I will be single this year for Valentine's Day. That doesn't mean I am going to sit around depressed! I will be baking and enjoying life as usual. One quick recipe I thought I would share is my Chocolate Covered Strawberries. Whether they are for yourself or giving them as a gift, this will put a smile on anyone.
You'll be happy to know how easy it is to make chocolate-covered strawberries your self for a fraction of the cost of store-purchased. Impress for less?
Before You Go Buying
Your chocolate-covered strawberries will only taste as good as the components you use, so obtain the best you can. When it comes to the berries, bigger does not mean better, especially if strawberries don’t are actually in season. Don’t be shy about doing a taste test. Once you discover some you like, select unblemished berries fringed with fresh green leaves. If they have a stem attached, that’s even better. Stems make a beautiful presentation and they’re handy for dipping-just cut them to a consistent length. No stems? No problem-we’ll deal with that later on. For best results, intend to dip within 2 days of buying the berries. Same goes for the chocolate. Whether you utilize dark, milk, or white chocolate, choose something you’ve enjoyed and tasted. Better quality chocolate contains much more cocoa butter, and will be smoother and glossier when it melts.What You Need
- 1 pound refreshing strawberries
- 8 ounces chocolate chips or bar (chopped into small pieces)
- Optional: 8 ounces white-colored chocolate for drizzling
- Optional: Sprinkles, coarse sugar, or well chopped nuts for decorating
- Papers towels
- Baking page
- Parchment or waxed paper
- Saucepan (optional)
- Heatproof/microwave oven-safe dish
- Heatproof silicone spatula (wood can retain water)
- Skewer or toothpick (optional)
- Spoons (optional)
1) Rinse berries under chilly water and dried out thoroughly, even the simply leaves. Important: You’ll need to make sure not the least drop of water comes into contact later together with your melted chocolate, or else it will go from silky smooth to heavy and grainy in an instant. Set the cleaned and dried fruits on a perfectly dried out towel and allow them to come to room heat while you prep the baking sheet and the chocolate.
2) Collection a baking page with parchment or waxed paper. Make use of a large enough pan to permit an inch or two of space involving the strawberries.
If you plan on coating dipped strawberries with finely chopped nut products, sprinkles, coconut flakes, crushed candy, and so on., prep them now and put them in dishes.
3) Melt the chocolate. This video clip shows you two simple ways to melt delicious chocolate-in a dish set over warm water, or in the microwave. The secret is to go slow and low for a easier melt. And I cannot say this sufficient: Do not let any water come into contact with the chocolate. This isn’t necessary if you’re using a good quality, high cocoa fat chocolat, though some individuals add shortening to the chocolate to make it smoothere
4) Dip the strawberries. The delicious chocolate should be warm, not hot. Working one-by-one, pick up a strawberry by the stem, or insert a skewer or toothpick into the top, or just get by the leaves. Drop into the chocolate, base first, to about ¾ of the way up. Carefully rotate the strawberry as you pull it out of the chocolate, therefore the excess drips into the bowl and the final drip rolls to the strawberry.
Place the strawberry to the lined baking page. Repeat until all of the strawberries are dipped.
Storage of Strawberries
It’s a good thing chocolate-covered strawberries are so simple to make, because you can’t store them for very long. A couple of days in an airtight container in a awesome spot is about the limit. I recommend making them the night before Valentine's Day for freshest taste.
