dip it in chocolate

January 17 2012, 3:00 pm

everything tastes more delicious dipped in chocolate.

i wanted to whip up some delectables for my play date, but didn't want to spend a whole day doing it. this is when chocolate dipping is perfect. i also did this for work functions that required a lot of servings- most skinny people that work in fashion can find room for a chocolate dipped blueberry.

good chocolate: finely chopped- i had a brick of calebut bittersweet laying around, but any plain candy bar that you like works too- lindt has pulled through for me many times.
strawberries: washed and dried
blueberries: washed, dried, and skewered on toothpicks, biggest berries on the bottom
banana bread: cut into 1" cubes, skewered on toothpicks, and frozen for a few minutes
hazelnuts: toasted in a pan over medium heat, as many skins removed as possible

add 1-2" of water to a small sauce pan
cover the pan with a glass bowl. make sure the bottom of the bowl does not touch the water in the pan- it can scorch your chocolate (which would be sad)
turn the burner onto med/low

add the chocolate to the bowl
as the water starts to simmer, the steam will melt the chocolate
help out the melting with a little stir, then turn off the heat

start dipping! best to begin with the biggest fruit first
lay the fruit down at an angle to get the chocolate up as high as possible
give it a turn in the chocolate
bring it up and let excess drip off (a small shake helps this along)
transfer dipped fruit to a parchment lined baking sheet.

for blueberries: leave a little extra chocolate on them, so when you add them to the sheet, they have more stability. hold them upright for a few seconds, and they should stand on their own

for banana bread: i was concerned about crumbs in my chocolate, so i held the cubes over the bowl and dripped spoonfuls of chocolate over each side and the bottom. it was a 2 hand operation- sorry for the lack of photos

it's very hard to tell how much chocolate you'll need for the amount you're dipping. this is why nuts are so handy.

after everything has been dipped, add toasted nuts to the leftover chocolate in the bowl
mix up thoroughly
drop clusters of nuts onto baking sheet
consume any chocolate left in the bowl with a small spatula and your fingers