Hand-dipped Chocolate Strawberries - Bill Brady Photography

Of course, you can buy a box of candy, but where’s the love in that? These hand-dipped chocolate strawberries proclaim love with their voluptuous coating and perfect strawberries and they can be created in an hour.

The procedure may look long because I’ve provided detailed, can’t-fail directions but notice there are only two ingredients. Of course, you can use white chocolate or milk chocolate and you can roll them in nuts, but this is the way I like them best, simple and luscious.

Ingredients

1 lb. fresh strawberries (preferably with stems)

16 oz. High-quality dark chocolate* in wafer form or chopped into small pieces

Procedure

1. Gently rinse strawberries. If you have a hair dryer with a no heat setting, use it the dry the strawberries. Lay them out on a towel and move them around as you dry them. This technique works perfectly. Otherwise, just pat them dry gently with an absorbent cloth. They must be perfectly dry.

2. Melt chocolate in the top of a double boiler. I improvise a double boiler by placing a pan that fits inside a larger pan but does not touch the bottom. Fill the bottom pan with just enough water so that it doesn’t touch the upper pan. Bring the water to a boil. Turn off the heat. Place chocolate in the upper pan.

3. The chocolate will melt. Give it time and stir from time to time. Let it reach a temperature of 88 degrees.**

4. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicon sheet. Set aside.

5. Take the pan of melted chocolate out of the larger pan and, holding each strawberry by the stem, dip it into the chocolate. Roll it around so that the strawberry is nicely covered. Hold it over the pan until it stops dripping. You can use a spoon to smooth the bottom. Set it on the parchment paper. If the chocolate is still dripping, you will wind up with a “foot” on the strawberry. Not good.***

6. The chocolate will set if placed in a cool area. You can place the baking sheet in the refrigerator but only long enough for the chocolate to set. Left in the refrigerator the chocolate will take on an opaque finish instead of the glossy color you want.

* I order chocolate online from World Wide Chocolate http://www.worldwidechocolate.com/?gclid=CObR0d-_sLgCFcyj4Aod-DkAdA They offer gourmet chocolate at discount prices.

** If you wish to temper the chocolate for the most professional look, directions can be found at

http://candy.about.com/od/candybasics/ht/temperchoc.htm

***Should you have leftover chocolate, toss in some coarsely chopped walnuts or pecans and spoon out clusters? They, too, will set up on parchment paper.

Recipe by Phyllis Kirigin, http://sweetpaprika.wordpress.com/