Strawberries are in season right now and it is the perfect time to get creative with them. This time I am doing a simple strawberry makeover and making some awesome little treats ! When chocolate and strawberries meet in a recipe.. good things happen 🙂 Don your chef hats and lets make these delicious chocolate dipped strawberries.
Just last week, my girlfriends and I organized a baby shower for one of our friend. Now that all of us are busy with kids and/or work, we decided to keep it a simple affair and went ahead with some takeout, store bought cake and some Knick- knacks. I decided to take a really simple and fruit inspired dessert for everyone. As I always do, I headed straight to a grocery store to look at fresh produce and get inspiration for my dessert.
I am not really a meal planner that way… I rarely have any clue as to what I would be making and my strategy is usually to just hit the stores and look for whatever looks fresh and good. Once its home and my refrigerator is stocked, I’ll just grab stuff from it and think of how to make it taste delicious – simple enough, right? 😛
Strawberries all the way
My market haul resulted in me picking up a few pounds of those beauties!! I was thinking of going the strawberry cheesecake route (I love cheesecakes!! Have you seen my fresh fruit cheesecake tart or these golden beauties I call Caramel Custard Cheesecake. You can have a look at my entire Cheesecake collection here) but then the girlfriends suggested they wanted to gift an edible bouquet sorts to the “mom to be” and in a flash, I said – Let’s do some fancy chocolate coated strawberries !
Sure, the chocolate dipped strawberries is as simple as it sounds but there are some techniques involved into getting those perfect strawberries. After making a couple of mistakes and ruining a batch of chocolate and about half a pound of strawberries, here are some tips you can use:-
The Technique
Tempering the chocolate
Correct tempering is the key to good and smooth melted chocolate to achieve that glossy finish. I always go by the double boiler method and it works like a charm. Caution though – don;t let any water (not even a drop) enter your bowl of chocolate. Chocolate hates water and will curdle into a lump which is good for nothing.
Dry Strawberries
As above, strawberries need to be completely dry before it is dipped in chocolate for coating..or else the chocolate (after hardening), will just peel off from the strawberry. The trick is to wash the berries a few hours before you want to coat them and use a kitchen towel to wipe off any water from them.
Temperature
Another important lesson.. don’t start the dipping as soon as the chocolate is melted. Let the chocolate cool down and get to room temperature or else the latent heat in the chocolate coated berries will sort of cook the berries and they will release moisture (read the above point why that is bad)
Chocolate dipped Strawberries
Chocolate dipped Strawberries
Ingredients + Equipment
- Ripe Strawberries – 1 lb
- Chocolate of your choice – 2 lbs. I used Dark and White chocolate.-
Dark Chocolate chips – 1lb ( you can use any sort of chocolate but if you are using a bark, cut them into smaller pieces to make them temper faster)
White Chocolate chips – 1lb
- Bowls for tempering chocolate
- Edible Decorations like sugar pearls, glitter dust etc
- Pipping bags – 2
- Parchment paper/ Wax paper (do not substitute with a kitchen towel or Aluminium foil)
- Tray/flat plate
Method
The recipe is really simple but small mistakes can lead to improper results. read the techniques above to get the best results.
- Line a tray with parchment paper.
- Wash the Strawberries in cold water and pat dry with a kitchen towel. Place them on a parchment sheet an inch apart before you start the next step.
- Tempering chocolate – Take a saucepan and boil some water in it. Place a bigger bowl on top with chocolate chips in it and using a spatula/spoon, mix in regular intervals till all the chocolate is melted. Let the chocolate cool down to room temperature.
- Now, carefully pick each strawberry using the leaves and dip them in chocolate. Place on the parchment sheet right away. Once all the berries are coated, place them in the fridge to harden the chocolate.
Designs
- Stripes – Dip the berries in one kind of chocolate. Refrigerate to harden. Put the other kind of chocolate in a pipping bag and pipe over the hardened chocolate coated strawberries. Refrigerate again.
- Marble – Pour the different chocolates in a bowl. Slightly mix with a fork. Dip the strawberries and swirl in the chocolate for the effect. remove and place on parchment to cool.
Just look at these beauties ! I mean, simple ingredients and such gorgeous results. These strawberries look fancy as hell and can lit up any party ! Best accompaniment to a cake. I took them to the shower and they were such a hit ! The ‘mom to be’ loved these to core and grabbed a couple of them right away.
This recipe is a must try .. it cannot get any simpler than this. The best part is that you can make these a day in advance and do it at your own pace…even with a baby at home 😛
