Does anything spell love more than a chocolate dipped strawberry?

“Love does not begin and end the way we seem to think it does. Love is a battle, love is a war; love is a growing up.” ― James Baldwin

There is something alluring and sensational about a chocolate dipped strawberry. Although there isn’t a lot of evidence to suggest that chocolate is an aphrodisiac, one thing is for certain: it’s pleasurable to bite into the sweet shell of hardened chocolate to get into the fleshy belly of a ripened strawberry.

I love to make these chocolate covered strawberry platters as gifts for special occasions such as Valentine’s Day, weddings, Mother’s Day, and birthdays. When decorated, they make for a beautiful gift or presentation for a party.

WHY YOU’LL LOVE THIS RECIPE

Easy to make
Requires only 4 ingredients
Double dipped and delicious
Perfect candy treat for special occasions
Enjoy on Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, weddings, or just because!

My favorite design choices for chocolate covered strawberries are tuxedos and chocolate drizzles. For certain occasions, I will dye the white chocolate rose pink or peach.

When possible, use the sweetest strawberries you can find. Ideally, I like to use long stem strawberries, which are significantly sweeter and plumper. You can also use strawberries labeled as “sweetest batch.”

Even though you only have to dip strawberries once, these are dipped twice for a beautiful, thick coat of chocolate. Long stem or medium strawberries are best suited for dipping since they taste the best and are easier to handle. When dipped to look like mini tuxedos, they are twice as delicious as they are cool to look at!

To make things easy and still beautiful, use chocolate melting wafers. Ghirardelli makes excellent melting wafers, but you can also purchase Wilton brand wafers. Melting wafers are ideal because they were designed for dipping without it being necessary to temper the chocolate. Chocolate that hasn’t been tempered tends to melt easily, has white streaks, and a dull surface. With quality melting wafers, you get smooth, consistent coverage with no white streaks, lumps, and bumps.

If you can’t find melting wafers, you can still use chocolate chips, chocolate bars, or candy melts, but keep in mind that the chocolate chips and bars may still require tempering and candy melts are not as delicious and better suited for chocolate decorating. Tessa Arias’s blog Handle the Heat has an excellent tutorial on tempering chocolate.

CREATE A PLATTER

Create a platter by finding a decorative tray or container at a craft store. You can also line these containers with decorative paper or doilies. I like to place each strawberry into a mini cupcake liner, then place the strawberries into cookie tins.

MORE RECIPES LIKE THIS

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TOOLS

Double Boiler or a large skillet with two small mixing bowls – These tools will prevent the chocolate from burning over direct heat. Once chocolate burns, it’s unusable.

Cutting Board – used support the strawberries on an even surface as they harden.

Rubber Spatula – used to stir the chocolate while it heats in the double boiler.

Decorative platter or container

Chocolate Covered Strawberry Platter

Course Dessert

Prep Time 1 hour

Servings 16 strawberries

Ingredients

5 oz 150g dark chocolate melting wafers
5 oz 150g white chocolate melting wafers
16 oz strawberries preferable long stem strawberries
1 drop pink food coloring

Instructions

Rinse and dry the strawberries on a napkin or paper towel. Make sure they are completely dry before dipping.
Fill a double boiler or a large skillet with enough water run halfway up two small mixing bowls. This this case, I used a large skillet with the two bowls. Fill each bowl with either dark chocolate melting wafers or white chocolate wafers.
Turn the stove up to medium heat. Using a spatula, stir the chocolate until completely melted. Turn the stove down to the lowest heat setting.
Pull the strawberry leaves up and hold the strawberry by the leaves.
Completely dip the strawberry in the chocolate. Take care to create an even line along the tops of the strawberries.
Lift the strawberry up and scrape the excess chocolate off the bottom of the strawberry on the edge of the dipping bowl.
Set the strawberry on a parchment lined cutting board. Repeat this for all of the strawberries until they are all dipped.
Place the cutting board in the freezer and allow the chocolate to harden for 5 minutes.
If desired, you may double dip the strawberries to give them additional bulk.
When the chocolate has hardened, dip the strawberries again and freeze for another 5 minutes.
Makes 16 to 20 strawberries. Serve immediately. Chocolate covered strawberries keep in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

For drizzle design

Mix one drop of pink food coloring into the remaining white chocolate and mix.
Once the chocolate on the strawberries has hardened, place the remaining white chocolate into a small pastry bag with a #3 tip, or a plastic sandwich bag with a tiny part of the corner cut.
Drizzle the white chocolate back and forth onto the strawberries, creating pink lines across the fruit.

For tuxedo design

To make tuxedo strawberries, first dip each strawberry in white chocolate. Place the strawberries in the freezer for 5 minutes.
On an angle, dip each strawberry in dark chocolate on one side. Place the strawberries in the freezer for another 5 minutes.
On an angle on the oppose side, dip each strawberry in dark chocolate.
Dip the end of a toothpick in dark chocolate and make a line of chocolate dots down the center of the white chocolate. Repeat this with each strawberry.
Allow the strawberries to harden in the freezer for 5 more minutes.
Once the strawberries have hardened, serve on a decorative platter.

NOTES

If you don’t care for dark or white chocolate, of course opt for milk chocolate. It’s all about your personal taste and how you prefer your chocolate covered strawberries!
Chocolate melting wafers or tempered chocolate make the ideal dipping chocolate for strawberries and other treats.

Chocolate Covered Strawberry Platter