Freshest amongst fresh…
Its been raining all through the past week. The weekend was predicted to be no better. So when we woke up bright and early on Saturday, we knew we had to make the most of the perfectly sunny day. The air was crisp and tulips bloomed all over. It was perfect - just perfect for a day outdoors!
So we got dressed in our comfortable shoes, and armed with a camera and the excitement of a child, we set out on our little adventure! The destination - a very well-known, very large farmer’s market.
Spending a warm day surrounded by the freshest of produce can perk up any foodie’s droopy mood. And that’s exactly what it did to me! Three fabulous shopping hours later, I had a fridge full of beautiful veggies waiting to become a piece of art. But while I still had to plan out and decide how I would go about celebrating my week’s menu, I already knew what desert was going to be.
We had picked up a basket of the freshest, reddest and plumpiest strawberries I had ever laid my eyes own. The best thing to do would have been to just enjoy these drops of heaven in the purest form, but a little chocolate on the side never hurt anyone. And I was not to be left behind!
Chocolate Dipped Strawberries
Ingredients:
A bunch of fresh strawberries, washed and thoroughly wiped dry 1 ½ cups semi-sweet chocolate chips 1 cup cream 1 tsp instant coffee powder 1 tbsp sugar 1 tsp pure vanilla extract Method:
- Heat cream till it is warm enough to melt the chocolate chips. Do not let it come to a boil.
- Add chocolate chips, sugar, coffee powder and vanilla extract, and stir continuously till the chocolate starts to melt.
- Remove the mixture from heat and keep stirring till chocolate melts nicely and forms a thick paste. Set aside to cool for 15-20 minutes.
- Once the chocolate has cooled completely, dip each strawberry half-way into the chocolate and aet on a sheet of parchment paper.
- Allow to cool till choclate firms up around the strawberries.
May 23rd, 2006 13:30
Hi meenakshi,
Nice dessert.Yday i bought strawberries for this event .I have to try this dipping one with that.
Thanks for sharing.
Vineela
Oh, you should try this out Vineela!! Nothing tastes better than chocolate other than strawberries dipped in it!!
May 23rd, 2006 20:37
Looks great meenakshi. My recipe doesn’t have coffee powder since I mostly make it for my daughter. The addition of coffee powder sounds good.
Strawberries are the prettiest fruit, aren’t they?
Hi RP! Coffee just enhances the taste of the chocolate. Leaving it out for your daughter is a good idea, you wouldn’t want a kid high on caffeine now do you!
And yes, strawberries definitely rule the fruit world!! 
May 25th, 2006 13:25
hello meenakshi, i was planning to make this for the blog event too…but you seem to have beaten me to it….it’s ok though…i came up with sometyhing else thats just as good…but weren’t we supposed to wait till june 1st to post the strawberry entry?
Hi Nabeela, thanks for dropping by. I just wanted to post my entry since I might not be able to get time on the 1st. Glad you thought of this as well, just goes to show how strawberries are most enjoyed!!:)
May 25th, 2006 16:59
Hi Meenakshi,
I, too, have made chocolate dipped strawberries for the JFI event, but only as a garnish for ’something’. I was only waiting for the 1st of June to dawn so that I could publish my post.
Btw, you’ve changed the look of your website, haven’t you?
Hi Vaishali! These babies are god, aren’t they?!
Yup, changed the look and love it! I try and change my designs every now and then since I get bored of the same layout for a long time at a stretch. Glad you like it too. 
May 30th, 2006 03:14
so wonderfully glossy. perfect temper!
Thanks Gabriella, they taste amazing as well!!
May 31st, 2006 14:44
Hi,
How do you heat the cream? in microwave? or directly on the stove?
Hi SS, I usually warm th ecream over the stove and take it out as soon as it’s about to reach upto a boil. I hevn’t tried using the microwave for this yet, but I’m sure it’d work fine as well.
October 25th, 2006 09:13
Hello! I would just like to ask what kind of cream are you refering to, is it heavy cream? Thickening cream? whip cream? Could it be substituted with lite cream and such? Thanks so much!