The Art of Chocolate Covered Strawberries
Chocolate + strawberries = heavenly.
Farm-fresh organic berries and decadent chocolate go together very easily for a wonderful dessert or gift.
We keep our fresh berries stocked at our farm stores in Granby and Montague and at summer markets during the month of June. You can also come and Pick Your Own! Or order in bulk on our website. While this short season lasts, chocolate dipped berries are one of our favorite things to eat.
Six Tips for perfecting the art:
1. Ripe strawberries are key!
You want sweet and flavorful berries. When selecting the berries to dip in chocolate make sure they are ripe and red but not so ripe that they are mushy. Bright green greens of super-fresh berries are prettiest.
2. Keep them at room temperature.
Before covering them in chocolate, refrain from putting them in the fridge-let the berries sit on the counter for a bit, as water will condense on cold berries.
3. Wash AND dry!
When prepping your berries for chocolate make sure they aren’t wet. Damp berries will cause the chocolate to clump and loose its smooth texture.
4. Choose the chocolate you love
– Use dark chocolate or milk chocolate bars or your favorite chocolate chips. Taza Chocolate is made in Somerville, MA, and their dark bars are wonderful for this.
5. Melt chocolate with a double boiler.
Put some water in a sauce pan and with heat-safe bowl on top. The water in the sauce pan should be high enough to surround most of the bowl but not high enough that it gets in the bowl. Keep the water at a low simmer, put the chocolate with some milk in the bowl and stir until it melts!
6. Get creative!
Chocolate is perfect on its own on berries but don’t be afraid to personalize the recipe. Add some white chocolate drizzle, toasted coconut, sprinkles, slivered almonds, or crushed walnuts to your berries!
A Recipe for Making Chocolate Covered Strawberries
This recipe makes enough for a small batch. Double or so for more.
1 cup chocolate chips or broken up chocolate bar
1 1/2 tsp coconut oil (this makes the chocolate smoother, shortening can be used also)
6-12 Strawberries
Melt the chocolate in a double boiler with the coconut oil, mixing well ’til smooth. Prep a plate or baking sheet with parchment or wax paper on top. When the chocolate is smooth, hold the berries by the stem or greens and dip each berry in, twisting to coat each side. Then lay the berry on the parchment paper. They look pretty when you can still see some of the red top of the berry.
Put your full plate of berries into the refrigerator for 15 minutes or so to set the chocolate. Then they are ready to serve!
Additions to sprinkle on top right after dipping in chocolate:
Melted white chocolate, drizzled decoratively using a fork
Coconut flakes (toasted or untoasted)
Finely chopped nuts, like walnuts, pecans, slivered almonds, or cashews
Salt or sugar crystals
Sprinkles
Bacon crumbles (what?! 🙂
Pretzel shards
Enjoy!