How to Make a Chocolate-Covered Strawberry Without a Strawberry

​Rick Jordan has one word of advice for Valentine's Day shoppers:
"Stop asking for chocolate covered strawberries when they're out of season!" Jordan proclaims wearily from his west county chocolate store, RJ Chocolatier (14882 Clayton Road, Chesterfield; 636-230-9300). Jordan, in chocolate-making crisis mode with the Hallmark holiday approaching, has been inundated with requests for the token chocolate covered berries.
His response? Pure chocolate.



Jordan's "Les Fraises" are berries of his own creation, made from 67% Dark Chocolate and filled with marshmallow. Jordan crafts the strawberries from an Easter-egg mold, which he then sprays with white and red cocoa butter. He hand paints the "seeds" with white cocoa butter, and then fills the egg with a unique blend of marshmallow and strawberry puree. Which, for the record, uses berries that are in season.

No strawberry is complete without leaves, though, and Jordan adds the finishing touch by hand-crafting the leaves from white chocolate covered with green cocoa butter. The process is labor intensive, but provides Valentine's Day shoppers with a delicious alternative to mass-produced treats.

"All the chocolate companies order strawberries from Sysco this time of year. They're big and flavorless and white inside," Jordan explains. "Our version just tastes better. "

Jordan plans on displaying the berries in the front of the store, sitting atop hand-crafted "dirt" that he makes by overcharging liquid chocolate in CO2 cartridges, spraying it into a container, vacuuming it, and then letting it set in a freezer.

Chocolate Covered Strawberries Will Delight Your Sweetheart

Looking for a wonderfully sweet Valentine's Day treat? Pick up some chocolate covered strawberries. This popular Valentine's Day treat is available at several local retailers.


World's Delights and Coffee has chocolate covered strawberries available for $2.25 each. The bakery at the Hamilton Mill Publix is offering the delectable treat for $9.95 a pound. You can also purchase four chocolate covered strawberries at the Dacula Kroger for $8.99 or 12 for $16.99.
Supplies are limited.

Want to make your own chocolate covered strawberries? Redondo Beach Patch has the following recipe:
Chocolate Covered Strawberries

• 1/2 pound good dark chocolate bits
• 12 long-stemmed strawberries

Wash and thoroughly dry the strawberries—any water added to the melted chocolate will change the emulsion.

In a double boiler over a low heat, slowly melt the dark chocolate bits. Stir slowly and well until all the chocolate pieces are melted and the chocolate is smooth.
Dunk strawberries in chocolate, leaving about 1/4 of the strawberry showing.
Gently place onto wax paper and let chocolate set.

FREE BOM for 2012 – Comfort Foods – Chocolate Covered Strawberries

Just in time for VALENTINE’S DAY.  This month’s block is named for a favorite food combination of mine: Chocolate Covered Strawberries.


The recipe is for “Chocolate Fondue” From Simply Recipes

For this month’s block directions and recipe go to FREE BOM 2012 or CLICK HERE.

Happy Quilting!
Betty

9 Secrets To Perfect Chocolate-Covered Strawberries

;Nothing says Valentine's Day like chocolate-covered strawberries! Those red, heart-shaped fruits, that melted chocolate, together in one sweet, scrumptious bite. They're undeniable. But if you've ever tried making them, you may have discovered there are a few tricks to getting them right without ending up with a weird, lumpy, melted chocolate mess.


But don't worry. You can do this! Here are nine tips to making your chocolate-covered strawberry dreams come true.

Have everything out and ready to go. In addition to your strawberries and melted chocolate, have a cookie sheet lined with waxed or parchment paper ready before you get started. Make sure you've already cleared a space in your refrigerator -- says the cook who has made that mistake too many times.

Pick your berries well. Look over your batch of strawberries before you get started. Make sure they're ripe enough to be flavorful (biting into a greenish strawberry, sad face!) but not so ripe that they're mushy. Check for soft spots.

Room-temp berries. Don't keep the berries chilled. Instead, let them sit out until they're room temperature.
Dry your strawberries. You'll want to wash your berries, of course. But make sure you pat-dry them thoroughly. Water on the berries will cause the chocolate to "seize" -- get all clotted and lose its smooth texture.

Leave the leaves. You could try cutting off the leaves and stem and using a toothpick to dip, but that's a little tricky. I've found it easier to just keep the leaves and stem on and use them to dip the berries. I also like that contrast you get from the green -- it makes the red of the berries stand out more.
Use chocolate and butter. Just melted chocolate chips will work fine, but adding butter to your melted chocolate chips makes for a smoother, more dip-able texture. Melt together 2 teaspoons of butter for 8 ounces of chocolate. You could just buy "dip-able" chocolate, but it's probably made with shortening. Just saying.

Make a double boiler. I don't have a double boiler, so I'll put some water in a small saucepan and nestle a Pyrex bowl over it. The water should be high enough to surround most of the bowl, but not so high that it's in danger of blurping up into the bowl of chocolate if the water boils. Try to keep the water at a low simmer, not a rolling boil.

Shake and tip. After you dip your berry into the melted chocolate as far as you can, give it a little shake to shake off extra chocolate and cover any missed spots. Then tip the berry upside down to cover more of the berry closer to the leaves.

Chill in the fridge, but don't keep refrigerated. Once you're finished dipping your berries, they'll need about 15-30 minutes to chill and harden in the refrigerator. But chocolate does not like to stay cold for long -- it can get white and chalky. So keep your berries in an airtight container in another cool place.

Recipe: Chocolate-Dipped Strawberries

Nothing says "I love you" quite the way chocolate says it. In fact, I am a firm believer that there is little that doesn't taste better when covered in chocolate.

I had the best intentions as I wanted to give a few sweets to my sweeties for Valentine's Day, but have a fundamentally moral aversion to spending $7 for one chocolate-dipped strawberry. Why drop that kind of change when you can make your own delectable treats at home in a snap?

I made these gems as a grand gesture of my undying love for my family. The strawberries didn't make it until Valentine's Day. The chocolate had barely set before the kids "chocolate radar" went off and the strawberries were snatched up and devoured. Kid tested, kid approved.  They are singing my praises. Love is in the air. Life is good.

Chocolate covered strawberries: Test kitchen bonus

The mere mention of chocolate makes some people blush with excitement. And it’s no wonder. Good quality chocolate melts on the tongue like edible velvet, leaving you begging for more.  Chocolate lovers don’t need an excuse to eat chocolate in any form, but Valentine’s Day gives us a free day of indulgence with no guilt. Chocolate-dipped strawberries are an easy-to-make Valentine’s Day treat. You can even dress them up in “edible” tuxedos. Here’s how




The tools:

Parchment or wax paperBowl or pan for melting chocolate
Washed and dried strawberries with stems intact Melting milk or dark chocolate from a craft store, gourmet shop or supermarket

Step 1: Melt chocolate according to package instructions. (Place in microwave-safe bowls and microwave on medium power for 1 minute. Stir and microwave in increments of 20 seconds and stir to check that chocolate is melted. Or, melt in top of a double boiler. Chocolate should be melted, not hot.)
Step 2: Holding berry by the stem end, dip and twist to coat with chocolate. Place on parchment paper to dry.

A formally-attired strawberry.

How to dress the berries in “tuxedos” Additional tools
Pastry bag with a No. 3 or 4 writing tip
Melting white “chocolate”
Step 1: Melt dark and white  chocolates separately.
Step 2: Dip front of berries in white chocolate. Place on baking sheet to dry with chocolate facing up.
Step 3: When white chocolate has hardened, hold stems and leaves in your fingers and dip each side (at an angle) in dark chocolate. A deep “V” will form on front of berry. Place on baking sheet to dry.
Step 4: Place about 1/2 cup of melted dark chocolate in a pastry bag fitted with a writing tip. Pipe a long, horizontal “X” at top of white “V.” Fill in with chocolate to make bow tie. With light pressure, pipe dots for buttons down the white “V.” You can also do this step with a wooden pick and a careful hand.
Test kitchen note: Chocolate-dipped strawberries do not hold up for long in the refrigerator. When removed, condensation forms on the berry, and the water can affect the chocolate. However, when dipping berries for fancy effects such as tuxedos, placing them in the refrigerator for 30 seconds between the application of layers will help speed drying.
(Tuxedo strawberry photos MARK RIGHTMIRE/ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER, other photos Orlando Sentinel staff

I couldn’t help but notice that two of the hottest Google searches today are chocolate-covered strawberries and Nevis, an island in the Caribbean Sea. Both, it’s important to note, are threatened by global warming and climate change.

Source: Planetsave (http://s.tt/15GAY)