Chocolate covered strawberry
Strawberries are one of my favourite fruits. But to be entirely pedantic, I want my strawberries at their natural time of the year when they can be grown outside, not force grown under plastic in the middle of winter. Strawberries that have been grown in their correct season always taste the best in my humble opinion, and what can be better than fresh strawberries? well fresh strawberries dipped in chocolate.
Chocolate covered strawberries really are the simplest things to make. Serve them either as an elegant dessert at a dinner party, a chocolate disguised way of getting more fruit into your body, or just because you want strawberries and chocolate, and you want them both, now!
They won't have a long life, really needing to be eaten on the day of dipping, but let's be serious here, chocolate covered strawberries hanging around for more than a day? Get real.
Have a go, and enjoy.
dietary information: | |
| wheat free |
|
| gluten free |
|
| nut free |
|
| dairy free |
|
| vegetarian |
|
| vegan |
|
makes 30+
| 30 | + | strawberries, firm and ripe with stalk and/or leaves attached |
| 50 | g- | dark chocolate |
| 50 | g- | milk chocolate |
| 50 | g- | white chocolate |
| 1. | Choose only the firmest ripe strawberries for this recipe. Strawberries that are overripe or bruised will go mushy, and the chocolate won't set on them very well. |
| 2. | Carefully wash the strawberries, taking care to leave the stalk and leaves intact. Pat the strawberries dry using absorbent kitchen paper, making sure that you don't bruise them. Leave the strawberries to stand at room temperature, while you melt the chocolate, to ensure that they are completely dry. Even the slightest drop of moisture will spoil the chocolate coating and make the chocolate 'seize'. |
| 3. | Line a large flat tray with baking paper. It needs to be large enough to lay all of the dipped strawberries on without them touching each other, while the chocolate sets. |
| 4. | Break the chocolate into small pieces, and melt ( how to melt chocolate ). If you are using more than one type of chocolate i.e. dark and white, it's easier to do one at a time. |
| 5. | Once the chocolate is melted, allow to cool slightly, then holding a strawberry by it's stalk or leaves dip it into the chocolate. You can dip the strawberry as deep as you wish, but it's more attractive to leave some of the red berry showing at the top. |
| 6. | The chocolate coating shouldn't be too thick or the strawberry will look very clumsy. If the chocolate is too thin then the texture of the strawberry will show through, and spoil the chocolate effect (as well as shortchanging you on the quantity of chocolate on your berry). |
| 7. | After dipping the strawberry, gently wipe off the excess on the rim of the bowl, this will then avoid the chocolate ending up in a puddle on the bottom of the strawberry when it is laid on the baking paper to set. Take care not to wipe off too much though, you don't want a bare patch. |
| 8. | Lay the dipped strawberry on it's side on the lined tray and allow to set. You will need to find somewhere cool for them to set. Try to resist the temptation to put the tray in the fridge as the strawberries and the chocolate will sweat when they are removed and returned to room temperature. Also you don't want the chocolate to be too brittle as it will shatter from the strawberry when you bite into it, spoiling the effect. |
Serve within 24 hours of making to enjoy at their very best. And what a great way to get one of your daily portions of fruit.
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