Chocolate covered Strawberries

Choosing a perfect Valentines gift can be hard for guys. There is always the risk that what he thinks is the perfect gift idea for her will look cheap, thoughtless, too expensive, be the wrong size, colour, smell or flavour, or countless other problems. A lot of the gift ideas found on the net are often expensive, complicated, time consuming, been done to death or boring. So whats a nice guy suppose to do for his girlfriend at Valentines Day?

The best answer is home made chocolate covered strawberries and fruit. Going and buying a box of chocolate is the lazy mans Valentines gift idea. But homemade chocolate strawberries and fruit is different. This delicious, homemade Valentines Day gift shows that a boyfriend is willing to spend the time and effort making a present most girls will love. And unlike many other homemade gift ideas, chocolate covered strawberries don't look cheap, if done right this chocolate treat can look and taste like an expensive treat.

The best part about this Valentines gift is that its extremely easy to make but looks hard, clean up isn't a problem and the actual work doesn't take much time. As long as a guy has a microwave, a microwavable bowl and half an hour he can make this recipe. The price is right to, all the loving boyfriend has to pay for is some chocolate chips, strawberries and other fruit, and some waxed paper.

Chocolate Covered Strawberries Ingredients

• 16 ounces (455 grams) of chocolate chips. These can come in a variety of flavours milk, sweet, semi-sweet, bitter sweet, or white chocolate. Find out what type of chocolate your girlfriend likes the most and try to get that flavour. For added style combine white chocolate for colour with one of the other chocolates.
• 1 pound (½ kilogram) fruit. Strawberries are a classic, but cherries, apples, oranges, and pineapple.
• For brownie points a small bag of shredded coconut, candy sprinkles, M&M mini's or cookie crumbs can be used as well.

Preparing the perfect Valentines Gift

1. Wash and dry the fruit by patting them gently with a paper towel. For pineapple and cut apples they can be a little damp, but the drier the fruit the better.
2. Place the chocolate chips in a microwavable bowl. If you have two or more types of chocolate chips put them in separate bowls. Place the chocolate chips in the microwave on high for 10 seconds. If the chocolate isn't completely melted, stir the chocolate chips for a minute to melt the rest. If some of it is still hard put them back in for another 5 seconds. The chocolate should be completely melted before using.
3. Holding a small corner of the fruit dip it into the melted chocolate. Stir it around the chocolate for a second or two to make sure its well covered. As you slowly take the chocolate strawberry out give it a small shake to get rid of any excess chocolate. Carefully place the chocolate covered strawberry on a piece of waxed paper.
4. If using two types of chocolate, dip the strawberries into the lighter coloured chocolate first and let dry. Then dip part of the chocolate covered fruit into the other chocolate. As an alternative using a skewer or small spoon paint the second chocolate onto the fruit, or simply drip lines of chocolate onto the strawberries.
5. Keep the fruit at room temperature or cooler while they dry. If there is room in the fridge they can put them in there. The chocolate should dry within 15 to 25 minutes.
6. Place in a nice box or plate and give them to a beautiful girlfriend for Valentines Day. She should eat the chocolate strawberries on the same day for best flavour.

Optional

For an extra touch of class after the chocolate strawberries are pulled out of the the chocolate sprinkle some cookie crumbs, shredded coconut, or candy sprinkles on the fruit. Larger candy may have to be press onto the fruit to make sure it sticks, but smaller sprinkles will stick to the chocolate very easily.

Homemade chocolate covered strawberries and fruit are easy to make, taste great and look good. So they're the perfect Valentines gift idea for a special girlfriend. Best of all after making the chocolate strawberries simply throw away the waxed paper and fill the bowls with hot water. The melted chocolate will come right off with minimal washing. So this Valentines Day give a gift that comes from the heart that won't waste time or hurt the wallet.

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