Once again, I’m nearly (but not quite) embarrassed to call this little treat a recipe – my brass neck needs no polishing, obviously 😉
This is one of Mr Sat Night’s favourite after-dinner treats and I’m happy to share it with you..
EQUIPMENT:
- a bowl to melt the chocolate in – I use the microwave for this, but you can do it in a bowl over gently boiling water if you like
- Some baking parchment
- A baking tray
INGREDIENTS:
- A box of the nicest strawberries you can find – ones with the leaves still on are the best for this. See NOTES for other dippable stuff!
- a 200g bar of dark chocolate – 70% cocoa solids if you can
METHOD:
- Check over the strawberries and wipe them with kitchen paper. IMPORTANT: don’t wash them, or the chocolate will never stick..
- Put a sheet of baking parchment onto your baking sheet.
- Put the broken-up chocolate into the bowl, and microwave it for a minute at a time – checking and stirring after every minute.
- Holding each strawberry by the green leaves, swipe it through the chocolate, turning it once or twice to get all of the bottom 2/3rds covered.
- Put each strawberry onto the baking parchment as it’s done.
- When they’re all done, put the tray into the fridge to set fully
- Remove from the fridge about 30 minutes before you want to eat them, and arrange on a pretty plate
NOTES:
- These are probably best made the day you’re going to eat them . I keep them in the fridge so that you get that delicious ‘crunch’ as you bite through the crispy chocolate to the soft fruit beneath..
- They’re very successful for larger gatherings too, so the time spent doing them is always repaid.
- The green leaves and stalk make them very easy for your guests to handle and eat.
- As you can see from some of the pictures, once I start dipping, nothing is safe from me! Sturdy Raspberries, segments of mandarin orange (with the pith carefully removed, but the membrane still in place) and even my home-made Ginger biscuits https://eatingforireland.com/recipe/ginger-biscuits/ all get half an overcoat of chocolate.. Go for it!
I started writing down recipes in an old copybook when I was about 16. With 6 children at home, my Mother was always glad of a hand in the kitchen, and really allowed us to experiment - as long as we washed up afterwards, and left the kitchen immaculate! Having a tidy kitchen has followed me through my life, as has the habit of writing down my favourite recipes; except that these days I write them for my website, and add photographs when I can. The website really started when it occurred to me that my daughter might like to have these recipes when I've forgotten them. In my early days of cooking for family and friends, I used to phone my Mum all the time to ask her for the recipe for some of our favourite family dinners. She rarely had a recipe to hand - I think, like me, she made a lot of it up as she went along.. So welcome to Eating for Ireland - these are the recipes that my friends and family having been eating these past 40 years.. yes, I truly am ancient! They are tried and tested, and have worked for me for all that time - I have updated them as new ingredients became available - I really hope you'll find something that you can make into a family favourite of your own. You don't have to tell anyone where you found these great new dishes that you're serving up - it can be our little secret, but I'd really love it if you could give me a sneaky 'follow' on Facebook and Instagram.. So off you go - have a good rummage around, you're bound to find something new! My sincere thanks to all of you who have found a recipe that you liked and dropped me a line to tell me - I really do love to hear from you! Happy Cooking! Becks xx