How to make the best chocolate-covered strawberries, the complete how-to guide! From the best chocolate to use, how to melt it, and how to keep your chocolate-covered strawberries looking and tasting their best! Show
In this tutorial, we will go over how to melt white chocolate, dark chocolate, and milk chocolate. We’ll talk about what temperatures to temper chocolate to, how to temper in the microwave, and how to do the traditional seeding method with a double boiler. IngredientsFresh strawberries, delicious chocolate, and 20 minutes are all you really need to make chocolate-covered strawberries. Before you dive in, be sure to read through this blog post or watch the video for tons of tips and tricks for success. How to Make Chocolate-Covered Strawberries Step-by-StepI’m assuming your strawberries are now washed, dried, at room temperature, and your chocolate is tempered. (See more below) The first thing I do is set up our strawberry dipping station. My dry strawberries, chocolate, parchment paper, a piping bag for drizzling, and a sheet pan with more parchment paper are all ready to go. You want everything ready so that you can dip as many strawberries as possible before your chocolate starts getting too cold. If your chocolate starts getting too cold, re-heat in 5-second increments and stir to prevent over-heating. Step 1 – Grasp the strawberry by the stem and dip it into the chocolate. You can also insert two toothpicks into either side of the stem to help stabilize large berries and make them easier to dip. Gather the leaves around the toothpicks to keep them from getting into the chocolate. Step 2 – Dip the strawberry into your chocolate. You may need to put the chocolate into a cup so that it’s deep enough for a berry to be fully submerged. You want to totally cover the strawberry to prevent leaking. Step 3 – Bounce the berry on the surface of the chocolate a few times to remove the excess chocolate. Step 4 – Scrape the bottom of the berry gently on the side of the bowl to remove the excess chocolate. Don’t scrape too hard, you don’t want to see the bottom of the berry or damage the berry in any way. Step 5 – Place the berry onto the parchment paper and then after 5 seconds pick it up and move it over a few inches to remove even more of the chocolate. This prevents too much chocolate from pooling around the berry and making a huge flat spot. Step 6 – Allow the chocolate to set for one minute. If you’re adding sprinkles then you would add them before the chocolate sets. Step 7 – Hold the strawberry by the stem or the toothpicks above a bowl and drizzle more tempered chocolate on top using quick back and forth motions. You can use the same chocolate or contrasting color. For a drizzle, I would just finely chop some chocolate and temper it in the microwave. I like to use a piping bag with the tip barely snipped off for a super-fine drizzle. I love how the chocolate drizzled on top looks! Washing the Strawberries
Pro-Tip: Room temperature strawberries are best for dipping in chocolate! If your strawberries are already washed and fresh out of the fridge, let them warm up for an hour before dipping to avoid the chocolate cooling too quickly, prevent cracking, and prevent the strawberries from weeping juice. Tempering the ChocolateIf you need more information on how to temper the different kinds of chocolate, check out my easy chocolate tempering video here. For milk chocolate, the temperature shouldn’t go above 84ºF (30ºC)to stay in temper For white chocolate, the temperature shouldn’t go above 88ºF (31ºC) to stay in temper. For Semi-sweet and dark chocolate, the temperature shouldn’t go above 90ºF (32ºC) You can temper your chocolate in the microwave or you can do it on a double boiler. The microwave is better for small amounts of chocolate and the double boiler is better if you want to temper a lot of chocolate at once and have a big order. I will explain both processes below so you can decide which one is best for you. How to Temper Chocolate in the MicrowaveTo temper chocolate in the microwave, we simply chop it as finely as we can (yes even if it’s in chips), then melt it in very short increments in the microwave. Never go above the temperature for that kind of chocolate. Note: I am using a 1,000-watt microwave for my process.
Oops! Did you accidentally heat your chocolate too hot? Don’t worry, you can still temper it with the seeding method. How to Temper Chocolate Using a Double Boiler (Seeding Method)
Coloring the ChocolateTo color your tempered white chocolate, you can add in a little melted colored cocoa butter or you can use oil-based food coloring for dipping and drizzling. I like to use the cocoa butter colors from chef rubber. Just melt your cocoa butter in the bottle in the microwave. I start with one minute then do 15-second increments. I squeeze the bottle in between heating to kind of stir it. I try not to overheat-it because if it’s too hot it can throw the chocolate out of temper. Add some cocoa butter to your chocolate mixture and stir! That’s all you have to do! Now you can dip your berries in the colored chocolate or use it for a drizzle as I did. Packaging the StrawberriesMost professionals place their chocolate dipped strawberries into cupcake liners and then into a nice box. You can add pretty shredded paper or waxed paper underneath or just leave them as-is. Do not wrap your strawberries in plastic wrap because they will get soggy and discolored quickly. What’s the Best Chocolate for Dipping Strawberries?I did a test using all the chocolates I could find to see which ones were the best for melting. You can use any kind of chocolate that has cocoa butter in the ingredients but keep in mind that not all chocolate MELTS the same. Some chocolate that has a high percentage of cocoa or has stabilizers added (like chocolate chips) and may be very thick when melted to the appropriate temperature, so do a test melt first or use a brand from my list below. These are both semi-sweet chocolate and both chopped finely and melted in the microwave to 90ºF. You can see the chips are just naturally thicker than the wafers. Both are fine for dipping strawberries into but you wouldn’t want to use chips for making things like hot cocoa bombs because it’s much too thick. You might be tempted to reach for that bag of candy melts or almond bark because you don’t want to bother tempering your chocolate but I promise you, for the best chocolate-covered strawberries, you want to use chocolate that tastes good! Candy melts and almond bark are mostly made from wax. And while easy to use, it tastes just like wax. Don’t worry! Tempering your chocolate is as easy as working a microwave. All you need is a thermometer to check your temperatures and you’ll be good to go! Tempered chocolate is stronger, shinier, and is more stable at room temperature. I love the taste and stability of bittersweet chocolate but you can also use milk chocolate or white chocolate. Here are some of my favorite dark, milk, and white chocolates to use.
I did try melting Ruby chocolate in the microwave but it didn’t work out. It might be better if you used the seeding method instead of the microwave. Frequently-Asked QuestionsHow to make strawberries last longer? Strawberries tend to go bad in the fridge fairly quickly. It can be so frustrating to see that pint of strawberries you got two days ago suddenly growing mold! Don’t worry, you can avoid your strawberries going bad pre-maturely by washing them in a diluted vinegar wash. This vinegar wash kills bacteria and mold spores and makes your strawberries last up to a week longer! How do I store my chocolate-covered strawberries? Store the chocolate-covered strawberries in the fridge on a cooling rack with paper towels underneath. Lightly cover with plastic wrap to prevent the strawberries from drying out but do not store them in an airtight container or they will mold. Strawberries need air! How long do chocolate-covered strawberries last? Chocolate-covered strawberries will last up to 48 hours in the fridge, but taste the best when they are fresh! They are so quick and easy to make, it’s best to wash your berries the night before, let them dry in the fridge, and then dip them the day you plan on eating them. They can last up to 12 hours at room temperature. Should you keep the leaves on your strawberries?
Can I add coconut oil to my chocolate to thin it out? Adding coconut oil will only work if you’re using candy melts because they are not technically considered “real” chocolate. Real chocolate has cocoa butter in it, and requires tempering, while candy melts are made using wax or palm kernel oil. Adding oils to melted candy melts will also work great for dipping your strawberries, but it won’t work for real chocolate. Marbled Valentines Day Sugar Cookies Valentines Day Mirror Glaze Cake How To Temper Chocolate in the Microwave Tempering Chocolate with Cocoa Butter Pink Velvet Cake Heart Hot Chocolate Bombs Did You Make This Recipe?Leave a rating and tell me how it went! Chocolate Covered Strawberries TutorialHow to make beautiful and delicious chocolate-covered strawberries using milk, dark and white chocolate. Get tips on how to melt chocolate flawlessly, color chocolate, and make your chocolate-covered strawberries last as long as possible. Print Rate Never Miss A Cake Prep Time: 15 mins Cooling: 10 mins Total Time: 25 mins Serves: 24 Strawberries Calories: 83kcal Ingredients
Equipment
InstructionsPreparing the strawberries
Melting the chocolate
Dipping the strawberries
NotesTips for success Wash strawberries in the vinegar/water solution to prolong the life of the strawberries Dry your strawberries thoroughly to prevent them from going bad Temper your chocolate either in the microwave (small amounts) or by using a double boiler (large amounts) so that your chocolate sets firmly, is shiny, and tastes delicious Dip your strawberries all the way to the stem to prevent leaking Use toothpicks in the stem while dipping the strawberries for extra support Eat your strawberries within 24 hours for the best results! NutritionServing: 5strawberries | Calories: 83kcal (4%) | Carbohydrates: 9g (3%) | Protein: 1g (2%) | Fat: 5g (8%) | Saturated Fat: 3g (15%) | Cholesterol: 1mg | Sodium: 8mg | Potassium: 72mg (2%) | Fiber: 1g (4%) | Sugar: 8g (9%) | Vitamin A: 2IU | Vitamin C: 7mg (8%) | Calcium: 17mg (2%) | Iron: 1mg (6%) How long do chocolate covered strawberries take to harden in the freezer?Be sure your chocolate is hardened if you have made them fresh. Place the chocolate-covered strawberries in a single layer across the surface of the parchment paper. Let the chocolate-covered strawberries freeze like this for 3-4 hours, until they are solid.
Do you put chocolate covered strawberries in the fridge after making them?Do chocolate covered strawberries need to be refrigerated? If you're planning on saving your chocolate covered strawberries for more than one day, yep, they'll need to be refrigerated. Unfortunately, this means that they will sweat a little bit.
|