The Best Chocolate Fountains for Your Party Centerpiece

A chocolate fountain says “fun” at a kid’s birthday party, “indulgent” at a bridal shower, and “elegant” at a business event. No matter the holiday, gathering, or celebration, a chocolate fountain is a spectacular, crowd-pleasing centerpiece for your table or buffet!

Chocolate lovers know that chocolate is basically its own food group, and a fountain is an amazing way to showcase this dessert’s soul-satisfying taste in its purest form. And once you’ve mastered the art of creating a rich, shimmering cascade of chocolate, you can improvise with favorite flavors for endless combo possibilities—mixing chocolate with caramel, toffee, citrus zest, peanut butter, or your favorite liqueur? Yes, please!

The options for things to dip in a chocolate fountain are nearly endless, too. The classic fruits, like strawberry, banana, raspberry, and pineapple, will always be popular, but what about dipping bacon, pretzels, or potato chips in chocolate for sweet and salty flavor layers? What about toasting marshmallows in the broiler for a dip in the fountain and a roll in graham cracker crumbs for indoor s’mores? Or how about dipping some homemade halvah cubes for Hanukkah, mint cookies at Christmas, pumpkin cranberry biscotti at Thanksgiving, and angel food cake at Easter? Yum!

What’s on the menu is important to the success of your event, but before you get to that stage of party planning, make sure you have the right chocolate fountain on hand.

What You Need in a Chocolate Fountain

Choosing the right chocolate fountain comes down to these key questions:

• How many people are you going to serve? The chocolate capacity of the fountain is fundamental to your party’s needs. While a fountain can be refilled, you don’t want to have to constantly do it during your gathering. As a rule of thumb, you can allow for 1 to 2 ounces of chocolate per person, or 8 to 16 people per pound of chocolate, to calculate the fountain size you need. The maximum capacity is important, but so is the minimum—if you have a larger-capacity fountain, do you have to run it at the max to get the cascade effect, or can you do it with less?
• Is the fountain easy to assemble and easy to clean? You should be able to assemble and take apart your fountain without much effort. The fountain’s base bowl may or may not be detachable, but the tower, auger, tiers, and crown should be detachable and ideally dishwasher safe.
• What kind of temperature control does it have? Your chocolate fountain should have two controls: one to operate the auger and one to control the heating element, giving you the option to run it cold in case you want to use it for other dipping sauces that don’t need heat. Having more than one heat setting is useful, too.

Take a look at our picks for the best chocolate fountains for your next celebration!

For Large Parties: Sephra Select Chocolate Fountain

 

 

The three-tiered Sephra Select chocolate fountain stands 19 inches tall and runs with a minimum of 4 pounds of chocolate fondue but will hold up to 6 pounds for really big party fun! The fountain’s mouthwatering cascade can serve happy chocolate lovers, or it can be used for other warm sauces like caramel or cheese fondue and even cold options like barbecue sauce or ranch dressing. The stainless steel base bowl is easily cleaned, and other parts are dishwasher safe. The motor is exceptionally quiet, and the electronic controls have four temperature settings for hot and cold fondues.

For Medium-Sized Parties: Wilshire Chocolate Pro Fountain

 

 

The three-tiered Wilton Chocolate Pro Fountain stands 16 inches tall and holds up to 4 pounds of melted chocolate for hours of dessert dipping fun. The augur, tiers, and tube are dishwasher safe. The design includes adjustable feet with a bubble level to keep the fountain level and steady. It’s also great for cold sauces because it has separate heat and flow settings.

For Small Parties: Nostalgia Chocolate Fountain

 

 

The Nostalgia Chocolate Fountain’s 2 pounds of chocolate fondue will mesmerize chocolate lovers as it cascades over four tiers, sure to please at dinner parties and casual gatherings with family and friends. It has separate flow and temperature controls, so it works with cold sauces, too! The auger-style tower and tiers are easy to assemble and disassemble.

Also Consider: Nostalgia Chocolate Waterfall Fountain

 

 

The unique design makes this Nostalgia fountain a spectacular addition to your dessert table, with four tiers of chocolate waterfalls. The fountain has a 2-pound capacity and separate motor and heat settings to allow for cold sauces as well as warm. Its removable parts are dishwasher safe.