DIY Chocolate Tower Party Centerpiece: How-To Instructions

I love the French macaron tower trend that is going around, but unless you live in Paris, NYC, or LA, macarons can be hard to find.  Plus, these delicate confections are difficult and costly to ship. 

I wanted to come up with a more accessible and affordable alternative for the rest of us.  The result is an elegant tower made of gold and brown wrapped Ferrero chocolates that you may have marveled at in my post about Paul's 40 Favorites Surprise 40th Birthday.

This version costs $50 to construct exactly as shown, but you can definitely adapt these instructions to create towers of colorfully wrapped Lindt truffles or, even more affordable, Oreo Cakesters in vanilla creme and chocolate creme rows.  If you use Ferrero chocolates, Walmart by far has the best prices on these. Beware of bulk packages, which were always more expensive per chocolate due to their more attractive packaging at all of the stores I checked.  The instructions below were inspired by a tutorial I saw on the Creative Hostess blog.

DIY Chocolate Tower Party Centerpiece
How-To Instructions

Supplies Needed

• 4 7/8 x 17 7/8" Foam cone
• 19 x 16 1/2" Broadcloth, brown or black
• Scissors
• 4 Pins with large heads in a color that blends in with the cloth
• Regular straight pins
• Round wooden toothpicks
• 10 Twelve-count boxes of Ferrero Rocher chocolates
• 8 Twelve-count boxes of Ferrero Rondnoir chocolates
• Floral clay (optional)

1. Wrap foam cone with broadcloth leaving enough room around the base of the cone to fold underneath. Create a seam along the cone's long side by folding cloth underneath in a vertical line from the narrow tip to the base of the cone. 
   
   
2. Trim cloth to create minimal overlap of material at the long vertical seam. Broadcloth is very thin and inexpensive fabric material. However, a lot of overlap in the cloth can make it hard to poke the toothpick through the cloth, so trimming is very important.
   
   
3. Using pins with large heads, pin the cloth onto the foam cone along the vertical seam at three points, starting at the base and working your way up.
   
   
   
   
   
4. At the narrow tip of the cone, fold the broadcloth under to hide all ragged edges and pin in place at an off-center point with the fourth large-headed pin. It is important to pin off-center because you will want to place a toothpick in the center of the point to add the final chocolate to the cone.
   
   
5. Using regular straight pins, secure the loose ends of fabric at the base to the underside of the cone. You may need to trim off excess fabric around the base.
   
   
   
   
   
6. Starting on the opposite side from the seam at base of the cone, insert a round toothpick into the foam cone at a 45 degree angle. It is important to use sturdy round wooden toothpicks, as thinner wooden toothpicks will not pierce through the broadcloth.
   
   
7. Place a gold Ferrero Rocher chocolate with the brown paper liner left attached on the toothpick, so that the bottom of the chocolate is flat against the cone.
   
   
   
   
   
8. Repeat step 7 until the entire base of the cone is circled by the gold Ferrero Rocher chocolates.
   
   
9. Again, starting on the opposite side from the seam, place a brown-wrapped Ferrero Rondnoir chocolate staggered between the gap above the gold chocolates to get an idea of where to stick the toothpick in for the second layer of chocolates. Pierce with toothpicks and attach Ferrero Rondnoir chocolates until cone is circled.
   
   
10. Alternate rows of Ferrero Rocher and Rondnoir chocolates all the way up the cone.
    
    
11. On the flat tip of the cone, pierce with a toothpick vertically and place a final chocolate on top.
    
    
12. Place the tower on top of a cake pedestal for a beautiful display. If desired, place some floral clay on the bottom of the cone to attach it to the cake pedestal for a stable centerpiece.
    
    
13. Enjoy your beautiful creation!
    
    

 

If these instructions inspire you to create your own DIY candy tower centerpiece for your next party's sweet table, I'd love to see photos!


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