jennifer's blog

Tips for Chocolate Covered Strawberries

• Always wash and dry the strawberries before using them
• I find its best if you make the chocolate covered berries the day of eating
• I like to use semiweet chocolate (I find that milk chocolate is too soft and dark chocolate is too hard when they dry)
• I like to use white candy coating rather than white chocolate (it melts better and is easier to use)
• I find that it is better to dip the strawberries when they are at room temperature rather than cold because the combination of the hot chocolate and the cold strawberry can cause the berry to 'sweat'
• I like to flash freeze the berries for 1min after I dip them - Once I've dipped about 10 berries I put them in the freezer for 1min or less so the hot chocolate doesn't 'cook' the berry too much
• After some testing I've found that the chocolate covered berries can last overnight at room temperature and still be fine (I stored them in a box but still allowed some air to breathe)
• If you need to keep them longer than overnight I would recommend you keep them in the fridge or else the berries might go bad (the only down side to this is that when you remove them from the fridge the berries form beads of condinsation - this is from the berries trying to breathe through the chocolate - they will still taste good but the apperance isn't the same as the first day you made them)
• All in all making chocolate covered strawberries can be fun but can also be frustrating and involves a lot of trial and error - to be safe buy and make your strawberries the day of eating them and enjoy!

A few weeks ago I was called to bake for a wedding, they asked me to make some tarts and chocolate covered strawberries for the dessert table at the reception.  The bride stated that her color scheme for the wedding was brown and purple so she thought it would be a great idea to have me make some blueberry tarts to help match her color scheme.  I decided to make homemade shortbread tart crusts from scratch, top them with homemade vanilla pudding, and garnish them with blueberries and semisweet chocolate. 

The shortbread crusts worked out really well and the recipe was easy to follow.  I found that during baking they did puff up a little bit so I had to pierce them with a fork half way through baking them.  I made the tart shells in advance and they last for a few days stored in a air tight container. I've made this vanilla pudding recipe before and I find it full proof, it always turns out well and tastes very smooth and creamy.  The vanilla pudding is best after it has sat in the refridgerator overnight.  The combination of all the ingredients worked out well, they were best eaten right after asembly but they also tasted good after a few hours in the fridge.

I was in the mood for something healthy today, a good snack that I could take on the go.  So I decided to make some peach bran muffins since the peaches are perfect season right now at the store.  I've made a similar recipe to this one called morning muffins but I just decided to alter it a bit.  The addition of the peaches really makes this muffin moist and all the flavors blend really well.

Peach Bran Muffins

1 Large egg
3/4 Cups yogurt (I used a sourmilk mixture instead - add almond milk to 1 Tbsp of vinegar until it reaches 3/4 Cups and let it stand for 5min)
1/4 Cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 Cup white granulated sugar
1/4 Cup vegetable oil
1 Tbsp vanilla
1 tsp almond extract
1 1/2 Cups wheat bran
2 Cups of peeled and finely chopped peaches (about 2 medium sized peaches)
1 Cup flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice

1) Preheat the oven to 375F and line 12 muffin cups with paper cups or lightly grease pan
2) In a medium size bowl whisk together egg, yogurt (or sourmilk), both sugars, oil, vanilla, and almond extract
3) Stir in wheat bran and let mixture stand for 10min
4) Meanwhile, peel and chop the peaches and set aside
5) In a large bowl whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and pumpkin pie spice
6) Add chopped peaches to bran mixture then add that mixture to the flour mixture and stir until just incorporated
7) Scoop batter evenly into muffin tins (about 1/4 cup each) and bake for 20-25min (mine took 20min) or until toothpick inserted in the middle of one muffin comes out clean
8) Let cool in pan for 10min then eat warm or store in an air tight container for later and enjoy!

Here is a quick summer treat to try if you craving that sweet tooth in the heat.

Note:  I found with this recipe you need to drink it ASAP because 1) it is very good and 2) the crushed cookies in it seem to get a bit soggy after time and then the texture isn't as good as before

Iced Lemonade Milkshake

10 Crushed cookies (I used Iced lemonade cookies)
1 Cup vanilla ice cream
1/2 Cups ice
1/2 Cup milk

1) Put all ingredients into a blender and blend until the mixture is thick and frothy.  You may have to alternate blending a stirring until the mixture becomes nice and smooth
2) Pour it into a glass and enjoy!