A very simple, yet impressive decadence is chocolate covered strawberries. I worked in a candy store when I was in high school and every once in a while we would get an order for these babies. They are impressive, simple to make with a few tricks of the trade and very delicious. While by no means is this a healthy choice for everyday, these goodies still pack some nutrition in the form of vitamin C, antioxidant and fiber rich strawberries and all flavonoids and micro nutrients continually discovered in chocolate. These are most definitely not Whole30 compliant, though a decent choice for a post 30 day dessert and they can be made vegan dependent on your chocolate choice.
Because these are but two ingredients, there is some finessing involved. First: the strawberries. I know February is not strawberry season, but we have been getting some decent berries from Florida in New York City. Try to choose the larger berries. Pick through them and choose the ones with the firmest skin. If any are starting to get soft and too ripe, save them for something else (I usually freeze them for smoothies). Also look for berries that are red all the way to the stem, a difficult task with off-season fruit, but still worth a shot. Lastly, make sure that the stem is still firmly attached to the berry, as this will become the handle for dipping. Once you have a good bunch of berries, wash them and dry them thoroughly. Chocolate will not stick to a wet berry.
Speaking of chocolate, choose whichever chocolate you like best, but know that the quality will show through here. Chocolate chips work just fine. The melting discs you can find in the candy making section of craft stores may melt really well, but I find the chocolate to be a bit waxy and not very tasty. Trader Joe's makes some good chocolate bars that can be melted down. I like dark chocolate, but not to the bitter extremes of baking squares. For my batch, I picked up a chunk of Spanish dark, milk and white chocolate from the bulk section of Fairway, here in New York. Once you have your chocolate picked out, make sure it is ready to melt. If you are starting with a chunk, take a large knife and break it or chop it into small flakes and pieces. How much chocolate? Enough to easily dip as many strawberries into the bowl. I would start with about a cup of chopped or chips for a pint of strawberries.
Now that the berries and chocolate are ready to go, get everything set up before you start melting the chocolate. Have the berries out and dry, put the chocolate pieces in a microwave safe bowl, have a few spoons on standby and set up a cookie sheet with a sheet of parchment to place the strawberries on to set up.
Having everything set up will make the process much smoother. Now you can begin melting the chocolate. Doing it in the microwave is perfectly fine, just make sure to keep a close eye on it. I start with 30 second increments and then check it and stir. Stop microwaving when most of the chocolate has melted but there are still some chunks unmelted. These will melt by the heat of the bowl after stirring it a few times.
Now start dipping! Hold the strawberry by the stem, pulling the leaves back and dip into the melted chocolate, pull it out and allow some excess to drip off, then place on the cookie sheet.
If the chocolate in the bowl starts to set back up after a few minutes, stick it back in the microwave starting with 10 second increments. Once all the strawberries are dipped, allow to set up either at room temperature, or if you can't wait, pop them in the freezer for 10-15 minutes.
Plain dipped is just fine, but why not get a little fancy? If you have different types of chocolate, you could double or triple dip the berries, just make sure the first layer is set before double dipping. You can do a drizzle of chocolate over the top by dipping a spoon into the chocolate, then holding it straight down, allow some excess to drip off, then swing the spoon back and forth over the already dipped berries.
And for extra fancy, you can marble them. First take your bowl of base chocolate, like milk or dark, then drop some spots of white chocolate on top. Then carefully roll the strawberry across the surface once and the two chocolates will create a marbled layer, sure to impress.
A note on freshness: these are best served the same day. If you must make them ahead of time, store at room temperature or slightly cooler. Avoid putting them in the fridge, as the strawberries will start to pull away from the chocolate and condensation will most likely form, making for a gooey mess. But who can wait a full day to eat them anyways!
Enjoy and Happy Valentine's Day!
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