Strawberry Recipes

I have seen so many neat strawberry recipe ideas on Pinterest, that I decided to try and make some of them myself! I have to admit, I’m very new to cooking with chocolate OR strawberries, so I’ll definitely let you know what DIDN’T work!

Today we’re going to be teaching you how to make two different types of chocolate covered strawberries, traditional and christmas colored (shown below).

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs. fresh strawberries
• 32 oz. of melting chocolate or chocolate chips (white if you’re making Christmas colored strawberries and dark of milk chocolate for traditional).
• 16oz. white chocolate (this is for drizzling over traditional chocolate covered strawberries only).
• Shortening (2 Tbs. per 16oz. of melting chocolate)
• Green dusting sugar (this is used with Christmas colored strawberries.

Tools:

• Double Boiler
• Toothpicks
• Wax Paper
• Squeeze bottle (Walmart has these for $0.99)!

Check out our Patriotic Chocolate Covered Strawberries as well!

Directions:

1. Prepare the strawberries. This is the key to making decadent chocolate covered strawberries. Strawberries are not in season in Pennsylvania in the winter, so I was forced to by them out of season at the local super market. You need to buy large, firm, rich colored strawberries for them to turn out best. Avoid mushy strawberries, and try to stick to larger berries (although you can still dip medium sized ones easily as well). Also, do not remove the greenery at the top, as this makes them even more festive!

Also, water can NOT mix with your chocolate or it will “seize” and be very hard to work with! Therefore, wipe all strawberries with a damp cloth instead of washing them in a drainer. It also helps to let the strawberries come to room temperature so they do not form condensation, which also makes them hard to dip.

2. Prepare the chocolate. Chocolate can be VERY tempermental, so depending on your level of knowledge, you may want to use tempered chocolate (which is a whole other process we’ll talk about in another post). However, for our purposes, we will be melting the dipping chocolate in a double boiler.  Heat the water in the bottom to boiling, but do this gradually. If you heat your chocolate on high too much, it will scorch it, also making it difficult to work with.

Also, you will have to decide whether you want dark, white, or milk chocolate. For traditional chocolate covered strawberries, the most elegant look is achieved with the dark chocolate and white drizzle. However, my family prefers milk chocolate, so that is what we use!

Add 2 Tbs. of shortening for every 16oz. of chocolate, and allow it to melt, stirring fairly constantly. Once the chocolate is at a consistency for dipping, you are ready to dip!

3. Dip the strawberries. Before you can dip the strawberries, you have to have a place to put them. You can simply place them on wax paper and allow them to set, or you can place a toothpick in the bottom (narrow) end, and place them in strofoam after dipping. I prefer to just place them on wax paper, because they don’t roll around once they’re set. However, if you’re placing them in some kind of container, it might benefit you to use the other method.

To dip the strawberries, you simply place them in the chocolate and twirl with your fingers. You can also place a toothpick in the top (stem end) and twirl, but I found it to be easier with my fingers, so this is a matter of preference. Allow a small amount of red at the top for color.

4. Decorate the strawberries. After the strawberries are dipped, now is the time to decorate them! If you’re making the Christmas colored strawberries shown above, you will simply dip them in the green dusting sugar before allowing them to set. Then place them in the refrigerator to cool. If you’re drizzling traditional covered strawberries with white drizzle, we recommend melting down the white chocolate and using a squeeze bottle. If you want to use a traditional cake decorating bag, that is fine too!

5. Serve them! Unless you are using tempered chocolate, these cannot be left out of the cool for very long, so we recommend serving them immediately from the refrigerator or slightly at room temperature so your strawberries don’t wilt.