For the holiday baker in all of us, don't overlook Sephra's premium dark and milk chocolate as key ingredients for creating delicious and decadent treats this holiday season. Elegant Chocolate Peppermint Triffle 
Sephra's chocolate peppermint triffle recipe is not only simple to make and put together, but will be a hit with family on a Friday night or with guests after a delicious holiday meal. A decadent layered dessert, the chocolate peppermint triffle begins with hot fudge followed by a layer of peppermint whipped cream, then bite-sized brownie squares topped with another layer of peppermint whipped cream. Sephra's hot fudge sauce recipe calls for Sephra's premium dark chocolate chips melted with butter. Then powdered sugar and evaporated milk are whisked in, and the entire mixture boiled for 4 minutes. Sephra's peppermint flavoring can be quickly added to whipped cream, along with crushed candy canes, to create the perfect balance between rich and creamy with a minty crunch. For individual servings that look and taste great, use red wine glasses with a large round opening to better show off the layers of chocolate peppermint goodness.
Crowd-Pleasing Winter Popcorn Mix Settling in for a movie or game night with family and friend? Sephra's winter popcorn mix will keep everyone's stomachs satisfied throughout the evening. Simply melt Sephra's premium milk chocolate chips and add in toffee bits, then drizzle over air-popped popcorn until it's evenly coated. Then, simply spread the winter popcorn mix on a baking sheet and refrigerate 15 minutes to set the chocolate. You can also add almonds or walnuts to the chocolate-toffee mixture or substitute the milk chocolate for Sephra's white chocolate chips. Then, either keep the toffee bits or add crushed candy canes instead, or even make two batches, one of each flavor!
Decadent Sephra Hot Chocolate 
You'll have to compliment all those holiday treats with a beverage, so why not enjoy Sephra's hot chocolate? Simply bring 1 cup of milk to just below boiling and mix 1 cup of Sephra's premium dark chocolate chips, 1 tbps. brown sugar and ¼ tsp. cinnamon with a pinch of cayenne pepper in a large mug. Pour hot milk to cover the ingredients, wait a few seconds before stirring, and then add remaining milk to fill the mug. Of course, to make multiple servings, simply double, triple or even quadruple the recipe in a pot so you can ladle it out to anyone who wants to indulge in liquid chocolate. Now that's how you celebrate the holidays!
There are plenty of ways to spread holiday cheer, including bringing out your home fondue fountain that will bring loved ones together with the promise of eggnog dip, spiced holiday chocolate fondue or marshmallow cream fondue! Host soirees throughout the season so you can indulge in each of Sephra's festive holiday fondue recipes. Spice up the Evening with Sephra's Eggnog Dip 
Delight your family and friends with delicious, holiday-inspired eggnog dip. Simply make and combine 4 boxes of instant vanilla pudding and 2 tsps. of nutmeg in one container. Once set, add 4 cups of milk and 2 tbsp. vanilla extract. This delicious eggnog fondue dip will run through your chocolate fountain on no heat, with any extra stored in the refrigerator until needed. Your family and friends will think you're a culinary genius, and the eggnog will make your gathering even more festive. Clusters of almonds and walnuts will taste even better drizzled with eggnog dip, as will banana slices, caramel cookies and blondie bites. Heat up Your Holiday With Sephra's Spiced Holiday Chocolate Fondue 
All your home chocolate fountain needs to be the life of the party is 4 pounds of Sephra's premium dark chocolate for chocolate fountains and a combination of cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves and all spice. These spices will enhance the richness off the dark chocolate without overpowering it. In addition, the flavors will make those dipping treats - like banana and pear slices, poundcake bites and cheesecake slices, and Sephra's Belgian marshmallows - taste that much more festive. Whether you're hosting a large holiday party or just inviting a few friends over, spiced holiday chocolate fondue will make yours the most popular house on the block. Let it Snow With Sephra's Winter Marshmallow Cream Fondue 
No one will ever suspect that only two ingredients are responsible for this creamy dreamy marshmallow fondue, but it's true! Combining 6 cups of milk with 4 bags of marshmallows on the stove until melted together. Once the fondue reaches the desired consistency over the stove, it's ready for the chocolate fountain. Offer a platter of popcorn balls colored alternately with red and green food coloring. They'll look like a delicious grouping of edible ornaments and taste even better covered in marshmallow cream fondue. Brownie bites, chocolate cookies and chocolate-flavored crispy rice treats will also taste even more decadent dipped in marshmallow cream fondue.
If you have the honor of hosting Christmas dinner this year, make it special with your home fondue fountain. Create a festive, holiday-inspired dessert table that will function as a delicious Christmas gift for all your friends and family present. Decorating the Chocolate Fountain Dessert Table Begin with the dessert table itself. Choose a holiday tablecloth whose main colors or pattern is dark red and green, perhaps with white as an accent so that any chocolate spills won't be so noticeable (unless you'll be serving white chocolate, in which case a white or cream tablecloth will better hide spills). You could also use a crisp white tablecloth and lay a wide red table runner decorated with festive green holly leaves to make the chocolate fountain dessert table stand out. Choose elegant tiered silver platters to display dipping treats, and combine it with Christmas china to create a beautiful table that's perfect for the holiday. Or use simple white platters or trays lined with white and red doilies to maintain a Christmas-themed table. Finally, consider scattering a few sprigs of holly, evergreen branches and pinecones between the platters. Decorating Your Chocolate Fountain for the Holiday Don't overlook the chocolate fountain as a source of Christmas cheer! Begin by choosing a topper for your chocolate fountain. This could be a colorful ornament, a trio of pinecones that were sprayed gold or sprinkled with white glitter to emulate snow, or a replica of jolly St. Nick for a casual nod to an important Christmas persona. Once you choose the perfect chocolate fountain topper, consider wrapping the chocolate fountain in holiday twinkle lights that glow white, red or green. You might string colorful ribbon around the home fondue fountain if you are hosting a daytime meal. At the foot of the chocolate fountain, you could wrap a poinsettia garland around for a truly festive finish. Choosing Delicious Holiday-Inspired Dipping Treats Christmas is associated with eating delicious treats - and what better way to enjoy them than with warm, delicious chocolate for chocolate fountains? Sugar cookies decorated with red and green sprinkles and shaped like holly leaves will taste excellent with chocolate. Bite-sized poundcake cubes, fruitcake and cranberry-orange bread could round out the baked goods category. Include a tray of fluffy marshmallows, as well as sliced bananas and strawberries, and your chocolate fountain dessert table will feel festively complete.
A holiday event is only complete when it includes a luxurious chocolate fountain dessert table that is properly decorated and outfitted with delicious dipping treats! Creating a holiday display that will give visual pleasure to guests is easy to do and will make the chocolate for chocolate fountains taste even better.
Setting the Holiday Table
Find out if a particular holiday color scheme has already been selected for the holiday event before choosing one for your client. For example, if it's a corporate event and the company colors of blue and white will give the theme a winter wonderland theme, you won't want to set up a red and green chocolate fountain dessert table.
Once you are given a color scheme, choose table linens that will complement and hide chocolate spills. For example, if the theme is blue and white and your client chooses white and milk chocolate fountains for a dual display, you could choose an icy blue tablecloth and then run a white table runner horizontally beneath the white chocolate fountain and a dark blue table runner horizontally beneath the milk chocolate fountain. This way, the table looks festive, but stained linens won't be so obvious.
For any color scheme, you could surround dipping treat platters with faux snow piles, lay evergreen branches across the table, or keep it simple with a small arrangement of pink and red poinsettias. If paper plates will be used, choose colored plates that tie in with the theme, or if white plates are the choice, consider festively colored napkins that tie in with chosen color scheme.
Dressing Your Chocolate Fountain for Success
Sephra's commercial chocolate fountains were designed to be decorated, so don't overlook this opportunity for creating a truly inspirational holiday table! Choose a topper that complements the theme, tone or color scheme of the evening. If the holiday event will be casual, consider a sprig of mistletoe tied with red ribbon or a group of reindeer standing on faux snow. For a more formal holiday event, consider a holiday floral arrangement such as a combination of red poinsettias, evergreen branches and holly leaves. You could also choose a stacked trio of elegantly wrapped (small and empty) boxes to emulate holiday gifts.
Wrapping the topper and the chocolate fountain in white twinkle lights will continue the festive feel and match any décor from casual to formal. Elevating the chocolate fountain gives you the opportunity to drape it with rich fabric like red velvet and add an arrangement of colorful ornaments tied together with satin ribbon for a truly spectacular holiday chocolate fountain display that everyone will remember.
This holiday season, warm up those cold nights with any of these three delicious and festive drink recipes: Sephra's hot chocolate, Christmas cider or eggnog. Try each recipe throughout the season as you entertain friends and family or simply choose your favorite to please your palette over and over again. Warm up Your Night with Sephra's Hot Chocolate Your hot beverage fountain is ideal for serving mug after mug of piping hot and delicious hot chocolate. The aroma alone will prompt at least one refill, so be sure to make enough for thirsty guests! Sephra's hot chocolate recipe for one calls for bringing 1 cup of milk (whole or low fat) to just below a boil before pouring over 1 cup of Sephra's premium dark chocolate chips, 1 tbsp. brown sugar, a ¼ tsp. cinnamon and a pinch of cayenne pepper. To make this recipe in your beverage fountain, multiply this recipe by the number of servings you want, and once the milk is poured over the ingredients and mixed well, add the deliciousness to the beverage fountain to keep the hot chocolate coming throughout the evening. Spread Christmas Cheer with Hot Christmas Cider It's easy to fill your house with the tempting scent of mulled Christmas cider, whether you're hosting a small get-together, decorating the Christmas tree or want to warm up your children after an afternoon of sledding. In a large pot, mix 2 quarts of apple cider with ¼ cup packed brown sugar, 1.2 tsp. salt and a pinch of nutmeg and heat. Then, place ½ tsp. whole allspice, 1 tsp. whole cloves and 1 cinnamon stick in cheesecloth and add to apple cider mixture. Add to your hot beverage fountain, along with a large quartered orange with peel, and you'll have a crowd in no time. Indulge in Holiday Eggnog You always have the option of purchasing your favorite store-made brand of eggnog and running the liquid through your beverage fountain, especially if you are hosting a party and want to keep the eggnog flowing. If you want to make eggnog, however, this recipe is easy and delicious. Simply combine 4 cups milk, 5 whole cloves, ½ tsp. vanilla extract and 1 tsp. cinnamon in a saucepan and slowly bring this mixture to a boil. Meanwhile in a separate bowl, combine 12 egg yolks with 1 ½ cups sugar and whisk vigorously until fluffy. Slowly whisk in the hot milk mixture and then pour everything back into the saucepan. Cook until thick (don't allow it to boil) and then strain out cloves and cool. Before you add the liquid to your beverage fountain, stir in 2 ½ cups light rum (optional), 4 cups cream, 2 tsps. vanilla extract and ½ tsp. nutmeg and set the beverage fountain on no heat. This rich and creamy addition will help make your holiday party a success!
If you find it difficult to find fresh fruit during the winter in your area, consider adding delicious, sweet dried fruits to the mix. Dried fruit is not only holiday-appropriate, but will give you the chance to expand your array of chocolate fountain dipping treats. Your clients will enjoy that extra sweetness they crave this time of year.
Dried Fruit: Cost-Effective and Delicious
In many areas of the country, fresh fruit gets shipped in from warmer climates because the local growing season is finished until spring and summer blooms again. Unfortunately for commercial chocolate fountain rental businesses, fruit that's shipped doesn't always exude freshness. The fruit is usually picked before it ripens in order to make it to its destination: your grocery store or food supplier. This process also tends to drive prices up while quality goes down.
The solution: cost-effective dried fruit! For chocolate fountain rental businesses, dried fruit is the perfect solution. You can choose a few varieties to purchase in bulk, as they stay fresh much longer than fruit picked from the tree or vine. Most importantly, dried fruit tastes delicious dipped in chocolate for chocolate fountains.
How to Supplement Your Fruit Platters with Dried Fruit
If you are hosting a winter or holiday preview event, offer dried fruit dipping treat samples to your clients so they can taste how fabulous a dried apricot tastes covered in chocolate for chocolate fountains. Candied, dried banana slices will also be a hit among clients.
Creating a balance is the key when supplementing fresh fruit with dried. Choose two or three reasonably priced fresh fruits, such as bananas and pears. Then offer a combination of dried cranberries, blueberries, peaches, apricots and coconut, for example.
You can pre-skewer several of these dried fruits, such as layering dried apricots with blueberries and coconut chunks. Also, don't overlook raisins to add interest and variety to your fruit platter. Consider offering regular and golden raisins, plus dried prunes, figs and dates - all of which make delicious dipping treats.
Although many corporations are slimming down their holiday budgets, your chocolate fountain rentals can still continue to flow festively! Give your budget-minded clients a reason to choose a chocolate fountain rental for their holiday party by offering enticing holiday specials. Chocolate Fountain Rental Bonus: Free Fruit Platter People love to feel like they are getting something for nothing, and your chocolate fountain rental clients are no different. Offer a complimentary fruit platter with every commercial chocolate fountain rental, and don't forget to have samples or photos (mostly for new clients) so they fully understand your delicious offer. For example, to tie in with the holiday season, you can include skewered cranberries along with the tried and true banana, strawberry and pear slices. Add in some jolliness by decorating the platter with a few festive holly leaves. Two Chocolate Fountains Are Better Than One: 25% Discount For large holiday parties, entice your chocolate fountain rental clients to indulge in two chocolate fountain rentals by discounting the second rental by 25%. This is not only a great deal for your clients, but is a great way for you to show off the versatility of a chocolate fountain rental by offering two types of chocolate, such as dark and white chocolate for chocolate fountains, with a greater range of dipping treats. Also, encourage your clients to make your fountain the dessert to help cut down the catering budget. After all, with two delicious chocolate fountain rentals, who needs extra dessert? Win a Small Chocolate Fountain Rental If you want to attract big corporate clients and additional chocolate rental business, offer to host a raffle at their corporate holiday party of 200 people or more. Jump start the holiday season by raffling off a small chocolate fountain rental to a lucky attendee. This could apply to any large holiday gathering, but corporate parties love to give employees an incentive to attend, as well as make everyone feel appreciated. You might even sell some gift certificates for a chocolate fountain rental to honor someone who's retiring or just received a big promotion. The possibilities are endless once you open their eyes and taste buds to the wonderful world of chocolate fountains! Satisfy Thirsty Guests with a Complimentary Beverage Fountain Rental Finally, accentuate those chocolate-dipped treats with a complimentary beverage fountain rental with a chocolate fountain rental. Offer a choice of several holiday beverages, such as eggnog, mulled cider or hot chocolate. The beverage fountain could be the specialty drink of the evening and be offset with water, coffee and iced tea, which will help your client's budget and make choosing a chocolate fountain rental the most economic and delicious choice for a holiday party.
With the holidays around the corner, it can be difficult to choose the perfect gift, especially those who already seem to have it all. If there's a chocoholic on your list, however, your task just became easier! Make this holiday special and delicious for the chocoholic in your life with these great gift ideas from Sephra, the chocolate experts!
For the Social Butterfly: Palette-Pleasing Party Pack 
If the chocoholic in your life not only loves to indulge but loves to socialize, give her Sephra's Select Party Pack so her next party will be a chocolate-sensation. Recipients of Sephra's Select Party Pack will enjoy Sephra's home fondue fountain, as well as four pounds of both Sephra's premium dark and milk chocolate for chocolate fountains, to enjoy in the chocolate fountain. To finish off the gift beautifully, Belgian marshmallows that are perfect for dipping and a set of metal skewers are included. This party pack is versatile enough to please business associates, a discerning boss, clients, friends and family - anyone who loves to entertain and appreciates high-quality chocolate.
For the Gamer: Chocolate-opoly 
Another fun Sephra creation is the game Chocolate-opoly, modeled after the popular board game Monopoly. Chocolate-opoly gives players the chance to purchase chocolate-inspired properties and earn chocolate pieces that can be traded for chocolate factories. There are still challenges to overcome, like controlling those ever-present chocolate cravings and finding yourself locked away in chocoholics anonymous! Chocolate-opoly is perfect for families enjoying a chocolate-inspired game night and is also an appropriate add-on to the Sephra Select Party Pack. What better way to enjoy a chocolate board game than by dipping Belgian marshmallows into warm chocolate?
For the Gourmand: Belgian Chocolate Mousse Mix
If the chocoholic you have in mind loves to cook and often hosts dinner parties, Sephra's Belgian chocolate mousse mix is the perfect choice for a thoughtful and delicious holiday gift. Sephra offers dark chocolate, white chocolate and neutral varieties of the mousse mix so you can choose one or all three for the gourmet chocolate-lover. Easy to make, you simply add milk and stir. Once cooled, it's ready to serve, and no one will ever guess that this decadent chocolate mousse came from a mix. The neutral mousse mix is designed to take on any flavor, especially by mixing fruit preserves in with the milk. For instance, raspberry mousse could be achieved by mixing in milk and seedless raspberry preserves for a sweet yet rich version of this dessert. Choosing any of the above gift ideas will delight the chocolate-loving recipients and make you very popular this holiday season!
Thanksgiving is a holiday filled with a bounty of good food shared with loved ones. The overflowing table reminds you of all the reasons to be thankful in life. If you want your Thanksgiving table to really shine, consider incorporating your home fondue fountain with the harvest table.
Transform Your Fondue Fountain into a Thanksgiving Gravy Train
Chocolate fountains are not only good for delivering warm chocolate to hungry people. Although chocolate for chocolate fountains is always a crowd pleaser, this Thanksgiving, turn your chocolate fountain into a gravy fountain so it can be an integral part of the main meal (as well as an eye-catching centerpiece).
By allowing the gravy to flow in your fondue fountain, the host can remain seated instead of constantly getting up to refill gravy boats. A Thanksgiving meal provides many opportunities to slather gravy on the plate, which translates to gravy boats that seem to have holes in the bottom.
In addition, with the help of your home fondue fountain, the gravy will keep circulating and stay warm throughout the meal so no one will end up with lukewarm, lumpy gravy. The flavor will remain, no film will develop on the top, and the aroma will keep everyone coming back for more.
Elevated Status: Making Your Gravy Fountain the Thanksgiving Centerpiece
A functional way to serve the Thanksgiving meal, especially to a crowd, is to set up a buffet table so that no dish will be left off the table and extra helpings are easy to find. The gravy fountain should be placed after the turkey, stuffing and mashed potatoes on the assembly line because these items are the most popular gravy companions. If the gravy fountain is first, guests will have nothing to put gravy on and will have to return to it, causing a crimp in the assembly line.
The gravy fountain will rise above the other dishes, so decorating it will help it become a festive and attractive centerpiece. Begin by placing a small arrangement of miniature pumpkins and gourds with a couple of colorful leaves as a topper. Use a patterned tablecloth, perhaps a dark orange background with a leaf pattern in green and gold, which will help disguise any spills.
Surround the gravy fountain with a series of pinecones that were dusted with gold glitter to give the table some shimmer. You could hollow out 3 medium-sized ghost pumpkins (white pumpkins) and place a glass inside to hold fall flowers such as mums, perhaps a different color in each pumpkin. Then, place them at intervals down the table.
Your gravy fountain centerpiece will be the talk of the Thanksgiving table, so don't be surprised if you're asked to host again next year!
When you first purchased your home fondue fountain, you were tempted by the mouth-watering idea of dipping fruit and sweets into warm chocolate. However, the delicacy doesn't stop there! Your chocolate fountain is more versatile than you might realize, with four other ways to please your palette.
Chocolate Fondue: The Ultimate Indulgence
Sephra's home fondue fountain is perfect for serving Sephra's Belgian dark, milk or white chocolate for chocolate fountains. It isn't difficult to pair dipping treats with chocolate, from fruit like strawberries, bananas, berries and cherries, to sweets like Sephra's marshmallows, cheesecake squares and pound cake. It's also delicious drizzled over ice cream, almonds or macadamia nuts.
Sweeten the Deal with Caramel Fondue
Warm, gooey caramel fondue can break down anyone's resolve, especially when trays of apple slices, brownie and blondie bites, mini apple turnovers and chocolate poundcake bites are arranged beside it. Caramel fondue is also a delicious addition to an ice cream sundae and is perfect for fall gatherings when apples are in season. You could even invite family and friends to pick apples at a local orchard and then meet back at your house for an apple and caramel fondue extravaganza.
Say Cheese!
Cheese fondue can take on many variations and even combine more than one type of cheese. You can spice up Velveeta cheese with red pepper flakes and chipotle peppers for a tailgate party or mix two types of cheddar to go with brats and beer.
If you want a more refined fondue, melt brie with dry white wine and brandy in your fondue fountain. Then serve white wine to drink and offer cubed crusty bread, apple and orange slices for a twist on a wine and cheese party.
BBQ Fondue for a Backyard Feast
If you have a family recipe for homemade BBQ sauce or just want to offer your favorite store-bought flavor, consider using your home fondue fountain to keep the BBQ sauce flowing. Sephra's home fondue fountain will keep the BBQ sauce warm without scalding it. Then, set up trays of grilled meat cubes like chicken, beef and pork so people can create their own kebabs. Also, BBQ sauce can be drizzled onto mozzarella sticks for a delicious appetizer.
Keep the Salad Dressing Cool and Flowing
Sephra's home fondue fountain can also keep liquids cool, making it ideal for holding salad dressing. Ranch fondue, for example, is more exciting than simple ranch dip. It can be drizzled over an assortment of veggies, like cucumbers, carrot sticks, broccoli, cauliflower and celery, as well as drizzled over salads. If you're hosting a luncheon, for instance, offering a selection of crudités plus grilled chicken salad, then ranch fondue will transform a simple salad into a sensational meal.
Who knew that a home chocolate fountain could be so versatile?