Chocolate Dipped Strawberries
Valentines Day is just around the corner. I am putting the finishing touches on my sweethearts gifts. The personalized handtowels are completed.The name tags with jute twine and glassine bags for the heart shape donuts are finished. Now it is time to dip the strawberries. Yippee!
The most important ingredients are the strawberries. I look for the large firm bright red ones. You don’t want them too ripe. Firm is the secret.
I use white and dark chocolates. My favorite is the white chocolate drizzled with dark chocolate rolled in oreo cookie crumbs.
I start with a small bowl with water, holding the strawberry by the stem and immerse only the red part of the berry in the water. I then place it on a paper towel to dry completely. It is important that the berries are completely dry before dunking in chocolate. I use chocolate chips . They are easy to melt in the microwave and I melt the different flavors of chocolate in individual bowls. You can add a little vegetable oil to make the chocolate shiny. You can also find pink color white chocolate. It is such a pretty pastel pink . I don’t use food coloring as it makes the chocolate pasty. I researched it and found that most grocery store food colorings are water based, however you can find oil-based food coloring in gourmet shops. If you want to spurge little and have hardly any cleanup, use Wilton’s melts.
I also melt chocolate in a squeeze bottle to use in drizzling chocolate for the added touches. I set it in a mason jar of hot water to keep it easier to control when decorating. After dunking the berries in the chocolates, and before the chocolate gets totally hard, I rolled each strawberry in different toppings. It is the fun part . I use crushed oreo crumbs, peppermint, nuts, sprinkles, caramel, and graham crumbs. After rolling them, I drizzle chocolate from the squeeze bottles to add a textured look. Honestly, you can decorate them in so many ways.
I then place them on parchment paper to dry.
Store in a cool place or the fridge (uncovered or loosely covered) for up to 8 hours before serving.(If you can wait that long.) If they are stored longer,than three days, the juice from the berries begins to slowly leak out of the bottom and pools at the base of each berry. They still taste good , but the berry can get mushy.
A fun afternoon, super simple and made just for my special sweethearts.
Recipe for Making Chocolate Dipped Strawberries
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