It seems everywhere I turn this month I find fresh strawberries on sale, then I get them home and wonder what to do with them when I don’t want to make a pie or have them with cream.
With a couple pounds of them in the fridge on Easter, and a big dinner that required no dessert, it was a chance to use up some bits and bobs of chocolate for simple, but luscious, chocolate-dipped strawberries.
It couldn’t be easier. Melt chocolate in the microwave or in a double boiler, let it cool for a minute or so, dip the bottom part of the berries and lay them on wax paper to set. If it’s warm it’s better to make only what you’ll eat; the chocolate, untempered, will become melt-in-your-hand soft at room temperture but quickly lose its sheen in the fridge.
If you have both white and dark or semi-sweet chocolate and a little more time, you can make strawberry tuxedos. Dip the entire berries in the white chocolate and let them dry. Then dip the sides in the other chocolate and use a parchment triangle or a small zipper bag with a corner snipped off to make the “buttons” and bow tie, if you wish, and let them set again.
If you want something more filling, a proper dessert, take a look at Strawberries Romanof at Kalyn’s Kitchen. It sounds somewhat elegant and it is, but it’s only three ingredients and Kalyn made it suitable for the South Beach Diet. I’m trying it tonight.
The California Strawberry Commission has a recipe for an intriguing way to use strawberries. It’s a sweet breakfast salsa to be used as a topper for pancakes or hot cereal, or just mixed into plain yogurt.
If you’d rather drink your strawberries, Janet at Gourmet Traveller has Bahamanama Smoothie, a sophisticated smoothie with a splash of rum and liquer. She usually makes it with fresh berries but offers the amount (metric) for frozen.
And if you still have an armload of berries, don’t forget you can freeze them. There are a few ways, with or without sugar, whole or pulp, and you’ll find all the directions at strawberry-recipes.com.
{ 10 comments… read them below or add one }
Lovely looking choclates – you’ve managed to make them look “cute”. The link to the tempering website was also really useful, I will use that!
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Thanks, Mystery! Cute is good. I’m glad the link was useful. I liked it because it’s in plain English, although tempering’s not as daunting as they make it sound.
love them dipped in sour cream with brown sugar swirled into it.
I do too, and that’s the idea behind the Romanof recipe. I have a serious foodie friend who refuses to mix or dip fruit in sour cream and brown sugar — calls it a newlywed recipe and lets everyone know that’s beneath her. Not me!
Get some rhubarb and go to page 896 of the Joy of Cooking for Strawberry-Rhubarb cobbler. Made some over the weekend to rave reviews.
Ooh, sounds delicious, Ian. I have my mom’s old Joy, so if it’s not in there I reserve the right to holler, “HALP!” Good to see you!
Strawberry jam is in order, I think. Equal parts strawberries and sugar (maybe go a wee bit heavier on the strawberries), a pinch of salt and a healthy squeeze of lemon juice. Boil and boil until thick and jammy. The end.
Of course, I would never say no to chocolate-dipped strawberries, either:)
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Refrigerator jams can also be nuked and some bread machines, notably the Zo, do an oustanding job.
Thanks for linking to my post. Your strawberry tuxedos are very special, will definitely impress your guests ! My hubby like white chocolate and I like normal chocolate, this version seems like a good compromise for us.
[ella's note -This comment somehow ended up on my test blog, so I moved it over and that's why it's turquoise.]
You’re welcome, Janet. I don’t know how you ended up “cross town” but you’re here now. The tuxedos are fun and yep, a good compromise! (I thnk strawberries are always better with chocolate.)