I don’t know about you, but I ate way too much over Spring Break so I’ve decided to eat healthy things this week, like this beautiful strawberry. How can anyone resist a ripe, red strawberry that is all dressed up in chocolate? I just don’t have the willpower. I made up a bunch of chocolate strawberries for my Easter brunch and they were devoured almost as quick as the Starbuck’s coffee cake. What I love about these little beauties is that they always get ooh’s and ahh’s from the crowd, but they are the simplest things to put together.

Here are a few tips:

• Buy organic whenever possible! The extra money is worth it when it comes to strawberries. They are one of the worst foods when it comes to pesticide exposure. Check out the list of what other foods are musts to buy organic.
• Use good quality chocolate!
• Wash the strawberries before dipping, but allow them to dry completely or the chocolate will seize when dipping. Water + chocolate are never a good combo. I learned this when making peppermint bark a few years ago. My chocolate was exposed to water in the double boiler. When this happens, there is no way to save it.
• Use the microwave when melting chocolate. It’s much easier than the double boiler method. Just remember to check and stir about every 30 seconds to avoid burning the chocolate.
• Grasp the stem when you go to dip strawberry, swirl strawberry to coat with chocolate. Shake the excess chocolate off as you remove it from your dipping bowl, and set on waxed paper.
• When it sets after about 30 minutes you can add swirls with another type of chocolate. To do so, dip a fork in the melted chocolate and shake it over the dipped strawberry. It’s kind of like splatter painting. It looks like a mess at first, but comes out looking beautiful.
• Refrigerate dipped strawberries and serve within 24 hours.
• Serve at room temperature for best flavor.