stored in a sealed container in the fridge for up to 1 week.
Nutrition
An automated tool is used to calculate the nutritional information. As such, I cannot guarantee the accuracy of the nutritional information provided for any recipe on this site.
Brenda K. Webster
Could you use jam as a filling?
Abeer Rizvi
Yes, you can.
Sharon
Hi..can we add alchohol to the filling? If yes pls advise how?
Thanks
Abeer Rizvi
I have never tried that to know what should be done. If you try it, please let me know how it goes.
Lesa
Do I need to grease the ice tray?
Abeer Rizvi
No, that's not necessary.
Susie
Can I use melted chocolate chips ? Or should it be the wafer type of chocolate
Abeer Rizvi
I have used both successfully. Just make sure to brush a thick coating so it's easy to remove from trays. Thin chocolate coating would stick to the trays.
Janet Viletta Ross
I used to make cherry chocolates for my nephew. Whole maraschino cherries , sweetened condensed milk and some powdered sugar. They were a pain to dip. THANK YOU for this tip . PS If you make the cherry chocolates around Thanksgiving, at Christmas they have mercerated into a wonderful cherry syrup that runs down you chin.
Tavette
Good for your mom. Making things with what they had was indicative of them wanting to make something special without having anything "special" to use as utensils. I admire her creativity and how fun for your kids not knowing what she was going to put inside them. You could have a different filling in each of the ice cube tray cavities.
Thanks for sharing a good memory and I wish you a very Merry Christmas.
Abeer Rizvi
Thank you so much!
Bea
Usually I love all your recipes but was so disappointed with this one. I was looking for recipes to fill the chocolate mold. Not just an idea thrown out there. Oh well, I'm still such a huge fan just a bit off this time.
Donna
My imagination came alive with this idea! What a great idea for Christmas or any holiday. Thanks for the inspiration.
David Nelson
Thank You!! I finally know how to make myself candy that I can enjoy!! I am a diabetic, and have to be very touchy about what sweeets I can enjoy. But....
Thanks to this recipe and sugar-free chocolate, I can make sooo many flavors of candy I will never be bored again. This recipe will add a quality of life that you can't imagine, I get to enjoy sweets in so many flavors now. I pureed fresh blueberries and strawberries so that I could enjoy the tastes and textures that I long for. Next batch will have crushed peanuts and ganache filling
Thank you again for helping me regain some quality to my life that I sorely missed.
Abeer Rizvi
Omg. Thank you for that super sweet message. I am glad this recipe idea was helpful.