Ahhh… One of the best desserts around! And fun to make too! Have the kids join in! They will love it.
I got orders upon orders this Valentine’s Day to make these delicious chocolate covered strawberries. Almost every year I take orders at my mom’s workplace… one thing I know for certain, realtors love these strawberries! Either as closing gifts, for their spouses or themselves! And every time I make these, whether it’s a crazy ton of them or just one order for someone, I’m sure to make some extra for my guy!… That way it seems like Valentine’s Day all over again, well at least the chocolatey part!
Tips and tricks that I’ve picked up over the years of making these:
1.) Look for the biggest and freshest strawberries you can find. Around Valentine’s Day grocery stores are obviously being picked over. Yes, they do stock up plenty, but they sure do have some small ones…
2.) Buy them at least two days before Valentine’s Day. You will thank me! On Valentine’s Day, most grocery stores will jump the prices of strawberries up like crazy. ex. On Tuesday, two days before the big day, I purchased my 1 pound boxes of strawberries at Safeway, 2 boxes for $4.00! What a deal! Then I got so many orders and didn’t buy enough so I had to go back and get more… Wednesday, one box was $5.00!! I couldn’t believe it. But I had no choice because I had orders to fill! Lessons learned! Buy them early, and get orders in advance (days in advance) if you are making them
3.) Store your strawberries in the fridge until you are ready to use them. In the crisper drawer is best, it helps the berries from losing their moisture.
4.) Rinse and then dry with paper towels right before you want to dip them in chocolate.
5.) Ahead of time, pick the best-looking berries and arrange them on waxed paper-lined baking sheets, table or countertops. Sometimes if you place them on the baking sheets you can transfer them into the fridge to harden back up quickly, but using cold berries also helps speed the process up too!
6.) Cut up your chocolate and have them portioned out into bowls beforehand. Have some small ziplock baggies handy and some scissors for the “drizzle” effect.
7.) When melting chocolate, use glass bowls, and melt in 30-second increments. Add 1/4-1/2 tsp of coconut oil to make the chocolate smooth if it’s not stirring very well.
I think that about covers it…whew! That was a lot of info for some berries… but it’s worth it!
Oh! Last tip! Have fun with decorating them!! Get mini chocolate chips, sprinkles, crushed Oreo cookies, anything that you can top a cookie with, really! Experiment sprinkling things onto them while the chocolate hasn’t set yet. Would be fun for any holiday or occasion!
My favorite kind to do is the double dip. I first dip the cleaned and dried strawberry in either white or milk chocolate, let dry and harden, then I half dip it in the alternate chocolate… but at an angle! It looks super clean and… fancy! And of course, I love a good drizzle!
I always leave the leaves on. I think they look better that way, plus it gives you something to hold onto while dipping!
A. Bell
Great tips! Thank you!