Chocolate Dipped Strawberries

Love it or hate it since it's extremely commercialized these days, Valentine's Day is the perfect excuse for sweets.  The best thing is that strawberries are in season!!  They are currently 2 (1 lb) for $3.  

I am going to teach you how to make Chocolate Dipped Strawberries without a double boiler.  Sure, it's cool when you have fancy smancy kitchen appliances, but you can use what you already have with the basics.  All you need is a bowl and a little pot with a lid.

Double boiler:
Fill the little pot about 1/2 full of water.  Bring to a boil.  Then place the bowl on top of the pot.  Note that the bowl needs to be big enough so that it doesn't fall into the pot.  Ta-da!!  You have a double broiler!!

Chocolate Dipped Strawberries
Prep Time: 40 min        Cook Time: 10 min (Need two hours for the strawberries to completely harden)
Ingredients:
1 lb of strawberries
6 oz of chocolate (These are approximate since it depends on how many strawberries you want.)
sprinkles/nuts are optional (for decorating)

Directions: 
Wash your strawberries.  I like to put it in a huge bowl with water for at least 10 minutes.  Then strain with a colander.  It is very important that you work with DRY strawberries.  To achieve this, grab a paper towel (on a flat surface) and start lining up the strawberries on top.

Usually, I wait for it to naturally dry for a bit.  Then I pat it dry with the paper towel.  (That is the reason I estimated prep time to be 40 minutes - for washing and drying.)

On to the double boiler that I created...  When the water begins to boil, put chocolate (chunks or chips) into the bowl.  For the chocolate to heat evenly, top the pot with the lid.  If you see the chocolate begin to melt but think it needs more "help", grab a small spoon to stir.

Before you start dipping, make sure you create a flat surface with parchment paper.  I used a 13x9 inch pan since you need the strawberries to sit flat to harden.

When the chocolate is melted, carefully dip each strawberry.  Don't worry if they aren't so pretty.  The trick to evening it out is to use your little spoon to smooth/spread the chocolate.  Once you have the strawberry looking as desirably chocolate as you wish, place it on the parchment paper.

Afterwards, you can decorate the dipped strawberries (or leave it as is).  The easiest way to decorate is to simply dip them into sprinkles/nuts or drizzle some melted chocolate (of another color, white) in a zigzag.  This time, I decided to make letters out of my sprinkles.  Did not even realize I was playing tic tac toe until the end.  Haha!!

Put the whole pan, plate (or I have even placed parchment paper on a cutting board since it was a flat surface) into the refrigerator to harden.

Happy Valentine's Day!!

Enjoy these with your sweetie!!!  ;)

*Note: Chocolate Dipped Strawberries are a make-the-day-before treat.  I keep them in the refrigerator to harden overnight, not just for two hours.