Lifestyles: Chocolate covered strawberries for Valentine’s Day
{Photos By: Clarence-Vernon Hargrave/Davidson Local}
Show your affection to the special people in your life with a sweet and chocolate covered treat sporting a decadent reputation that precedes it.
Today, chocolate covered strawberries range in price which can exceed fifty dollars per dozen through retailers.
Chocolate covered strawberries are as easy to make as they are delectable. They are also very visually appealing and can be packaged to share anytime or as an amazing Valentine’s Day gift.
It is hard to believe that this delightful confection wasn’t popularized for Valentine’s Day until the 1960’s when Lorraaine Larusso of Chicago began selling them in a small gourmet shop. After all, what could be a better than a plump, ripe strawberry that has been bathed in a rich, milky chocolate? With both chocolate and strawberries being occasionally associated with luxury, it was just a matter of time before the two met and became a power couple.
The most challenging part of making chocolate covered strawberries is melting the chocolate. There are several ways to melt the chocolate for dipping, with the easiest way being the microwave. This technique is the fastest method and it is also the most risky method because the microwave can quickly scorch or burn the chocolate. It can also make the chocolate unevenly dry and give the chocolate a granular texture. If you are going to use the microwave to melt your chocolate, you must pay close attention to the chocolate as it melts and heat it at intervals of twenty-five seconds, stopping to stir the chocolate. Be sure to use a microwave safe glass bowl. I also recommend that you reduce the heat level on the microwave that you use to fifty percent.
{Photo By: Clarence-Vernon Hargrave/Davidson Local}
Making a bain marie or a double boiler out of a pot and a glass bowl will make your chocolate melt much easier.
My favorite technique for melting chocolate is with a bain marie, which is also called a double boiler. Using a bain marie allows you to heat the chocolate more evenly, you can better control the temperature and it gives the finished product a glossy sheen. To make a bain marie first select a heat proof glass bowl and a saucepan or pot that allows the bowl to sit on top of it without touching the water that will be heating in the pot below it. There should be at least an inch of space between your heating water and the bottom of the bowl, this is important to prevent the water from over boiling and burning your hands. This method also allows you to temper the chocolate better. Tempering chocolate is the process of heating and cooling chocolate which results in a better texture and also gives the chocolate a smooth and shiny apperance.
Choosing the proper chocolate to use for melting is key. I always make my own personal flavor blend of chocolate based on who I am making the chocolate dipped strawberries for. Through my experience, the best chocolate to use for dipping and covering is baking chocolate. Although bagged chocolate chips do work, just make sure that you use baking chocolate either in block or chip form. There is a difference between chocolate melting wafers and real chocolate. The melting wafers rarely contain real cacao and are mostly oil with coloring, so be aware. When it comes to the chocolate intensity level that you like, select either dark or milk chocolate for melting or do a combination of both like I do and achieve that flavor balance that you prefer.
Give your chocolate dipped strawberries more flare by garnishing them with crumbs from crushed cookies or a crumbly candy bar. You can also use this method to cover more foods in chocolate such as pretzels, wavy potato chips and other fresh fruit.
Make someone’s day with a box of fresh chocolate covered strawberries this Valentine’s Day or on any day.
{Photos By: Clarence-Vernon Hargrave/Davidson Local}
Make someone’s day by surprising them with a box of fresh chocolate covered strawberries for Valentine’s Day or anytime.
Ingredients -
2 pounds of fresh strawberries with stems and greens attached (cleaned and dried hours before and left at room temperature on paper towels)
16 ounces of your favorite baking chocolate (12 ounces for melting in bowl and 4 ounces reserved for tempering the melted chocolate)
Crushed cookies or candies for garnishing chocolate covered strawberries
You will also need -
Parchment Paper or baking cups
A sheet pan
A heat proof medium bowl
A saucepan or a pot for the bowl to rest on for melting and making a bain marie
Bain Marie - (double boiler)
To make the bain marie for melting the chocolate, place a pot or saucepan on medium-high heat filled with water that is at least one inch from the top of the pot and not in contact with the bottom of the bowl that will rest on top.
Bring the water to a slight boil and reduce the heat to medium.
Place the bowl filled with the chocolate for melting on top of the pot of water and allow to sit for one minute without stirring.
Stir the melting chocolate in thirty second intervals until fully melted.
Remove bain marie from heat and allow the fully melted chocolate to rest on the bain marie for one full minute.
Stir in reserved 4 ounces of chocolate until fully melted, this will temper the chocolate.
Take the clean and dry strawberries gently by the stems or tops and dip once fully in the melted chocolate until covered up to the top.
Place on parchment paper or in a baking cup to cool and harden.
Now is the time to garnish the strawberries lightly while they are not fully dry.
Allow the chocolate covered strawberries to rest, cool and harden for one hour at room temperature.
Keep for up to two days. Store in a container in the refrigerator for up to two days. Eventually the strawberries will begin to sweat and release their natural juices creating moisture under the chocolate shell.
Enjoy!
Happy Valentine’s Day
