Chocolate-Covered Strawberries and Chocolate Coating Recipe

Today is my birthday.  And since I've been having trouble deciding what to eat for breakfast lately (there's been a lot of time wasted staring into the cupboards, bored with my choices), I decided to be proactive yesterday and dip some juicy strawberries into dark chocolate. Why not? It's my birthday. And everyone needs a delicious birthday breakfast.

So I've decided that everyone should enjoy this on their birthday. I strongly suggest you make it for your wife, husband, kids, mom, dad and friends so they can wake up to something healthy, yet sweet.

But I know not everyone knows how to make shiny, chocolate-covered strawberries with a nice soft bite. So of course, I'm sharing the recipe! Here you go...


Chocolate Covered Strawberries Recipe:

You need:

• About 10 ripe strawberries
• 100 grams (3.5 oz) chocolate in white, milk OR dark chocolate, your choice!
• 1 tbsp. coconut oil (liquid or solid, melted) or use grapeseed oil or canola oil, if no coconut oil
• Optional for decoration: another 50 grams (1.75 oz) chocolate in opposing flavour/colour (i.e. if you are dipping your strawberries in dark chocolate, choose white or milk chocolate as your decorative chocolate).

Instructions:

1. Wash and pat the strawberries dry with a paper towel.  Let rest and dry fully for about one hour on the counter (this also brings them up to room temperature, if you had them in the fridge).

2. Place a good-sized piece of waxed paper on the counter (large enough to rest your 10 chocolate-dipped strawberries on).

3. Melt 1 tablespoon of coconut oil in a microwave-safe dish in the microwave for about 30 seconds, until liquid (not sizzling hot, just warm and melted to liquid). Set aside. If using a liquid oil, simple measure out and set aside, no need to warm it in the microwave.

4. Chop a 100 gram bar of chocolate (milk, dark or white). Place in a heat-proof, microwavable-safe bowl.

5. Microwave the chocolate for 2 minutes on half power. Stir.  Add back in microwave for 5 to 10 second intervals and stir in between until fully melted and no chunks remain (this will likely not be needed for white chocolate, whereas more time will be needed for dark chocolate).

6. Then temper the chocolate by cooling it quickly. The simplest way is to place your bowl in another dish of water with an ice cube or two, filled only to reach about half way up the outer sides of your chocolate dish, BUT BE CAREFUL NOT TO GET A SINGLE DROP OF WATER IN THE CHOCOLATE! Stir your chocolate until it cools to about 78º F for white, 80º F for milk, or 82º for dark chocolate (or slightly cooler than the temperature of the back of your (clean and dry) baby finger when dipped in). Stir and re-warm for just 3 seconds in the microwave, then stir again.  Place a small drop on the side of a table knife and let cool.  If it hardens/sets with no streaks, it is in temper. If it has white streaks, cool a little more. If you want to learn more about tempering chocolate, click here. (Psst: Tempering chocolate is also a lot easier if you have the EZtemper, worth the investment if you are going into business as a chocolatier.)

7. Add the melted coconut oil to the tempered chocolate and stir until combined.  Again place it in the ice water dish for a few seconds while stirring to cool it and temper it. Take it out of the ice-water dish and stir constantly for about 10 seconds more. Do not let it set and harden! But if it does, you can just rewarm in the microwave for 3 to 5 seconds to melt it back without throwing it out of temper.

8. Immediately begin dipping the strawberries.  Gather up the entire stem in between your fingers and dip the strawberry in the chocolate. You can dip halfway up, or all the way, it's up to you. Hold it over the bowl for a few seconds to let the excess drip off, then place the strawberry on the waxed paper to set. Do the same for all 10 strawberries.

Optional Decoration:

For an added flair, melt 1/3 of a 100 gram white or milk chocolate bar, temper it and add just 1 teaspoon of melted coconut oil (same process as above). Then place the chocolate coating in a small Ziplock snack bag, seal it and cut one tiny corner off. Through the hole in the bag, drizzle the chocolate over the strawberries (see my photo on the right for an example).


Voila! Once you master the strawberries, now you can dip anything in chocolate! Bananas, raspberries, dried fruit, pretzels, brownies, marshmallow....the list can go on and on. 

And now, I am off to dip bananas in milk chocolate! Why not? It's my birthday.