Azure Jane Lunatic (Azz) 🌺 (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
azurelunatic) wrote2017-05-14 02:21 pm
azurelunatic) wrote2017-05-14 02:21 pm
Entry tags:
Chocolate covered strawberries
Eurovision was yesterday! That was certainly an experience...
In honor of that, my traditional contribution to the party: chocolate covered strawberries.
Ingredients:
ripe strawberries
meltable chocolate to taste, about half the weight of the strawberries
(optional) meltable accent drizzle chocolate
Equipment:
washing tools
drying tools
staging surface for washed/dried strawberries
plate, flat tray, or other hard and portable surface (several)
waxed paper or other nonstick covering
refrigerator space, if you're trying to cool them quickly or it's too hot for this
heating implement
liquid chocolate container
chocolate stirring implement
dipping implements
(optional) container/heating/stirring implements for accent chocolate
(optional) holding vessel for hardened confections
Procedure:
If you're using a crockpot-like thing with controlled temperature, you can start melting your chocolate in it first thing, so it's liquid and ready as wanted.
Sort your strawberries, reserving any overripe, underripe, squashed, or awkwardly shaped ones for other uses.
Wash your strawberries to remove any dirt, grit, bugs, etc.
Dry the strawberries. I lay mine out on a clean kitchen towel, individually pat them dry with another towel, and lay the dried strawberries on a third towel.
Clear refrigerator space.
Prepare your surface for the dipped berries. Don't do the thing I did, and just set the parchment sheet on the counter -- you want to have a flat surface in order to transport it without disturbing the berries.
Make sure your chocolate is nice and melted without being too hot. The temperature where it's barely on the edge of melting and you have to stir some of the solid chunks to try and get them to finally melt is the best. I have a multi-function rice cooker that's a little hotter than that, which will keep it warm; sometimes I still use a microwave for 5-10 seconds at a time.
I will often just hold the strawberries by the leaves, and dunk them in the pool of melted chocolate, and use a spoon to drizzle some on any area that seems to not be covered enough. You can also get a skewer and stab the berry through the leaf area to better coat it.
Once the berry is coated on all sides, set it carefully on the nonstick platter. It helps if they can all face the same way if you plan to do fancy things later. If not, fit them in as you prefer. Leave enough space between them, and don't try to place berries in the middle after filling the sides, as that's a sure route to smudging.
Once the platter is filled, set it wherever you're going to be doing the cooling.
Proceed with the next batch, if you're doing more.
When the chocolate is hardened some, you can optionally drizzle some chocolate of a contrasting color or type on top. Melt the additional chocolate to where it will stream smoothly out of a spoon, then scoop some up and move the spoon rapidly back and forth over the rows of berries. (This is where it's helpful to have them all in the same direction.) Return them to finish hardening.
When the chocolate is hardened sufficiently, you can slide the nonstick sheet off the underlying tray or plate, and put the sheet in a storage container. This can free up more refrigerator space for subsequent batches. Once they are hard enough, you can stack multiple layers in the same storage container.
Once the chocolate is hard enough to "snap" when bitten, serve. (Or sooner, if that's what you want.)
Clean up your chocolate container before the chocolate sets. Scrape any spare chocolate into a flexible nonstick form, like a silicone cupcake case, if there's enough left over to be worth saving. Wipe the vessel with some of the reserved very ripe strawberries, for a juicy fondue treat.
When you pull chilled chocolate strawberries out of the refrigerator, in a damp climate they will immediately get condensation on them. Keep chilled until serving so as to not make the chocolate mushy. Or, allow to return to room temperature in a sealed refrigerator-temperature container.
Eat promptly.
In honor of that, my traditional contribution to the party: chocolate covered strawberries.
Ingredients:
ripe strawberries
meltable chocolate to taste, about half the weight of the strawberries
(optional) meltable accent drizzle chocolate
Equipment:
washing tools
drying tools
staging surface for washed/dried strawberries
plate, flat tray, or other hard and portable surface (several)
waxed paper or other nonstick covering
refrigerator space, if you're trying to cool them quickly or it's too hot for this
heating implement
liquid chocolate container
chocolate stirring implement
dipping implements
(optional) container/heating/stirring implements for accent chocolate
(optional) holding vessel for hardened confections
Procedure:
If you're using a crockpot-like thing with controlled temperature, you can start melting your chocolate in it first thing, so it's liquid and ready as wanted.
Sort your strawberries, reserving any overripe, underripe, squashed, or awkwardly shaped ones for other uses.
Wash your strawberries to remove any dirt, grit, bugs, etc.
Dry the strawberries. I lay mine out on a clean kitchen towel, individually pat them dry with another towel, and lay the dried strawberries on a third towel.
Clear refrigerator space.
Prepare your surface for the dipped berries. Don't do the thing I did, and just set the parchment sheet on the counter -- you want to have a flat surface in order to transport it without disturbing the berries.
Make sure your chocolate is nice and melted without being too hot. The temperature where it's barely on the edge of melting and you have to stir some of the solid chunks to try and get them to finally melt is the best. I have a multi-function rice cooker that's a little hotter than that, which will keep it warm; sometimes I still use a microwave for 5-10 seconds at a time.
I will often just hold the strawberries by the leaves, and dunk them in the pool of melted chocolate, and use a spoon to drizzle some on any area that seems to not be covered enough. You can also get a skewer and stab the berry through the leaf area to better coat it.
Once the berry is coated on all sides, set it carefully on the nonstick platter. It helps if they can all face the same way if you plan to do fancy things later. If not, fit them in as you prefer. Leave enough space between them, and don't try to place berries in the middle after filling the sides, as that's a sure route to smudging.
Once the platter is filled, set it wherever you're going to be doing the cooling.
Proceed with the next batch, if you're doing more.
When the chocolate is hardened some, you can optionally drizzle some chocolate of a contrasting color or type on top. Melt the additional chocolate to where it will stream smoothly out of a spoon, then scoop some up and move the spoon rapidly back and forth over the rows of berries. (This is where it's helpful to have them all in the same direction.) Return them to finish hardening.
When the chocolate is hardened sufficiently, you can slide the nonstick sheet off the underlying tray or plate, and put the sheet in a storage container. This can free up more refrigerator space for subsequent batches. Once they are hard enough, you can stack multiple layers in the same storage container.
Once the chocolate is hard enough to "snap" when bitten, serve. (Or sooner, if that's what you want.)
Clean up your chocolate container before the chocolate sets. Scrape any spare chocolate into a flexible nonstick form, like a silicone cupcake case, if there's enough left over to be worth saving. Wipe the vessel with some of the reserved very ripe strawberries, for a juicy fondue treat.
When you pull chilled chocolate strawberries out of the refrigerator, in a damp climate they will immediately get condensation on them. Keep chilled until serving so as to not make the chocolate mushy. Or, allow to return to room temperature in a sealed refrigerator-temperature container.
Eat promptly.