Marbled Trifle

I haven't been baking or cooking much lately, so I will show you a dessert I made a while ago. This is a trifle I made using cubes of angel food cake, chocolate pudding, whipped cream, and chopped cookie-caramel chocolate bars. I layered these ingredients in order twice, but saved a little bit of extra pudding for the top. Then I put small dabs of pudding onto the top layer of whipped cream and used a knife to swirl it in. Very easy and simple, but it gives the trifle a very nice finishing touch. Trifle is an easy and quick dish to assemble that can use basically anything on hand. It is a dish that really sparks creativity!

Basic Biscuit Recipe

Here is an easy, basic, no-fail biscuit recipe. These biscuits are tender, light, and fluffy, and are perfect for breakfast with jam or as a side at diner with soup. They can be made whole wheat, and the dough may also be used for cinnamon rolls, apple turnovers, and pigs in blankets.

Biscuits
4 cups all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons baking powder
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup cold hard margarine, cut into cubes
2 large eggs
1 1/3 cups milk

Preheat oven to 425◦F. In a large bowl, mix the dry ingredients. Cut the margarine in using a pastry blender. Make a well in the center. In a separate small bowl, beat the eggs and milk together. Mix until dough comes together, then turn onto a lightly floured surface and knead 4-5 times. Roll out and cut with a floured biscuit cutter, or just cut into squares using a knife. Place on an ungreased baking sheet, spaced apart for crispy biscuits or side touching for soft biscuits. Bake 12-15 minutes until golden. Makes about 30 biscuits.

Flower Cupcakes

This is how I decorated the miniature cupcakes I was referring to in yesterday's post. I halved my standard two-layer chocolate cake recipe to make 36 miniature cupcakes. They only took 15 minutes to bake. Then I decorated them with buttercream icing. Decorating them also took only about 15 minutes. Mini cupcakes are so quick to do, and I used relatively simply designs, as it is hard to do detailed work on cupcakes so small. I made three different flower designs using two different colors, pastel pink and blue. I am certainly done with winter and ready for spring, but I don't think Mother Nature agrees with me, so I will just have to get my dose of spring in cupcake form for now.

Design 1: A simple pink rose using a fluted flower tip.
Design 2: Pink flowers using a fluted flower tip and an open star tip for the center.
Design 2: Blue flowers using an open star tip to pipe round swirls for the petals and the center.

Mini Cupcakes

Here are some mini cupcakes I made. Cupcakes have become increasingly popular in the past few years, largely due to their "cuteness" factor, and the popular concept of everyone getting their own individual serving. They are easy to portion out and serve, are much easier to eat (no plate and fork required), and can be a lot quicker to decorate than one big cake. They are bite-sized and fit perfectly in the palm of your hand. I even went a step further and made miniature cupcakes. These cupcakes are probably two-bite cupcakes, or they may even be small enough to just eat all at once. They are quite cute, and are remarkably quick and easy to decorate.

When it comes to muffins and cupcakes, it is always nice to have some variety. Size is one way to achieve this. Muffin tins tend to come in three different sizes: regular, giant/jumbo, and miniature. Of course, the capacity of each of these tin sizes will vary depending on the manufacturer, but generally you will be able to find paper liners that will work for your pan. Paper liners come in more than just three sizes; they have tiny ones, miniature ones, regular, medium, large, and giant. They also come in a wide variety of colors and patterns, including holiday-themes. You can even get heavy-duty cups that don't need to be placed in a muffin tin for baking - they will hold up on a cookie sheet on their own. I like to use paper liners for baking all of my muffins and cupcakes because it is a lot faster than greasing each individual cup, makes them easier and neater to eat, and provides a little bit of decoration to the baked product. They are also inexpensive and readily available.

C Is For Cookie

Here is another one of my alphabet posts, where I list as many different foods as I can think of that start with a certain letter. It's hard to believe I am only on the third letter by now. Again, these are coming strictly from my head, I won't include any brand names, and I won't list every individual type. For example, a cookie is a cookie, I will not then proceed to list chocolate chip cookie, coconut cookie, cream-filled cookie, etc.

• Cookie, Cereal, Coconut, Cashew, Cream, Carrot, Cantaloupe, Caramel, Cake
• Corn, Cornmeal, Cheese, Chicken, Cannoli, Cannelloni, Chickpeas, Chili, Crab
• Codfish, Crepes, Cauliflower, Celery, Cucumber, Cherry, Cranberry, Cupcake
• Cinnamon, Chili Powder, Cardamom, Chocolate, Cocoa, Cibatta, Casserole
• Croissant, Cream Puff, Chips, Candy, Croustolli, Croutons, Crackers, Corn Syrup
• Coffee, Crumpet, Creme Brulee, Chives, Corriander, Custard, Chestnuts

PHOTO CREDIT:"c_is_for_cookie.jpg"    http://fullbodyburn.com/?p=950 . Totally Turquoise Telford, n.d. Tuesday, February 28, 2012.

Hershey's Kiss Triple Chocolate Cookies

Hershey's Kiss Triple Chocolate Cookies
48 Hershey's Kisses Milk Chocolates
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or hard margarine, softened
3/4 cup granulated (white) sugar
3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1 Tablespoon milk
2 1/4 cups all-purpose (plain) flour
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (I used miniature)

Remove the wrappers from the Hershey's kisses, set aside. Preheat oven to 350◦F. Prepare baking sheets (no need to grease).
In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add the vanilla, egg, and milk, beat well. Add the dry ingredients, mix well. Stir in the chocolate chips.
Roll dough into 1-inch balls. Place 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheets.
Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until cookies are just set. They should still be soft. Immediately press a kiss into the center of each cookie gently. Remove from cookie sheet after 5 minutes, cool completely. Makes 4 dozen (48) cookies.

These cookies are very sweet, chocolatey, and delicious! They are also very simple and don't take long to make. I halved the recipe to make a smaller batch, which worked out very well. 

 "Hershey's Triple Chocolate Cookies.”  http://www.hersheys.com/recipes/recipe-details.aspx?id=4715&name=HERSHEY%27S-Triple-Chocolate-Cookies . Hershey's Kitchens, n.d. Saturday, February 25, 2011.

Breaded Chicken Breasts

Breaded Chicken Breasts: A simple, quick, easy, and relatively safe option for supper. They go well with a variety of different side dishes, almost anything goes. Serve them with any kind of vegetables, and pasta, rice, potatoes, or simply bread. Breaded chicken breasts can be baked, pan-fried, deep-fried, sauteed, or broiled. Simply choose the cooking techniques that suits the amount of time you have and the other dishes you are preparing. For a dish this simple, there are actually a surprisingly high number of different recipes for the coating. How many layers should it have? What is the best type of breadcrumbs to use? What else should I add? The way we do our chicken breasts is fairly simple: dip them in a little beaten egg, and roll them in seasoned, dry breadcrumbs. Place them in a casserole dish and bake. That's it! No extra spices, coatings, or preparation techniques.

Common Dredges (the "glue" for the coating) are: egg, water, milk, buttermilk, ketchup, mustard, sauces.
Common Coatings: flour, breadcrumbs, Panko, cracker crumbs, cereal crumbs, chip crumbs.
Common Seasonings (to add to the dredge or the coating): salt, pepper, paprika, garlic, chili powder, basil, chives, mustard, vinegar.Common Toppings: tomato sauce, cheese, ratatouille, salsa.

Some people swear by the three-coating technique ;flour, then egg, the breadcrumbs. We have tried this and found that yes, it does produce a crispier coating, but the coating does not stick to the chicken as well. Some people say to spray the chicken with cooking spray or drizzle with melted butter for a crispier coating, but this does not improve the crispness significantly and increases the fat content in a relatively nutritious dish.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars

Here is a really quick and easy recipe to make that combines two of the best flavors: chocolate and peanut butter. My mother made these squares, and they are really good! The bars start with a basic peanut butter base: just peanut butter, sugar, and egg. I'm sure you can recognize this recipe as the basic recipe for simple peanut butter cookies. Well, press this into a pan and top with some chocolate, and you're set!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars
1 cup smooth peanut butter
1/2 granulated (white) sugar
1 large egg
2/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips or
4 squares (1 ounce each) semi-sweet chocolate, broken into pieces
(using chips saves from having to chop)

In a mixing bowl, blend the peanut butter, sugar, and egg.
Press into an ungreased 7x11 or 8x11 inch pan, or into a 7x11 or 7x10 inch rectangle on an ungreased baking sheet.
Bake at 325◦F for 20 minutes.
Immediately sprinkle chocolate evenly over top, cover loosely with a sheet of aluminum foil. Let stand 3 minutes. 
Using a butter knife, spread the chocolate evenly over the bars.

The recipe says to cut the bars immediately, but the base crumbled and fell apart, so I would suggest cooling them at least slightly before cutting. Just don't refrigerate them before cutting, or the chocolate topping will become much too hard and crack.

Sweetened Condensed Milk

Sweetened condensed milk is the great base to a variety of delectable squares. It can also be the foundation of many cookies, cakes, cheesecakes, and beverages. Although they share many similar characteristics, do not confuse sweetened condensed milk with evaporated milk. Evaporated milk is made by evaporating sixty percent of the water from fresh milk, processing, and canning, so that it becomes shelf-stable. Sweetened condensed milk is also derived from fresh cows milk with water taken out, but a great amount of sugar is added to it, yielding a thick, sticky, sweet product. These two milks can never be substituted for one another, as they have very different consistencies and sweetness. Another big difference, is that evaporated milk is quite cheap, while sweetened condensed milk can be quite pricey. Good news: it is possible to make your own sweetened condensed milk at home; it is quick, easy, and cost-efficient. Give it a try!

1 cup skim milk powder
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup water
¼ cup butter or hard margarine

Process in a blender until smooth. Makes the equivalent of one (300 mL) can.

Different Types Of Fats

Which fat is the best to use? Well, this question depends entirely on what the fat is being used for, what outcome is planned to be achieved, cost, storage, nutrition, and a wide variety of other factors. The four main fats I am talking about here are lard, shortening, butter, and margarine. All of these fats contain their own unique characteristics, appearances, and tastes; yet they can all be used for many of the same things.

Lard: Lard is animal fat, usually pig, that has gone through an extensive hydrogenation process. Hydrogenation basically transforms fats into a more solid and shelf-stable state product, and increases the amount of saturated fat and adds high levels of trans fat. This means that lard is quite unhealthy, contains a high amount of fat, including high amounts of saturated and trans fats, is high in calories, and contains little nutritional value. Due to recent increases in health research, lard is not as commonly used anymore due to its unhealthy reputation. Lard is most commonly used in pie crusts, cookies, pastries, basting meats, and deep-frying.

Vegetable Shortening: The word vegetable in this product’s name makes it sound healthy, but that’s actually not true at all. Vegetable shortening is made from plant-derived oils such as palm or soybean, and is hydrogenated just like lard. Again, this causes shortening to be quite unhealthy, but since it is made from plant sources and not animal, it is a slightly better choice than lard. Shortening is commonly used to produce flaky pie crusts, cookies, biscuits, pastries, and cakes.

Butter: Simply put, butter is made by beating or churning cream, the fattiest part of cow’s milk. Butter is completely natural and contains no trans fat, however it does contain a significant amount of saturated fat and is also high in calories. Butter is more nutritious than lard and shortening, as it is a natural product, lower in fat, trans fat free, and provides some nutrition. But butter is by no means a healthy choice. Butter is delicious spread on bread, in buttercream, used to cook vegetables and meats, and in almost every baked good.

Margarine: Margarine is made from plant-based oils such as palm or soybean, just like shortening. However, most margarines are not hydrogenated, leaving them significantly lower in calories, fat, saturated fat, and trans fat free. Because margarine is made from plant-based oils, it often contains healthy unsaturated fats as well as other nutrients. Soft margarine is used as spreads for breads and other baked goods, while hard margarine can be used like butter almost interchangeably.

What I Use: I never, ever, use lard or shortening, as I find they are too unhealthy and processed, and I don’t think they produce results as good as other options anyway. My first choice is butter, because it is a completely natural, simple product that produces very tasty, high-quality baked goods, and it can be used for just about anything. I will, and do, use hard margarine for baking as well. Although not quite as tasty and rich as butter, margarine provides a relatively good flavour and is sometimes the only option for certain recipes where butter browns too quickly. Margarine also keeps some baked goods, especially cookies, from spreading to much, and keeps cakes and loaves together and less crumbly.

Ash Wednesday

Today is Ash Wednesday, a religious observance that marks the beginning of Lent - a forty day period of fasting leading up to the Easter season. On this day, people of the Catholic faith abstain from eating meat, as they do on some other religious days such as Good Friday. Years ago, it was very common for Catholics to refrain from eating meat every Friday. Fish was a very popular food on Fridays. However, this practice of giving up meat on Friday is not as common anymore. Hundreds of years ago, when our population consisted of a high proportion of Catholics, there were 153 days a year when Catholics had to restrain from eating meat. That's over 1/3 of the entire year, and this created a high demand for fish. Fish was the preferred protein of choice on these days.
Lent is a period of fasting, and during Lent, many Catholics choose to make a small sacrifice. These sacrifices often involve giving up a certain food, such as sweets or junk food. Popular choices to give up are chocolate, candy, cake, chips, pop, and fast food. This is all in preparation of the upcoming Easter season, where there is sure to be a great feast!

21st Birthday Cake

Here is a birthday cake I made to celebrate a family member's twenty-first birthday. He turned 21 on the 21st, which is a very special birthday indeed! Some people call these birthdays your "champagne birthdays" which is unfortunate for many people who have this special birthday under the drinking age (such as turning one on the first).

For our first birthdays, my parents made my siblings and I a cake in the shape of a "1". To do this, they simply baked a cake in a 9x13 inch pan, and cut some pieces out of it to resemble the shape of the number one (note: chocolate cake on the first birthday makes a real mess, as my parents discovered with my oldest sibling). I considered the possibility of making cakes in the shape of a two and a one. To accomplish this, either the 21 would end up being quite small, or we would end up with a whole lot of cake to eat. Also, making a large one is much easier than making a large two. The number one is a long, thin shape, while the number two is wide, and would be difficult to make tall and wide enough. So I decided to settle on a cake decorated with the number twenty-one using icing. Still looks nice, but is a lot easier to frost then a two and a one would be.

I baked my trusty chocolate cake recipe in a 9x13 inch rectangular pan, frosted it with vanilla buttercream, and then outlined a two and a one in the icing. I piped the outline of the numbers in baby blue buttercream using an open star tip, and filled the numbers in using pastel green buttercream and a slightly smaller open star tip. I added a border and the lettering, and that was it! 

Breakfast Quick Breads

I love to have homemade, whole grain bread on hand to have with my breakfast every morning. Since I didn't have time to make the traditional, wait-for-it-to-rise homemade bread, and I didn't want to have the oven on for an hour while making a quick loaf, I came up with this idea. I modified a standard muffin recipe to make muffins that would have a taste and texture similar to bread. Therefore, these muffins contain very little fat and sugar, although they are a bit richer than a normal bread recipe would be, as they contain eggs and buttermilk. They don't contain banana, blueberry, chocolate chips, or even raisins like many muffin recipes would. They use baking powder and baking soda instead of yeast, so they rise quickly, and they only require a short baking time of 20 minutes. These muffins are enriched with whole wheat flour, oats, ground flax, and pumpkin seeds.

Breakfast Quick Breads
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup rolled oats
scant 1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
1/3 cup ground flax seeds
1/4 cup pumpkin seeds
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 large eggs
1 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup canola oil

Preheat oven to 400◦F. Grease or line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners.In a large bowl, stir together all of the dry ingredients. Make a well in the center.
In a separate smaller bowl, beat the eggs, milk, and oil. Add to well, stir until just moistened.
Divide batter evenly among prepared muffin cups. Bake for 20 minutes, or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean.

These muffins turned out very nicely. They aren't as moist and sweet as your typical muffin, but much moister and sweeter than bread. They are excellent spread with a bit of all-natural peanut butter.

Different Types Of Nuts

Here is a list of several different types of nuts, their benefits, uses and nutritional impact. All nuts are sources of the "good fats" and contain high amounts of proteins. They are excellent meat replacements, good for adding flavor, make excellent high-protein snacks, and are tasty in muffin, cookies, and cakes. Most nuts also make excellent nut butter spreads. When choosing nuts, look for those with little or no added salt, fat, oil, or sugar. Also, roasting can sometimes ruin the nuts' good fats, so look for raw or dry roasted nuts.

• Almonds - Contain high amounts of calcium, magnesium, zinc, Vitamin E, and fiber. Excellent as butter, and in cakes, cookies, and bars. Also good as a snack alone, and as a garnish for savory dishes.
• Brazil Nuts - Just one Brazil nut provides you with more than 100% of your daily requirement of selenium. They also contain a good amount of magnesium. These nuts aren't as common as others, and are usually just eaten out of hand.
• Cashews - The iron content in cashews is comparable to that of steaks! Cashews are also lower in fat and higher in protein and carbohydrates than most nuts. They are very common for snacking on.
• Chestnuts - These nuts are very low in calories and fat compared to other nuts, but are also lower in nutrients. They are often used in appetizers (or roasting over an open fire).
• Coconuts - These are high in fat, but contain electrolytes said to promote weight loss. Coconut comes in the form of whole, shredded, flaked, sweetened, coconut milk, coconut cream, coconut water, and coconut paste. The less added sugar and fat, the better. Coconut is a popular flavor for many desserts and savory dishes alike, the pieces are often added to sweets and the milks and creams often to curries and stews.
• Hazelnuts - Rich in Vitamins B and E, hazelnuts make excellent butter (especially with chocolate), and are delicious in sweets.
• Macadamia Nuts - These are the fattiest nuts, but contain a very high amount of Vitamin E. They are excellent in baked goods.
• Peanuts - These are high in protein and good fats. Peanut butter is a very popular product, and either the nuts, the butter, or both, are common additions to many different baked goods.
• Pecans - Contain Vitamin E and good fats, and are excellent in desserts.
• Pine Nuts - Higher in fat and calories, but also higher in many nutrients. These are common in breads, cookies, soups, and salads, especially Italian cuisine.
• Pistachios - An excellent source of protein, fiber, iron, zinc, and magnesium. Popular in trail mix and desserts, especially Baklava.
• Walnuts - Very high in Omega-3 fatty acids. Great as butter or oil. Goes very well with apples and other fruits, and are good in brownies and other desserts.

PHOTO CREDIT:"nuts.jpg"   http://everyjoe.com/health/nuts-and-health-272/  . EveryJoe, n.d. Sunday, February 19, 2012.

Coconut Chip Squares

These are tasty, chocolatey, and relatively simple squares to make. Although they consist of two layers, the first layer does not require any pre-cooking, and both layers are quite fast to whip up. The base is very firm and holds the squares together. The topping is a bit gooey, but not too messy, and is very nice and chocolatey.
The recipe comes from Company's Coming "Jean Paré's Favorites, Volume One", which is a collection of the author's favorite recipes from her many different cookbooks. I can definitely see why these made the favorites list.

Coconut Chip Squares
BOTTOM LAYER
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup shredded coconut
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup butter or hard margarine, softened

TOP LAYER
2 large eggs
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 Tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped nuts
1/4 cup butter or hard margarine, melted

Preheat oven to 350◦F. 
BOTTOM LAYER: In a large bowl, stir together all ingredients except for the butter. Add the butter, mix until crumbly. Press into an ungreased 9x9 inch pan.
TOP LAYER: In a large bowl, beat the eggs until frothy. Add the sugar and flour, stir. Add remaining ingredients, mix well. Pour over bottom layer, spread evenly. Bake for 30-35 minutes until edges are set. Middle may still jiggle, but will firm up upon cooling. Cool completely before cutting into squares.

Instead of using nuts, I added a little more coconut to the topping. I also added some miniature semi-sweet chocolate chips along with the big for a little variety. I lined my pan with parchment paper, which really helped avoid mess. I also used an 8x8 inch pan, which is usually interchangeable with a 9x9 inch.

Paré, Jean. "Nutty Chip Squares." Recipe. Jean Paré's Favorites, Volume One, Edmonton Alberta: Company's Coming Publishing Limited, 1988. 208.

Lovely Cheesecake

Here is a simple but delicious cheesecake. It is a simple, baked cheesecake recipe on a graham crumb crust. My mother made it using the same basic recipe she always uses for cheesecake. This makes an excellent cheesecake that has a smooth, creamy texture, and isn't too rich or overwhelming. The cheesecake is perfectly delicious on its own, but there are also many ways it can be jazzed up. Some of our favorite ways to serve it are with fresh, sweetened strawberries, blueberry sauce or chocolate sauce. Any fresh fruit or sweet dessert sauce would be excellent with it. In this case, my mother placed some Valentine's chocolates on top once the cake had been baked and cooled: some milk chocolate hearts and some chocolate kisses. The cheesecake recipe could also be varied by using a different types of crust, perhaps pastry, shortbread, or chocolate crumb. I'm sure you could also add to the batter, perhaps a hint of orange zest, coffee grounds, or a spoonful of cocoa. Chopped chocolate, fruit, or nuts could also be added. It is easy and usually relatively safe to experiment with cheesecake, and the results can be quite rewarding!

Heart Pizzas

This is another dish I made for Valentine's Day: heart-shaped pizzas. I just made a batch of regular pizza dough, rolled it out, and cut it into hearts with a cookie cutter. Then I did some fine-tuned trimming with a sharp knife. You have to be careful not to stretch the dough too much, or it will just spring back and not look like a heart at all. Also, after the pizzas are baked, the dough rises a bit, and the hearts aren't quite as uniform in shape, but they are still pretty. I spread some sauce on to within approximately 2 cm of the edge, to show the heart-shaped crust, and put on some toppings. I kept the sauce to a minimum to avoid the dough becoming soggy and overladen, and I also went light on the toppings. The pizza turned out crisp on the outside, and nice and fluffy on the inside.
You could also use heart shaped pans, if you have them, or make one big heart pizza. I opted to make miniature pizzas, which are more like pizza slices.

Valentine's Bruschetta

This is a little side dish I made for Valentine's Day. I just made a quick batch of bruschetta and some heart-shaped biscuits out of a yeast bread dough. I placed a heart-shaped cookie cutter on a plate and spooned in some bruschetta. Then I carefully lifted the cookie cutter up so that the bruschetta would stay in the shape of a heart. The umbrella term bruschetta actually refers to the entire dish - not just the tomato topping, which is normally served atop the bread. Actually, bruschetta can also refer to bread that has been rubbed with just a little olive oil and some spices and grilled, it doesn't necessarily have to contain tomatoes, although most North American takes on the dish do. For the sake of Valentine's Day presentation, I served the bruschetta on a plate to make it in the shape of a heart, and just served the heart-shaped bread alongside it.

The bruschtta I made was fairly basic, and I didn't really follow a recipe, I just eyeballed the amounts. I used chopped tomatoes, finely diced onion, salt, ground black pepper, granulated sugar, olive oil, apple cider vinegar, and garlic powder.
Contrary to popular belief (or Americanized pronunciation), bruschetta is not pronounced with the "sh" sound but with the "sk" sound. The dish is of Italian origin, and in Italian "ch" is always pronounced "k" and therefore "sch" is pronounced as "sk".

Valentine's Brownie Dessert

Here is the dessert I made for Valentine's Day. I started by baking a pan of simple brownies. I like to make these brownies, because you can frost them while they are still warm. This saves time and gives them a glossy appearance. I used a chocolate fudge icing. I allowed the brownies to cool, then I cut out some big hearts and some little hearts. I placed a large heart on a plate, topped with a few sliced strawberries, and topped with a small heart. Then I placed a chocolate-covered strawberry next to the brownie for garnish, and drizzled the plate with chocolate ganache. This dessert was actually relatively simple to prepare, and very tasty. I love the flavor combination of chocolate and strawberries. Any chocolate lover would love this dessert!

Chocolate Covered Strawberries

I prepared some chocolate covered strawberries today to use as a garnish for a dessert for Valentine's Day tomorrow. It can be a bit difficult to get fresh strawberries at this time of year, however these strawberries were easy to find and taste quite fresh and sweet. Strawberries seem to be jumbo-sized now compared to what I remember getting years ago (some of these strawberries are closer in size to an apple!), but that makes them perfect for dipping! Chocolate covered strawberries are very quick and easy to make, but they  give a professional-looking touch. They add a real aspect of elegance to any dessert, and they are also great by themselves.
To prepare these strawberries, I washed them, patted them dry, and trimmed a few of the leaves. Then I dipped them each directly into a pot of melted semi-sweet chocolate and gently swirled them to coat. I placed them on a tray lined with parchment paper, and let them chill in the refrigerator for ten minutes. Then I melted one ounce of white chocolate, put it into a plastic bag, cut a tiny hole in the corner, and drizzled the chocolate over the strawberries. You can also just use a fork to do this, but I find you have more control using a plastic bag. I let them set in the fridge again.
I left the strawberry in the middle uncovered because I figured once it was dipped in chocolate, you wouldn't be able to tell that it is actually heart-shaped. It is a little hard to see at this angle, but I think the store tried to include one heart-shaped strawberry in every package for this week!