Three Ways to do Chocolate Covered Strawberries

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I love strawberries at the peak of the season—juicy and sweet. But I’m also a chocoholic. So I look for opportunities to marry chocolate and strawberries together. Here are three of my favorite treats.

Chocolate Covered Strawberries

Chocolate covered strawberries are absolutely luscious and simple. Take really good strawberries and dip them in really good melted chocolate.

I prefer dark chocolate but milk chocolate works too. You can heat a cup of chocolate in a cup in the microwave if you are careful not to overheat the chocolate but a fondue pot or chocolate pot is better. Either will heat the chocolate gently and will keep it warm for continued dipping.

A chocolate pot is my preferred way for quick and simple strawberry dipping. There is no fuel to mess with; just plug the pot into an outlet. There is a setting for melting and setting for keeping the chocolate warm for dipping. Simple.

About that really good chocolate—use wafers, not chips. Wafers are made for candy, not to be buried in cookie dough. Wafers are smoother and richer with a finer grind and more cocoa butter. Chips are for cookies, not dipping.

Chocolate Covered Strawberry Milkshakes

This shake is so good it’s addictive.  It’s a knock-off of Dairy Queen’s® Chocolate Covered Strawberry Blizzard®—which I think is the best strawberry shake on the planet.  It’s made with fresh strawberries with chunks of chocolate.

The following recipe makes one shake.  You will need about 2 cups of whole berries.

2/3 cups sliced ripe, fresh strawberries

2 1/2 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 cups premium vanilla ice cream
1/3 cup half and half (or a 50:50 mixture of milk and whipping cream)
1/4 teaspoon strawberry flavor

1. Wash, trim, and slice the berries. Sprinkle the sugar on the berries and set them in the refrigerator.
2. Place half the ice cream in a blender. Add half of the half and half and the flavor and mix.  The shake will be very thick—Blizzard like—so you may need to partially mix it with mixing spoon.  Do not work it until it starts to melt.
3. Add half the chocolate pieces and half of the strawberries.  (Instructions for the chocolate pieces follow.)   Both the strawberries and the chocolate should be in chunks.  Spoon the strawberry and chocolate through the shake until just barely combined.

Serve the shake in a tall, chilled glass.

Here are some tips for making a very good strawberry shake:

• Use the very best berries.  If they are mushy, they may have an off-taste.
• Taste the shake before you serve it.  If it does not have enough strawberry taste, add some strawberry flavor.
• Chill the blender and glasses in the freezer.  It’s hard to make a thick shake in a warm blender; it melts the ice cream.
• Don’t mix the shake any longer than necessary; the friction from the motor causes heat that will melt the ice cream.
• Use ice cream that is rock hard.  (Use an ice cream spade, not scoop, to pry out hard frozen ice cream.)

Shop for ice cream spades and scoops here.

For the chocolate pieces

You will need a couple spoonfuls of quality chocolate wafers.

1. Melt the chocolate carefully in the microwave, in several short bursts, stirring until the chocolate is melted.
2. Pour the chocolate onto a sheet of waxed paper nesting in a pan, plate, or bowl.

Let the chocolate harden.  Crumple the wax paper breaking the chocolate into 1/4 to 1/2-inch pieces.

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Strawberries and Brownies

Again this is simple. Make your favorite brownies. Use a strawberry slicer to uniformly and quickly slice your strawberries. (A strawberry slicer will cut your prep time by 2/3’s.) Drizzle it with sauce and top it with whipped cream. This is great dessert.

For the sauce, make chocolate ganache or use our hot fudge sauce or Designer Dessert Sauce.

Like these recipes? Get more when you get our FREE e-book: Strawberry & Fruit Pies

About the Author

Dennis Weaver has burned food from Point Barrow, Alaska, to Miami, Florida. He and his wife Merri Ann are the founders of The Prepared Pantry in Rigby, Idaho and he is the author of How to Bake: The Art and Science of Baking available as an E-book.

Dennis and Merri Ann live in Rigby, Idaho. They have five wonderful children and five beautiful granddaughters.