Around Valentine’s day, chocolate covered strawberries is an annual necessity. This is my favorite February dessert tradition. At Christmas, the dessert tradition is Oreo balls dipped in cream cheese. I am a chocoholic in case this hasn’t already been established. Making the strawberries was different this year. I was in a dorm kitchen, and – more importantly – without the help of my Chef Mom. I really thought that I knew what I was doing… nope.
I now realize my cooking skills are subpar at best. In the past, my family melted chocolate chips to make the chocolate dip. But this year my friends and I bought a chocolate dip from the store that can be melted on the stove. What was a simple task turned into a beautiful tragedy. Allow me to explain and provide some tips.
Do:
- Go to the store in advance. We tried going on Valentine’s Day and all of the strawberries were gone. The cooking adventure was postponed.
- Check for mold. Enough said.
- Buy more of the chocolate mix than you think you’ll need. Remember, the bigger the berry bought the more chocolate it will need to be dipped in. If you think you have enough, buy one more container. Especially if you suffocate the strawberries in chocolate.
Don’t:
- Mix your chocolates. When my friends and I ran out of chocolate mix, we improvised with Nutella and chocolate syrup. Brilliant… until you put it in the pot. It literally turned the chocolate into a hard clump and fried it. But we were able to salvage it! If this happens, take the pot off the stove and add water or milk. Stir it without heat until it melts.
- Wait too long to dip the strawberries. Especially if you already solidified the chocolate. As soon as it is returns to a liquid (and it will never fully get back to this state) dip those berries.
- Place the freshly dipped strawberries directly onto the pan. So, we made a lot of mistakes. And one of those being chocolate stuck to the pan. Use wax paper.
- Let the strawberries get soggy. Refrigerate them if you can. We didn’t have access to a fridge, and they were already starting to get soggy. Naturally, we ate them all at a fast pace.
- Eat them all at once. We realized shortly after stuffing our faces that this was a mistake.
- Put the leftovers back in the strawberry container. It has holes and it will leak – even in a fridge.
As you can see, there are way more tips on what not to do. My friends and I made a lot of mistakes. But that is okay! It’s all apart of getting older and learning how the world works. What’s important is that the chocolate covered strawberries were delicious, and we had a fun time with loved ones. It’s all about the journey not the destination.