Chirky: How To Make Chocolate-Covered Strawberries

Roger and I usually don’t make a big fuss about Valentine’s Day. We keep it low-key with dinner at home, something a little nicer than we generally eat, and we just spend time together. I love it so much more than going out to eat or to some sort of performance, or whatever it is that other people do on Valentine’s Day, because in general I think the holiday is just too commercialized. There’s too much pressure on guys to do something special for that one day, which I think is lame. Guys should do something special because they want to, not because they feel obligated by society. And since Roger does special things for me so frequently throughout the year, Valentine’s Day is really just like any other day. Except with more dishes for me to wash.

During lunch on February 14th, I got a wild hair and decided to make chocolate-covered strawberries. Blame that ad I saw in AmericanWay magazine, if you’d like. Here’s how I did it:

Wash and dry the strawberries. Be sure to dry them really well, because water causes melted chocolate to seize.

I like to chop it first

Melt the white and milk chocolates. In separate bowls, preferably. Lay a sheet of wax paper on the counter.

Dip it low

Holding each strawberry by the stem, dip it in the white chocolate, swirling to cover the berry completely. Once dipped, gently shake the excess chocolate off the berry. Hold upside down for a moment to make sure the chocolate adheres to the berry’s flesh.

Letting the chocolate dry

Place the strawberry on the wax paper to dry. This should take 3-5 minutes.

Not fully dressed

Once the strawberry is completely dry, dip it from side to side in the milk chocolate to form a “V” shape. Replace on the wax paper and allow to cool again.

Tuxedo detail

Scoop remaining melted chocolate into a small plastic Ziploc bag. Clip off a corner of the bag – as tiny as possible – to pipe on the buttons and bowtie.

Chocolate Covered Strawberries - Finished Product

Chocolate Covered Strawberries - Finished Product

I didn’t melt enough of the white chocolate, so I couldn’t make all tuxedos. To make the chocolate strawberries with white chocolate drizzles, I dipped half of the strawberries into the milk chocolate and let them cool. I poured the remaining white chocolate into a plastic bag, clipped off the corner, and drizzled the white chocolate over the milk chocolate bodies. It was a good solution for the limited time I had, otherwise I would have just melted more white chocolate.

I dropped off some of the chocolate-covered berries at Roger’s office for a sweet after-lunch surprise, and took the remaining strawberries to share with my co-workers.

They’re best to eat the day they’re made. This isn’t usually a problem, since the strawberries don’t last long.

Comments

That's pretty creative with the tuxedo/penguin thing. I bet my wife would like these. Are they in season in East Texas?

~Jef

Posted by: Edge | February 20, 2008 12:58 PM

Jef: I have no idea whether they're in season - they were just on sale at the grocery store, and didn't look gross, so I thought I'd take advantage of it. But when this summer arrives, you can bet that I'll have these things hanging around my house more often!

Posted by: chirky | February 20, 2008 01:04 PM

Given your above comment, I'd like to start hanging around your house this summer. :)

These are so cute!

Posted by: my life is brilliant | February 20, 2008 05:05 PM

Oh man.. those look awesome! One of my favorite things in life is chocolate covered strawberries.

Posted by: Chiada | February 21, 2008 06:12 PM

Those look totally amazing. I was impressed before I saw all the cute tuxedo decorating!

Posted by: HRH | February 24, 2008 10:27 AM

yum! :)

Posted by: Ki | February 26, 2008 02:47 AM

Yum is right!
And oh so cute: I must keep in mind the tuxedo thing; I'm sure it will come in handy sometime.

Posted by: Lia | February 26, 2008 03:30 PM

coming at you LIVE FROM WACO...

Great post with brilliant pictures. Everything you make Jes is Fabulous... except, and I hate to bring this up, those shish kabobs! hahaha. But that Mexican Burger joint that left me smelling like arm pit had a good burger and awesome fries!

Posted by: eddo | March 1, 2008 05:02 PM

My husband sounds just like Roger. Every day is Valentine's Day. Looking forward to meeting you at the Bossy gathering.

Posted by: a. beaverhausen | March 2, 2008 01:42 PM

Those are so freaking awesome!

Posted by: Jenny, Bloggess | March 15, 2008 11:26 AM