With Valentine’s Day nearly upon us, I wanted to share a simply delicious and sexy dessert.  The very thought of Chocolate Dipped Strawberries makes my mouth water.  Their aroma, and their beauty are matched only by their luxurious taste.  Whether you will be spending Valentine’s Day with your sweetie, or with other loved ones, these strawberries are an excellent way to share some love.  And these days, we  could all, use more love.

Chocolate~Dipped Strawberries

Ingredients:

• 12 + 4  ounces quality chocolate (32%+ cacoa) or couverture chocolate
• 24 large, fresh dry strawberries
• parchment paper
• optional:  white chocolate, nuts, shredded coconut, mini chocolate chips

Process:

Finely chop 12 oz of chocolate and place in dry stainless steel boil of a double-boiler with simmer watering beneath.  Stirring continually, melt chocolate until shiny and smooth and 110 derees F.  Remove chocolate from heat.  Use a tempering method at this point.  This can be accomplished by adding another 4 ounces of finely chopped chocolate to the melted chocolate.  Stir vigorously until shiny and completely smooth.  If chocolate temperature has dropped significantly, you can return the steel bowl back to the simmering water of the double boiler.  Once chocolate again reaches 90 degrees F, you may begin dipping the strawberries in it.

Make sure your strawberries are free of sand and dirt.  I recommend brushing them gently with a clean cloth.  Washing berries with water will speed up the ripening process and cause them to become soft more quickly after chocolate dipping.

Holding the berries by the stem, dip them one by one, seven-eighths of the way into the chocolate.  Place the dipped berries on the parchment paper to set up.  If you opt for it, you can gently roll or dip the freshly dipped berries into any of the optional ingredients, or pipe the melted white chocolate on them in a streaky design.

Refrigerate berries after dipping until ready to serve.  Can be made 4 hours ahead.