It’s almost Valentine’s Day and nothing says love quite like chocolate covered strawberries. Show your favorite person exactly how much they mean to you by making them a gift that they will adore, almost as much as they adore you!
If you have never worked with melting chocolate, now is the time to start. It’s a tradition in my family to make candies for a few of the major holidays and I started using up left over chocolate with fresh strawberries. Sure, you can buy chocolate covered strawberries, but why wait in line and pay a premium for something that anyone can do.
I usually get my melting chocolate from Michael’s, but most any craft or hobby store should carry it. I have even seen it at Target around Christmas time.
There are two popular methods of melting the chocolate: double boiler on the stove and using the microwave. I am a bit old fashioned and use the double boiler, but often will use the microwave for small amounts of chocolate for accent colors. No matter the method, the key is low temperatures. Chocolate melts at about 105 degrees, so set the temps low, and take your time.
A couple of tips, water and melted chocolate are mortal enemies. After washing the berries let them dry and then thoroughly dry each one with a paper towel.
- 1/3 lb Melting chocolate
- 1 tbsp vegetable shortening
- 1/2 lb strawberries
- Wash strawberries and dry thoroughly
- Melt chocolate with shortening in double boiler or microwave
- Once chocolate is and in liquid form start dipping strawberries into chocolate to coat and set each one on a parchment or wax paper lined baking sheet
- Place baking sheet in freezer once all berries are covered
- Chill for 15 minutes
- If desired drizzle chocolate of a complimentary color across strawberries and put back into freezer until set.
