While I was shopping tonight, I couldn’t help but take a look at the Valentine’s Day goodies. There are balloons, flowers, cakes and strawberries. Lots and lots of chocolate dipped strawberries.
The strawberries looked delicious, however, the price did not. Priced a little over $1 a piece, I had to question why customers don’t make these at home. For one, they would cost about $3.00 for 15-20 strawberries, depending on how many were in a pint. And second, they are really easy to make.
With that said, is it a surprise that I coat strawberries every year for Valentine’s Day?
You simply need:
fresh strawberries
chocolate or almond bark
a small amount of vegetable shortning
To make them:
– Rinse the strawberries about an hour before you want to coat them. After you rinse them, let them sit on paper towels to drain/absorb all of the liquid. You don’t want them to be wet. At all. The slightest amount of liquid will ruin the chocolate or almond bark. Trust me on this!
– Break the chocolate or almond bark into squares, and melt (according to directions on package) in your microwave or stove. (Use a double broiler if melting on the stove.) When the bark is really close to being completely melted, stir in a small amount of vegetable shortning to thin the chocolate. This makes it easier to coat the strawberries.
– Carefully dip the (dry) strawberries in the chocolate, then place on wax paper or aluminum foil to dry.
– When they are dry (about 10 minutes after dipping), you can melt a small amount of the opposite coating (almond bark or chocolate) *with 1 TSB shortning added to two blocks of bark* and drizzle on the dipped strawberries. (as I did above)
– Enjoy!
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I love making my own Strawberries and plan on it again this year! The only thing I do differently is I read somewhere that washing them in running water causes them to retain some of that water so some of the big strawberry places suggested washing them with a wet paper towel and wiping them clean instead. I have tried it both ways and can't tell a huge difference just wanted to share what I had read.