But if you're interested in doing something a little more special than even that, you should try Cheesecake-Stuffed Chocolate Strawberries. Not only are they ALSO very simple, they will impress the socks off your sweetie. Oh, and they taste good, too.
Better than good.
The following step-by-step only makes enough "cheesecake" filling for 6-8 strawberries - perfect for two. But you can easily double, triple, or quadruple the filling to make more.
Let's start with half a brick of cream cheese - four ounces.
But you DO need to be careful on this step. With a small paring knife, cut a V out of the top to remove the leaves. Then, with the same small knife, cut out the center of the strawberry. Imagine that you're cutting out a "cone" from the inside of the berry.
Get out your hand mixer! Your four ounces of cheesecake should be softened enough to mix easily.
It's done! It should be nice and soft.
Once the filling feels firm to the touch, it's time to dip your strawberries.
Melt 4-5 ounces of good-quality chocolate chips in a dish that will be conducive to dipping - shallow and kind of narrow. (I used Ghirardelli 60% Cacao Bittersweet Chips.) The lower-quality chocolate you buy, the less nicely it will melt for you.
(To melt, microwave for 30 seconds at a time, stirring after each 30-second interval. It should take two or three 30-second turns before it's melted.)
Prepare a flat cookie sheet with some wax paper or parchment paper. We're good to go!
It's okay if they don't look perfect, because I'm about to show you a sweet Wonder Wife tip.
See where the red line is? I'm talking a TINY corner. If you make the corner too big, your strawberries will not have dainty drizzles, they will have chocolate worms.
You can always cut the corner bigger if it's too small.
Pardon my frankness, but even the dog's business would probably look delicious with a chocolate drizzle.
And just think of the possibilities! Instead of using the leftover dark chocolate, melt up some milk chocolate or even white chocolate to drizzle! What a contrast! What a delight! What a work of art! And from your own kitchen, no less!
For what it's worth, I experimented by piping some of the leftover cheesecake filling onto hollowed out halves of strawberries and then dipping those too. These would probably be better for a wedding shower or a ladies' luncheon, because as delicious as the whole strawberries are, they are BIG. And eating them in a few bites can get messy. The halves were easier to pop into my mouth without getting chocolate all over my face. But next time, if I do the halves instead of whole berries, I won't cut off the leaves. It would look prettier and they'd be easier to dip, too.
Go forth, and strawberry it up!
No comments:
Post a Comment