The Fruit of My Labor

I really enjoy eating fruit, and we are headed into the fruit season already.  I bought some of the most beautiful, bit strawberries at the store the other day.  They were red, luscious, and totally delicious.  I decided to make them even better! :)

 

 

I enjoy making things – that is probably obvious to you by now.  I wanted to try my hand at dipping these berries to make them a beautiful and elegant dessert, not to mention so easy!  The first step is to wash and carefully dry all the berries.  That took probably more time than anything else. 

 

After all the berries are dried, I put the candy melts in the microwave until they were smooth and creamy.  It is important that your berries are totally dry before dipping, because water will cause the chocolate to “seize,” or clump.  This can also happen if you heat the candy for too long.  Short intervals of time with stirring in between is the best formula for getting the perfect consistency to your candy coating.

 

Your candy should look something like this.  I was only doing about 25 berries, so I didn’t use my big melting pot.  I filled my 2 cup Pyrex glass measuring cup and just dipped the berries into it. 

 

The girls were helping me, and of course, they were awed and amazed, excited and overly helpful!  We had a lot of fun together, and they learned something new. 

 

After dipping the berries, I placed them on wax paper to dry.  I thought about drizzling a little dark chocolate over them, but decided to just leave things as they were.  Too many calories already! :)

 

I love the color contrast of the bright red and green berries against the white.  It makes me think of summer.  They also taste pretty good!

 

I am going to be making several dozen for an upcoming pastor’s luncheon for our church next week.  Who knows, I may try a few fancy tricks for that! 

 

Whatever the case, my family really enjoyed the special treat, and I know they will be asking for more…