Hello everyone, I am new here.... and kind of new to baking.. my moms b-day is coming up and she LOVES strawberrys and cover in chocolate.
what I am wondering is, what chocolate do you recemend for the dipping and what type of techenic should I use.
Thank you for all the help in advace, you guys all bake so pretty
Hi monkey_brownie, Welcome to CC!
My personal preference is Ghiradelli chocolate. I like to use an equal mix of double chocolate and milk chocolate chips. I add 1 TBSP shortening to 1 LB chocolate to make a little thinnier. I melt my chocolate in the microwave on 70% power, in 1 minute intervals until the right consistency.
To dip, I simply hold onto the cap of the strawberry and dunk it in the chocolate, turning to coat evenly. Then, shake lightly to remove some of the excess chocolate. Place on waxed paper and let set in the refrigerator.
HTH!
glenda
oh, thank you so so much I cant wait to make them tonight, I will let you know how they turn out
thanks for all the help
Welcome! I use Merckens wafers for my strawberries. Right now, I am using a product called Make N Mold. Tastes just like Merckens. The only suggestion I would add is make them close to when you are taking them. They tend to get seepy.
thank you for all the help, do you guys think if I make them tonight, they will be ok for tomorrow noon?? where should I store them, in the refrigeratior or out??
thank you
Actually they make a dipping chocolate that is in a container that you can put in the microwave. I've never used it but I know a couple of people on here has used it and it worked great for them.
Lazy_Susan
Actually they make a dipping chocolate that is in a container that you can put in the microwave. I've never used it but I know a couple of people on here has used it and it worked great for them.
Lazy_Susan
Baker's dipping chocolate is the name of the product.
I use just plane chocolate bark I melt it in a double boiler wash my strawberries let them sit and dry completely put a cookie sheet in the freezer with parchment paper I dip my strawberries and set them on the cold cookie sheet it works great. sometimes to really make them look fancy I drizzle them with white chocolate that I melt in a baggy in the micro for like 15 to 30 seconds just depends on how much chocolate in the baggy
Theresa
Definitely store chocolate covered strawberries in the 'fridge!
Here there seems to be a lot of debate about this. I know putting chocolate in the fridge once it has been tempered will cause it to lose any sheen it has to it and look dull.
Anyways I went and I checked out a few sites.
Eat the berries within 24 hours for best freshness. Keep at cool room temperature. (Note: As a strawberry is 75 percent water, putting it into the refrigerator will cause humidity to accumulate on chocolate, resulting in wet berries.)
Found that here
http://www.diynet.com/diy/lc_desserts/article/0,2041,DIY_14000_2274556,00.html
Store the berries refrigerator, but allow them to warm to room temperature before dipping. After dipping, let chocolate set in refrigerator, but do not store the strawberries there. Eat within 48 hours.
That came from:
http://www.baking911.com/recipes/chocolate/dipped_strawberries.htm
Refrigerate until coating is firm, about 30 minutes. Store, covered, in refrigerator. Coats about 5 dozen small strawberries. (About 1 cup coating)
http://www.hersheys.com/recipes/recipes/detail.asp?id=4068&page=1&per=10&category_id=17&topten=1
Sooooooooo which method is the correct storage? I personally dip myberries as close as possible to the time that I need them. That way I don't have to worry about refrigerating them and having them all weepy or sweaty.
So I guess it may be personal preference.
I guess refrigeration also depends on WHERE you are as well. I live in Texas, if strawberries are in season for dipping, it's too hot here to keep the chocolate out without becoming sticky. As far as the sheen of the chocolate you can add a small amount of parrafin to your chocolate and they will keep their gloss!
Thank you all for you coments they have been of AMAZING HELP!! I used chocolate chips and micrawave them, it taste really good, I want it to use the baggy system, but the baggy got too hot...so I used a small tip and pachament paper to put some white chocolate touches
today I will be going to down to my moms, its snowing here and its really cold.
I will take some pics of the strawberrys and post them.
THANK YOU!!!!!!!! all so much
brownie
I just wanted to add something for anyone who happens to browse this post in the future.
If you are using chocolate to dip things in...you MUST TEMPER it. Otherwise it will bloom and/or streak. Tempering is tricky and not really fun.
I recommend using a HIGH QUALITY compound coating such as Callebaut, Carma, or the like.
Merckens, Wilbur, Peters, Wilton taste awful. But they'll work better than untempered chocolate.
If you are going to use chocolate to dip...don't use chocolate chips...they're too waxy. Use bars. And try to temper them. Although, again, I don't recommend it.
Trust me. I found all of this out the HARD way by delivering chocolate covered strawberries with bloom all over them. I didn't know what had happened but now I do. I'll never do THAT again!
~C
I am sure that the recipes for the high quality chocolte do taste better. I am totally a chocolate snob 
! But I wanted to try them for the first time and wanted something easy so I used the wilton candy melts (dark chocolate ones) and they were surprisingly tasty! They were really easy to work with.
http://www.cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=coppermine&file=displayimage&meta=allby&uname=merissa&cat=0&pos=7
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