They can be made using a simple recipe, such as Easy Chocolate Covered Strawberries or with a few extra special ingredients as in our Chocolate Covered Strawberries recipe. Before you begin to dip the strawberries you want to be sure that they are prepared properly; see preparation tips in All About Strawberries. The information below provides you with some basic tips on making the chocolate covered strawberries. You can also view tips in the video How To Make Chocolate Covered Strawberries.
Strawberry Preparation
Clean the strawberries thorougly to remove dirt and dust.
Allow the strawberries to dry completely. If there is any moisture left, the chocolate has a tendency not to stick to the strawberry.
Melt the Chocolate
The chocolate can be melted either in the microwave or in a double boiler. To melt chocolate in the microwave, place one bag of chocolate chips or chunked chocolate in a microwave safe bowl, and heat for 2 minutes. Stir the chocolate with a clean, dry spatula and heat again at 30 second intervals until chocolate is melted and smooth. To melt chocolate in a double boiler, place the chips or chunked chocolate in the top portion of the double boiler and heat on low heat stirring occasionally until chocolate is melted. Make sure that absolutely no water gets into the melting chocolate due to the fact that it will seize and separate.
Once the chocolate is melted add 1/2 cup of half-and-half and 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract to the chocolate and stir.
Dipping the Strawberries
Push a toothpick into the stem ends of each strawberry.
Dip each strawberry into the chocolate allowing any excess to drip off.
Turn the strawberries over and poke the toothpick into a piece of styrofoam so that they can dry evenly. They can also dry on waxed paper if stryofoam is not available.
The Finishing Touch
Once the chocolate has set, they can be drizzled with melted white chocolate or double dipped again to give them a decorative look.
The chocolate covered strawberries can be served after the chocolate has set. Store the dipped strawberried in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours.
