CHOCOLATE STRAWBERRIES

Good Morning to you,

Is it me, or are the weeks whizzing by? I just don't know where the time has gone. I cannot believe we are practically half way through the month of July already. There are just two more weeks before our sewing group breaks for the summer holidays and then a few weeks after that, Phyllis will be travelling North to stay with us for a while.

Speaking of Phyllis, when she was with us last year, I made a Chocolate Cloud Cake, which she loved. Recently, each time we speak on the telephone, Phyllis asks if I will make her a Chocolate Cloud Cake, to enjoy with a cup of tea. Of course I will, but I know she also likes strawberries. So I thought I would make her some chocolate covered strawberries to enjoy with the cake, which incidentally, we are going to make today. 

Do you remember last week when we made the Strawberry Semifreddo I said I would show you how I made chocolate strawberries and chocolate sauce. Well it did occur to me afterwards, that you probably know how to make both, but then I also thought, maybe I do things in a slightly different way, anyway, it will be fun to see if we both use the same  method  and  we  can also learn  from  each other.

This week I will show you how I make chocolate strawberries and the chocolate sauce I will save for another week.

So it's on with the music and today I am listening to Tony Bennett's Duets.

Tony is singing with a host of other marvellous singers. This is a lovely collection of American classics and the bonus is, Tony is dueting with some of my favourite singers. You cannot see it on the photograph, but Tony's face is created by using a series of small circular photographs. Some are of Tony and some are of other famous Americans.  It is  such a creative idea,

but, I must stop chatting and organise myself. I am putting on my apron as George is on the prowl, looking to see what I am making today.

INGREDIENTS

Strawberries, as many or as few 

as you would like to cover with chocolate.

125g (5 oz) bar of good, quality plain chocolate
or a smaller bar of plain chocolate
if you are going to dip just
a few strawberries

METHOD

Baking sheet lined with parchment paper,

the size of the baking sheet depends

on how many strawberries you

are going to dip in 

chocolate.

Wash and dry the strawberries,
I have included all sizes of
strawberries as George
enjoys the larger strawberries,
but I prefer the smaller ones.

Break the chocolate into pieces,
and place in a heatproof bowl.

Melt the chocolate
over a pan of gently 
simmering water.

When the chocolate has melted,
remove from the heat
and stir.

Pick up your first strawberry by the stem
and

dip into the chocolate,

as much or as little as you would like.
Allow the excess chocolate
to drip off.
Then place the chocolate strawberry
on your parchment lined baking sheet.

Keep doing this until you have filled

your tray with chocolate strawberries.

Place in the fridge for about 30 minutes

to cool and for the chocolate
to become firm.

Remove the chocolate strawberries from

 the fridge and either enjoy them

by eating them as they are

or

add a little double cream to a bowl
and

dip the strawberries into the 

cream.

Which ever way you eat them you will

come back for more.

Just as an added note, it is important to use a dark chocolate which has a high cocoa content, you will have noticed that I used a chocolate containing 85% cocoa.  The higher the content of cocoa, the less amount of sugar is added and you will find you will enjoy a deeper flavour of chocolate.  The added bonus is, because the quality of the chocolate is so good, you will enjoy the chocolate much more and you will also want to eat much less. 

..... and of course you don't have to stop at dipping strawberries in chocolate, you can also dip fresh cherries as well.  I leave the stone in, but if you do, remember to tell whoever you are sharing the chocolate cherries with, that they contain stones, as we do not want any broken teeth.

If you fancy cherries infused with a liqueur, then pop over to visit Gloria from Canela Kitchen as she makes a fabulous Liqueur Chocolate Cherry.

Before I leave you, I thought I would mention that I have had a request from George. He has asked me to make him a Quiche and he has also asked me to make a note of it on my blog.  You might think this is a strange request, but the reason for this is, I have been promising to make George a Quiche for a couple of weeks now, and I have never got around to baking one. So, having told you, it is now written in stone, so next week I shall be baking a Quiche...... I have to smile, as it comes to something when my husband puts in a request for his favourite food via my blog!

Take care and I will see you later in the week.

This week I will be joining, 

Karen from Sew Many Ways

and

Jenna at Rain on a Tin Roof

and

Yvonne at StoneGable

and
Jamie at Scattered Thoughts of a Crafty Mom