Good morning everyone,

I've been asked to do a couple dozen of chocolate dipped strawberries for a client. I've only done them a couple times before and I end up with a little puddle of chocolate at the bottom. Any way to remedy this? Also what recipe do you use and how much would you charge per dozen? Thanks for your input.

Janice

When I make them I do this..
After I dip the strawberries in the chocolate I sit them down on a cookie sheet covered w/ wax paper or parchment paper. After I sit them down I push them forward so that the puddle goes behind the strawberry. It seperates the puddle from the strawberry. I hope you understand what I'm trying to say. Works very good!

I will have to find my recipe. I haven't done strawberries in awhile. As for the price.. I wouldn't charge any less then $20. Strawberries are expensive & so is the chocolate & it takes some time to dip them.

Great luck~

Hi tcturtleshell, Thanks for your quick response. So you were the one that I read somewhere on here to push the strawberries forward to get rid of the puddle. I dipped a couple of strawberries the other day to go on a cake that I was doing, and pushed them forward like you said--but I still had a puddle below them that I cut off with a sharp knife. Maybe it was the chocolate I used. I just melted some Baker's german sweet chocolate in the microwave and dipped the strawberries. Maybe I should have added some heavy cream or something to the chocolate. Would love to have your recipe if you can find it. Thanks so much!

Janice

that little puddle you speak of is called a "foot". it's the result of too much chocolate.

for more precise application and no "foot", you can fill parchment cones with the chocolate and pipe the chocolate onto the strawberries (onto wax or parchment paper, with spaces between the berries so you have room to let the chocolate lines fall so that stopping and starting isn't obvious on the berries). i like to do chocolate and then white chocolate, which brightens them up and gives a nice contrast. be sure your berries and clean and DRY, and you can use any chocolate you like: tempered real chocolate, melted baking chocolate with a dab of shortening added, or chocolate coating (most people can't tell the difference...but if it's THE dessert, rather than just decoration, i'd go with real chocolate).

if you're going to dip, make sure that the chocolate is hot and thin enough so it doesn't go on too thickly, and be sure to firmly "shake" (more like firm, vertical whipping motion) each berry to remove excess chocolate.

Hi aunt-judy, Thanks for your suggestions. I've received great advice from you and others. I guess I will try out a few suggestions to see which works for me. Thanks for your help.

Janice

I'm not sure if you know this or not, but you shouldn't soak the strawberries in water to clean them... Strawberries are like sponges and will soak up water...The more water they have the more they will bleed. I take one strawberry at a time and rinse it pretty quickly and dry it immediatly with a paper towel. To me, this is the most time consuming part of dipping strawberries.

When you dip them you can thin down your chocolate with paramount crystals...I also will slide the bottom of the strawberry on the edge of the bowl to get the excess chocolate off so I don't get the puddle on the bottom. Works like a charm!!

As far as recipes go, I just melt the chocolate (I use Gheradelli choc. chips) and add enough paramount crystals to get the consistency I want. Some people like to used tempered chocolate..

TamiAZ,

What are Paramount Crystals? I have never heard of anything like this. Have a website or info on where you get them or anywhere that has information about them?

Thanks for any help

Leily

Another idea for presentation is to dip the strawberries and then place each one in a mini cupcake wrapper or truffle cup. I think it dresses it up and it also hides the "foot" or puddle of chocolate. I do this with my cake balls and I think it looks so much better especially if they are for a paying customer. I would probably charge $15 per dozen, but that my opinion.

Good luck!
Brandi

Baking chocolate doesn't have any sugar in it. I would not use that. Unless you mean chocolate chips, that would be okay. But baking chocolate is not eatable.

TamiAZ--thanks for the tip on making sure to dry the strawberries throughly. I didn't realize they were like a sponge and soaked up the water.

luv2cake--thank you so much for the idea to place them in mini cupcake wrappers or truffle cups. I was wondering what to put them in, but forgot to ask for ideas. Any ideas on what type of packaging I could put them in???

Thanks, Janice

I'm not sure what paramount crystals are, but do any of you use a little parafin to make the chocolate shinny?

You could place the dipped strawberries in their little wrappers into a cake box. I have seen that done before. Also, at my baker's supply store, they carry smaller, shorter boxes for the home-made chocolates and such.

Personally I would go with a cake box because that's what I have handy. Maybe even throw in a piece of tissue paper???

Thanks luv2cake, another great idea!

Thanks, Janice

No problem. Glad I could help!!

Hey Janice, Sorry I answered to this post & never came back to it. I saw it right before I went to bed! Stayed up late AGAIN to read posts! Gotta stop doing that. Got busy today & didn't have a chance til now to get on CC...

I agree with what auntjudy said. I left out a lot. I agree with everyone else too. Great ideas!! Man, ya'll are good!!

Hey tcturtleshell, that's ok. I got great advice from all the wonderful ladies here, including you, that really know their stuff. After all these great ideas, I called the client and gave her a price of around $22-$25 for a dozen chocolate dipped strawberries, and she said she'd get back to me. After looking up websites on chocolate dipped strawberries, I think this price is a steal! I couldn't believe that 6 chocolate dipped strawberries would cost $38.00! Some websites have all this fancy packaging such as gold or velvet boxes, but after all the great ideas I got on here, I could give the client a good product and nice presentation and even save her money. I hope she calls me back! Thanks to all for all your great advice.

Janice

Do you use special strawberries? LIke the ones with the long stems? Regular strawberries don't seem to be uniform size/shape. Also, how far in advance do you make them and do you keep them refrigerated? I made some for the family once and they wept all over - what a mess!

I use the long stem strawberries.. they are easier to dip. Make sure the berries are very very dry when you dip them. The earliest I would do them is the night before.. Ideally the same day is best. Yes refrigerate them.

I use the long stem strawberries.. they are easier to dip. Make sure the berries are very very dry when you dip them. The earliest I would do them is the night before.. Ideally the same day is best. Yes refrigerate them.

I made them for a wedding cake, and I dipped them at the very last minute. They dry quickly. I put them on the cake just before the wedding and by the time I got to the reception, they were beginning to weep. Nothing major, but I am glad that I waited to dip them as long as I did.

Another tip, you might want to make sure that the strawberries are at room temperature before you dip them because if they are cold, they will form condensation on the outside of them and they will ruin your chocolate.

I also do not refrigerate them afterwards as I have heard that it does something to the chocolate??? Maybe someone else has better advice about this.

Thanks Gingoodies!

Squirrelly Cakes what a great tip. I never would have thought to dry them that way. Thanks!

Heehee, warning, before you know it you will have slabs of styrofoam all over, haha!
Hugs Squirrelly

SquirrellyCakes, I do the same thing..kind of....I dip my long stem strawberries then I place them upside down through the holes of the container that they came in, they always end of looking very nice...leaving no foot on the bottom...

Heehee, funny thing is, the foot is actually my favourite part so if I am making them for home, I leave a foot on these or cake balls. Can't have too much chocolate, haha!
Hugs Squirrelly