Chocolate Covered Strawberries for Valentine's Day Recipes (2024)

FAQs

What is the best chocolate to use for chocolate covered strawberries? ›

*I prefer to use bittersweet or semi-sweet chocolate, but milk chocolate will also work great! Also, feel free to add toppings to your chocolate strawberries, like crushed nuts or coconut flakes. Dip them in the topping immediately after you've dipped them in the melted chocolate.

PRO TIP: We think chocolate covered strawberries taste best when eaten the same day they're made. But if you'd like to store them overnight, put them in the fridge and let the berries sit at room temperature for around 30 minutes before serving.

For dipping chocolate, I find it the easiest to use Wilton Candy Melts. Wilton Candy Melts come in dark chocolate, milk chocolate, and white chocolate – and you can also find pink and red colored white chocolate if you want a splash of color to your gourmet strawberries.

With $10 of supplies, we can get at least 2 dozen strawberries with a 16 ounce package of candy coating or a bag of Ghirardelli melting wafers. So much cheaper than store bought! So simple. You need just a few ingredients but these strawberries are easy to make and are done in no time.

Not drying your strawberries

If there's one thing chocolate doesn't mix with, it's water. If you have trouble getting the chocolate to stick to the surface of the berries, they could still be damp. Leave them on a towel after washing and be sure to dry all sides before coating with chocolate.

Plus, it is a lot cheaper to make them at home too. You just need fresh strawberries and chocolate! You can also add fun toppings, but that is up to you.

If you're planning on saving your chocolate covered strawberries for more than one day, yep, they'll need to be refrigerated. Unfortunately, this means that they will sweat a little bit. To minimize sweating, place a couple sheets of paper towels into the bottom of an airtight container.

The key to making chocolate-covered strawberries is that the strawberries must be very, very dry. If you have any water left from rinsing or any sticky bruised areas, the coating doesn't “stick” to the strawberry as well. Drops of water can also make your chocolate seize up and become grainy as you dip.

Cover a baking sheet with wax paper.

Parchment paper will work as well. Aluminum foil will prevent sticking just as well, but may leave a pattern on the chocolate strawberries.

Can I use chocolate chips instead of candy melts for cake pops? Absolutely! Chocolate chips will be too thick when melted, so you'll need to thin out the chocolate before dipping. To do this, add a little bit of oil to the melted chocolate and stir.

Why do chocolate covered strawberries get soggy? ›

Why Do Chocolate-Covered Strawberries Sweat? Before we get to know how to prevent them from sweating, you first need to know why chocolate-covered strawberries sweat. The “sweat” is just condensation.

Couverture chocolate is among the top chocolates to use in molds. If it's melted and then appropriately tempered, the couverture chocolate can make the most amazing molds. Callebaut Couverture Chocolate is among the top couverture chocolates available on the internet. It contains 54.5% solid cocoa and 37% fat.

It is very hard because strawberries are made of 90% water. Do not dip when they are very cold, try to use room temperature strawberries. For an even better result, do not put them in the refrigerator but in a cold place.

Since candy melts use ingredients of lower quality, they are more affordable than white chocolate.

It takes about 30 minutes for chocolate-covered strawberries to harden in the refrigerator. They will keep for up to three days, covered in the fridge.

Ghirardelli Dark Chocolate Melting Wafers

In terms of convenience, I have to say I was partial to the melts that came in microwaveable cups. But Ghirardelli makes the best dark chocolate for dipping strawberries if you don't mind dirtying a bowl.

The short answer is quality or couverture chocolate. The better your product is, the easier it will be to melt and temper to create unforgettably delicious confections. It's possible to use chocolate bars or chips, but they may not melt as well as chocolate made for baking like baking discs.

What type of chocolate works best for decorating? For the smoothest and most well-behaved melted chocolate for decorating, seek out “couverture chocolate,” which contains more cocoa butter than other types of chocolate.