chuck
02-08-2007, 01:16 PM
:heart: Chocolate covered strawberries:heart:
http://www.dadstayshome.com/dads/imagehosting/79745cb22b05715c.jpg
In light of valentines day I'm posting this most delicious goodies you and the kids can make for mom, I've never meet a woman who could resist these!
what you'll need:
1lb chocolate chips (I use the toll house ones but the store brand works as well)
1lb fresh strawberries with leaves on (the bigger the better but small works fine too and will save $$)
Wax paper (get a roll at the store it will last you forever)
toothpicks (large)
you need to melt the chocolate chips, there are several methods that work,
a double boiler is great, find to pots that fit inside each other, boil water in the large one and put chocolate chips in the smaller one, placing the smaller one in the larger one, be careful not to put to much water in the bottom one.
another method is the microwave, be careful not to set the microwave to full power, the defrost cycle works well, keep checking it and stirring the chocolate untill fully melted,
the third method is a crock pot, I make about 5lbs of these at a time so this method works best for me.
No worries about overheating the chocolate, it's pretty hard to mess it up.
While the chips are melting layout the wax-paper, leave yourself lots of covered area, it makes cleanup a lot easier! I also get a cookie sheet and cover that too to put the berries on, this way you can set them in the refrigerator easily for the chocolate to set up quickly.
rinse the strawberries trying not to remove the leaves, than take a paper towel and get the berries as dry as possible (chocolate wont stick to a wet Berrie)
Take the large toothpicks and put one in the top of each Berrie, these will act as handles for dipping, don't try to use the leaves as handles or you will be picking strawberries out of hot chocolate!
Ok chips are melted,wax paper is down, strawberries are prepped, now the fun part, dip the berries one at a time untill they are covered about 3/4 of the way up the Berrie, you can dip them all the way but a red crown looks really cool, once you dip them give them a little shake, this gets off and over dip and sets the chocolate into the pours of the berries. then turn the berries upside down real quick to set the tail. Than onto the wax paper. I find about 10-15 minutes in the refrigerator will harden up the chocolate very nicely.Remove tooth picks and try not to eat them all before Mom gets home from work.(I always anticipate this and make a few extras)And of course keep in mind your dealing with HOT chocolate here, little hands seem to get the idea they can be dipped and licked in this stuff so keep a good eye on them!
Ok thats the basics, if your feeling fancy, also get a bag of white chocolate, you can double dip into the white chocolate after the first coat cools some, or take a toothpick and just drizzle the white over the first coat, or I've even make the tuxedos you see below, my son has a blast with these, he will take the white chocolate and put M for mommy on some of them, the sky's the limit, and there is no wrong way to do this, there is a large variety of chips available so experiment with different chocolates,Carmel's, they all work well, they don't all have to be the same and the "home made" look just makes them all the more special to mom! This is also a great birthday gift! It's best to make them the day you need them but they will hold in the refrigurator for a few days (I've never seen them last that long thou :) )
http://www.dadstayshome.com/dads/imagehosting/79745cb22b02122c.jpg :heart: http://www.dadstayshome.com/dads/imagehosting/79745cb22b05560d.jpg
http://www.dadstayshome.com/dads/imagehosting/79745cb22b05715c.jpg
In light of valentines day I'm posting this most delicious goodies you and the kids can make for mom, I've never meet a woman who could resist these!
what you'll need:
1lb chocolate chips (I use the toll house ones but the store brand works as well)
1lb fresh strawberries with leaves on (the bigger the better but small works fine too and will save $$)
Wax paper (get a roll at the store it will last you forever)
toothpicks (large)
you need to melt the chocolate chips, there are several methods that work,
a double boiler is great, find to pots that fit inside each other, boil water in the large one and put chocolate chips in the smaller one, placing the smaller one in the larger one, be careful not to put to much water in the bottom one.
another method is the microwave, be careful not to set the microwave to full power, the defrost cycle works well, keep checking it and stirring the chocolate untill fully melted,
the third method is a crock pot, I make about 5lbs of these at a time so this method works best for me.
No worries about overheating the chocolate, it's pretty hard to mess it up.
While the chips are melting layout the wax-paper, leave yourself lots of covered area, it makes cleanup a lot easier! I also get a cookie sheet and cover that too to put the berries on, this way you can set them in the refrigerator easily for the chocolate to set up quickly.
rinse the strawberries trying not to remove the leaves, than take a paper towel and get the berries as dry as possible (chocolate wont stick to a wet Berrie)
Take the large toothpicks and put one in the top of each Berrie, these will act as handles for dipping, don't try to use the leaves as handles or you will be picking strawberries out of hot chocolate!
Ok chips are melted,wax paper is down, strawberries are prepped, now the fun part, dip the berries one at a time untill they are covered about 3/4 of the way up the Berrie, you can dip them all the way but a red crown looks really cool, once you dip them give them a little shake, this gets off and over dip and sets the chocolate into the pours of the berries. then turn the berries upside down real quick to set the tail. Than onto the wax paper. I find about 10-15 minutes in the refrigerator will harden up the chocolate very nicely.Remove tooth picks and try not to eat them all before Mom gets home from work.(I always anticipate this and make a few extras)And of course keep in mind your dealing with HOT chocolate here, little hands seem to get the idea they can be dipped and licked in this stuff so keep a good eye on them!
Ok thats the basics, if your feeling fancy, also get a bag of white chocolate, you can double dip into the white chocolate after the first coat cools some, or take a toothpick and just drizzle the white over the first coat, or I've even make the tuxedos you see below, my son has a blast with these, he will take the white chocolate and put M for mommy on some of them, the sky's the limit, and there is no wrong way to do this, there is a large variety of chips available so experiment with different chocolates,Carmel's, they all work well, they don't all have to be the same and the "home made" look just makes them all the more special to mom! This is also a great birthday gift! It's best to make them the day you need them but they will hold in the refrigurator for a few days (I've never seen them last that long thou :) )
http://www.dadstayshome.com/dads/imagehosting/79745cb22b02122c.jpg :heart: http://www.dadstayshome.com/dads/imagehosting/79745cb22b05560d.jpg