Even at first sight, the heart-shaped silhouette of strawberry would give you a hint that it is good for you. They pack a lot of nutritional benefits like vitamin C, fiber, manganese, potassium, and also contain a great deal of antioxidant properties called polyphenols. Strawberries are free of sodium, fat, cholesterol, and are considered a low-calorie food.

Did you know that strawberry is a member of the rose family? Truth be told, it is not actually a real fruit or berry, but the enlarged receptacle of the flower. Interesting, eh?

Try this recipe if you plan on throwing a party, inviting people to come over to your house, or just because!

Bon appetit!

Cherries are known for their important nutrients such as beta carotene (19 times more than blueberries or strawberries), magnesium, potassium, fiber, folate, iron and vitamin C. New studies have revealed that a cherry-enriched diet can lower cholesterol, total weight and body fat, especially along the midsection or more commonly known as ‘belly fat’.

The festive seasons are just around the corner and one of the best ways of showing your affection to your loved ones is through gifts. Give these treats and see the joy on their faces.

Enjoy!

Nowadays, chocolate fondues are all the rage, even spicing up an otherwise boring party. Most people swear by chocolates, and what better way to serve it than have it smeared all over other yummy food.

Fondues make a great dip for fruits, shortbread cookies, marshmallows, and even salty snacks such as pretzels. There are endless options for what to dunk into this amusing, warm chocolate sauce. For parties with adult guests, you can even add a splash of a fruit flavored liqueur for that extra kick.

You can prepare the fondue ahead, even before the party starts. You can do so by slicing the fruits or mixing the ingredients even hours before, but the chocolate sauce should only be melted once the guests show up to prevent it from thickening.

Chocolate fondues are entertaining all their own, but see to it that the chocolate is just as entertaining to the taste buds and the party will surely be a blast!

Enjoy!

The strawberry gives more surface area from which to produce bubbles.  For this reason alone, a strawberry in champagne is very romantic.  And let’s not forget that a champagne soaked strawberry is oh-so-delicious! 

Personally, I prefer the strawberry on the side, covered in rich, dark chocolate!

What makes the combination of strawberry, chocolate, and champagne so heavenly?

Some say it’s the strawberry that glues it all together and I can agree with that.  The strawberry makes a good vehicle for carrying flavor because it is a non-porous fruit so it does not get soggy. 

Yet the texture of the strawberry allows both fruity flavors and chocolatey flavors to come together in the mouth at the same rate of release.  Also, the balance of acidity and sweetness are kept at a short distance between the chocolate and strawberry.

Now, let’s look at the champagne, or even a sparkling wine.  If you follow the chocolate-covered strawberry with your choice of bubbly beverage, it cleanses the palate with a light, crisp, slightly fruity and yes, tingling sensation that enhances the flavors previously in the mouth. 

Although you could never come up with a really scientific explanation as to why it works, it just does.

Sometimes you gotta accept the mysterious!

I recently tried their version of chocolate-covered candied orange peel.  Chocolate-covered orange peel is one of my favorite chocolates, and I like to try various recipes from chocolate shops around the globe.

The Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory’s version of candied orange peel was excellent!  The texture was chewy with a nice snap (I know that sounds strange but if you have ever eaten candied citrus you know what I mean) and the sugary sweetness was just right, not overly sweet.  The chocolate was a bit subdued by the intense orange flavor.  Just at the finish, the chocolate lost its intensity and bitterness.  Overall, I enjoyed the great flavor combination.  As always with good chocolates, I was left satisfied yet looking forward to more. 

According to the Rocky Mountain Chocolate factory website, www.rockymountainchocolatefactory.com, they make about 300 chocolate candies you can choose from; clusters, caramels, creams, truffles. 

By the way, you can make candied orange peel at home and dip it in your preferred chocolate.  But I will warn you that the job is time consuming.  Just make one batch and you’ll see why buying some will not only save you the hassle, but you will also realize why chocolate covered candied orange peel commands a high price!

This recipe uses chocolate chips and pistachios for an exciting taste sensation.

Enjoy!

After dinner, I (as any properly trained daughter should do) brought out chocolate for dessert.  I was in the mood for a Lindt Excellence Intense Orange Dark Chocolate bar.  As I took a bite, I noticed I had a swallow of wine left in my glass and drank it.  The chocolate was still in my mouth, and the result of this accidental pairing was, well, it was meant to be! 

Green Truck Organic Sauvignon Blanc had crisp flavors of lemon peel, grapefruit and orange blossom.  The citrus flavors from the wine brought out the delicate orange notes from the chocolate as well as the bitter, dark cocoa flavors.

The combination was out of this world good. 

The Sauvignon Blanc grapes are organically grown by the Bartolucci Family of Mendocino, California for Red Truck Winery.  Their organic line of wines are under the Green Truck label.

My mom is coming for dinner again tonight.  I wonder what after-dinner discoveries are waiting for us!

Enjoy!

This presents an excellent technical lesson in working with chocolate.

The issue is moisture.

“Curdle” is not the correct term, but I think the idea is clear – chocolate will not function properly if moisture is introduced.  Even the tiniest drop of water is problematic.  When water and chocolate mix, it will “seize.”

Fresh fruit, including the peel of an orange, is moist and adding it to a chocolate coating spells disaster.  For this reason, chocolate candy bars use dried fruit, candied fruit, or an oil based flavoring.

You can cheat a little (and get away with it) by adding a fruit zest or juice to a ganache and then enrobing the ganache in chocolate.  If the candy is eaten within a few days, the moisture captured in the creamy center should not be a problem.  Truffles tolerate this process the best.  Don’t add the moisture to the coating.  Instead, add it to the candy center.

Another common problem arises when dipping fresh strawberries in chocolate.  Make sure you dry the outer skin completely before covering in chocolate.  This will buy you some time before the moisture makes it way through the fruit and to the surface of the chocolate coating.  When this happens, the moisture will destroy the appearance (with bloom) and texture (making it bumpy or grainy) of the surrounding chocolate.

What is Jaffa Cake?

The Jaffa Cake is a British favorite.  The cake is a three layered treat about the size of a cookie.  It is made with a bottom layer of sponge cake, a middle layer of orange flavored jelly, and a top layer of rich milk chocolate coating.

I am a fan of orange and chocolate pairings so it is easy to fall in love with Jaffa Cakes.

There are many different brands of Jaffa Cakes.  Tonight I am enjoying Cadbury brand.  I expected the coating to stand out since Cadbury IS chocolate around here!  I am not disappointed.

At first, the chocolate has a low impact and the orange completely dominates in flavor.  By the time everything blends and mixes in my mouth, the two flavors of orange and chocolate are balanced out and provide a nice combination.  The finish is lingering with a milky aftertaste from the chocolate.  The sponge cake is simply a flavor delivery mechanism and rather neutral in the whole experience.

Oh so Good!

The Jaffa Cake was introduced in 1927 by McVitie and Price and named after the Jaffa Orange.  The Jaffa Orange, originally grown in the Jaffa region of Palestine, before Isreal became a state, is similar to Valencia oranges in taste, only sweeter.

Finding Jaffa Cakes in the states may not be as easy as finding it here in the UK, but it can be done.  Once, I came across a box at my local US Aldi store.

Go ahead and give Jaffa Cakes a try!  Finding them is worth the effort.

I have.  And why not?  Most often those “changes” don’t affect the final product and it saves lots of time.  Yes, sometimes I even buy frosting in a can (shhh, don’t tell my kids!).

One thing I have learned from my experience working with chocolate is that there are some short cuts that work and some that don’t.

Let’s consider the making of chocolate-covered strawberries.  Can you cheat at making chocolate covered strawberries without anyone noticing?

Yes, but………

The real timesaver when making chocolate-covered strawberries would be to figure out how to quickly temper, or harden, the chocolate coating.  Normally, the tempering process takes time and certain amount of skill gained by practice.  Although there are ways to speed up the solidification of chocolate, there is no good way to fake a tempered chocolate.

There are many recipes you can get your hands on that tell you how to make chocolate-covered strawberries.  And almost all of those tell you to melt the chocolate, dip the strawberries, and then put into them in the refrigerator to harden.  Voila, done!

That method is indeed fast and easy but it only works if you eat the strawberries within seconds of taking them out of the fridge.  If you want to put those remarkably delicious works of art out on a plate for your guests to admire before eating, the quality of the experience will certainly be diminished if you took the easy way out. 

The chocolate coating should be tempered.  This is not a step I recommend you skip.  An un-tempered coating will start to melt in your hand almost immediately.  It will bend when you bite it – giving you a soft and pasty feel in the mouth.   The chocolate will melt quickly on your tongue and the flavor will be gone before you can savor it.

A tempered chocolate will give a crisp snap when you bite and won’t get all gooey on your fingers while you hold it.  The chocolate will melt slowly in your mouth and allow a full blast of chocolate flavor to come through. 

If the strawberries with un-tempered chocolate sit long enough, they may start to bloom.  This means they will develop a white dust over the surface and look very unappetizing.

Try dipping strawberries in tempered chocolate and notice the difference.  If needed, refer to my earlier blogs on how to temper chocolate.  It will be worth the effort.