Make Gourmet Chocolate Covered Strawberries

Most people have heard of and tried Reese’s peanut butter cups. There are many ways to eat this candy, as illustrated by some past commercials. One can nibble around the edges, pop the peanut butter center out of the chocolate cup, just chomp into it, and so on. Due to the success of the cups, Reese’s also has mini peanut butter cups. Much like their larger siblings, the Minis are come in a paper cup and are individually wrapped in foil. You may know from experience that the Minis are just as delicious as their larger cousins, but what some may not know is that the chocolate from the Minis can be used in a very delicious way, aside from just popping them into one’s mouth. The chocolate tops from these candies can be used to make chocolate-covered strawberries!

To accomplish this delicious task, remove the tops (easily accomplished with the Minis) and saved them in a bowl. You may notice that the tops look very much like chocolate buttons. The peanut-butter filled bottoms can be eaten as usual. The collected chocolate tops can be melted into a delicious liquid chocolate. You can keep the tops in a plastic bag, and freeze until you’re ready to use. You can also melt them into chocolate “bricks” and eat them that way. Melting the tops results in a beautiful milk chocolate with just a hint of peanut butter flavor- definitely something nice and different from the standard milk chocolate.

A word on melting chocolate: If you ever decide to melt chocolate, you should be very careful. The safest way to accomplish this and prevent scorching is through the use of a double boiler, where the chocolate is indirectly exposed to. This is also known as a bain marie.

Since I had such a small amount of chocolate to melt, I started the process off this way and then finished in a microwave. A word of warning: microwaving chocolate will easily cause it to burn. I microwave in intervals, beginning with 10 seconds and then until all the chocolate is melted. In between, I removed the chocolate from the microwave and gave it a good stir to encourage even heating. This is very important if you do not want burnt chocolate.

The strawberries must be prepared for dipping. After washing, you can choose to leave or remove the tops. Be careful to pat the berries dry. This is also an important step as water is the enemy of chocolate. It causes an uneven texture and will change the temperature of your melted chocolate. After all of this is done, it’s time to dip the chocolates!

Usually, hand-dipped candy costs more than the machine-dipped type because it is more labor intensive. One may gain an understanding of that after making hand-dipped chocolate covered strawberries, but they are so delicious, that it’s well worth the small amount of work put in. Have ready several toothpicks to assist in the task. Be gentle with the toothpicks and try not to puncture the berries. When necessary, gently insert a toothpick into the white top area of the strawberry to help stabilize it. I should mention that there is more than one way to dip a strawberry. I chose this method because I was dealing with a very small amount of chocolate and did not want to get my hands too involved and I also didn’t want to poke holes through my berries. I gave each individual berry its own dipping and as the product was cooling, I doodled a few designs into the chocolate. I had some that were smooth and others that I made look like they were matted with leaves. The end result was a beautiful and delicious bunch of chocolate peanut butter dipped strawberries that were consumed quickly. Not only did they taste delicious, cost a lot less than Godiva’s, but I had fun making them.

Note: If you wish for a hard chocolate exterior, just pop the berries in the fridge for a few minutes. The thin layer of chocolate will harden up quickly and add a crispy crunch to the soft strawberry, adding another dimension in texture.