How to Make Chocolate Covered Strawberries

It’s a food with elegance, yet simplicity; its chocolate covered strawberries. Chocolate covered strawberries are a great way to make a statement without breaking the bank or the clock!

You can really experiment a lot with chocolate covered strawberries.

Try changing up the type of chocolate, maybe rolling it in nuts or drawing things like little tuxedos on the berries.

Let’s go ahead and get started because these chocolate covered strawberries are going to be delicious!

Ingredients:

• 2 pt. strawberries
• 1 lg. bag semi-sweet chocolate morsels
• 1/4 c. Crisco (lard not oil)

Directions:

1) Wash and dry strawberries. Melt chocolate and Crisco in double boiler. Dip strawberries in hot chocolate and put on tray covered with wax paper or Saran Wrap. Refrigerate until chocolate is hard.
Assuming all parties are of age, try adding 1/4 to 1/2 cup of brandy, cognac or other liquor. This gives a little zest to your classic chocolate covered strawberries.

For help with dipping try my 3-step method.

1. Pick
After washing the berry, gather the stem and leaves in a three-finger grasp.

2. Dip
Dip the strawberry straight into the chocolate and then roll it around, still holding the stem.

3. Twist
Remove the strawberry from the chocolate and give it a whip-twist. This is what I call the move where as your lifting the strawberry out, flick your wrist a little bit as your twist the strawberry so that the stem is on the bottom and you’re holding it upwards. The twist cuts off any chance of a chocolate drop and gives your strawberry a little flair.

Of course this is just my method. Trying different dipping methods will give different looks. Some people like the strawberry tuxedo too. This is done simple by dipping the berry in white chocolate (for a dark chocolate suit) first.

Let this harden and then angle the berry to about a 30 degree angle when you dip the dark chocolate on both sides, depending on how wide you want the lapels to be. Pipe some dark chocolate on later, after the chocolate has hardened to add the bowtie. It’s such a cute way to dress up an everyday food. Enjoy a batch of chocolate covered strawberries for yourself!

White Chocolate Fudge Recipe

One of my favorite desserts is one which is many times overlooked—the ever beloved fudge. Chocolate fudge is a dense, yet delicious dessert. Originally it was produced with dark or milk chocolate. This recipe is a tantalizing twist on classic chocolate fudge; a white chocolate fudge recipe.

Along with my other fudge recipe, a milk chocolate fudge recipe, this fudge is extremely heart healthy. Nuts like almonds, cashews, macadamia nuts or pecans are great ways to keep your heart healthy.

While, yes, fudge is typically a splurge, who’s to say that it can’t be good for you too? No one! It doesn’t usually take much fudge to satisfy a sweet tooth, so this white chocolate fudge recipe is a great dessert for pretty much any occasion. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

• 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 4 cups powdered sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 12 ounces white chocolate, melted
• 1 1/2 cup pecans (or walnuts or macadamia nuts)

Directions:

1) Beat cream cheese, sugar and vanilla in large mixing bowl at medium speed with electric mixer until well blended.

2) Gradually add chocolate; mix well. Stir in nuts. Spread in greased 8 inch square pan. Chill several hours. NOTE: you can also use 3/4 cup nuts and 3/4 cup dried apricots or other dried fruit.

Some of my favorite things to add into this delicious white chocolate fudge recipe include, mini chocolate chips, M&Ms, a variety of nuts, or dried fruit. For holidays, you can try swirling in some food coloring, like red and green for Christmas or blue for Hanukah! This white chocolate fudge recipe is a great way to make any occasion a special one so have fun with it!

Blondie Brownie Recipe

The perfect blondie, closely related to the brownie and chocolate chip cookie, is all found in the Blondie brownie recipe. Most people want a recipe that will give them a dense brownie but not so much that it leaves that heavy feeling in the pit of their stomach and of course, most people want a delicious Blondie brownie that leaves you wanting just a little bit more after that final decadent bite.

The density of the blondie is all in the perfect balance of flour and butter. First, it’s important to use creamed butter because it incorporates air into the batter which keeps your blondie from turning into a brick.

Also, you need to find a recipe which uses the right amount of flour; too much and you’ll end up with a dense cookie lacking in flavor, but with too little you’ll have a greasy bar which tastes like butter.

Luckily for you, I have a blondie brownie recipe that offers the balance of the ingredients which will give you the award winning taste you are searching for!

Yield: 36 brownies

Ingredients:

• 1 ½ cups (7 ½ ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 12 tablespons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
• 1 1/2 cups of packed (10 1/2 ounces) light brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup white chocolate chips
• 1 cup of pecans, toasted and coarsely chopped

Directions:

1) Move the oven rack to the middle of the oven and then heat to 350 degrees. Spray a 9 x 13 inch pan with non-stick cooking spray, coating it lightly. Also, if non-stick spray isn’t really your thing, you could also use parchment paper to line the pan. It gets the job done just the same, but without the grease.

2) Mix the flour, baking powder and salt all together in a medium sized bowl and set aside. You’ll need it later.

3) Mix the melted butter and brown sugar together in a large bowl until mixed. Add the eggs one by one and then the vanilla. Stir well.

4) Using a rubber spatula, fold the flour mixture (from step 2) into the egg mixture (from step 3) until just barely combined. It’s very important that you don’t over mix.

5) Fold the semisweet chocolate chips, the white chocolate chips, and the nuts into the batter. Then pour your mixture into the prepared pan and smooth it with your rubber spatula for a clean finish.

6) Bake your brownies in the oven for about 22 to 25 minutes or until the top is shiny, slightly cracked, and almost firm to the touch. Also, as tempting as it may be, be sure not to cut them as soon as they come from the oven. Try to let them cool for at least 5-10 minutes. They’ll cut easier and cleaner that way.

7) After the Blondie brownies have cooled completely, using a sharp knife cut into squares.

8) I know your mouth is watering… so go ahead… Enjoy!

Well?

How delicious did your brownies turn out?

This Blondie brownie recipe has helped me discover a new kind of brownie and I hope you liked it too!