February is the month of love and 263chat will be celebrating it with you by giving you ideas on what you could do for your loved ones. Today we will look at recipes you could prepare for your partner or with your partner. Love is all about being sweet and below are two recipes you can indulge in with your partner.
Chocolate-Covered Strawberries
Ingredients
1 pound fresh strawberries with leaves intact
8 ounces chocolate chips or bar (chopped into small pieces)
Optional: 8 ounces white chocolate for drizzling
Optional: Sprinkles, coarse sugar, or finely chopped nuts for decorating
Equipment
Paper towels
Baking sheet
Parchment or waxed paper
Saucepan (optional)
Heatproof/microwave-safe bowl
Heatproof silicone spatula (wood can retain water)
Skewer or toothpick (optional)
Spoons (optional)
1) Rinse berries under cold water and dry thoroughly, even the leaves. Important: You’ll want to make sure not the slightest drop of water comes into contact later with your melted chocolate, otherwise it will go from silky smooth to thick and grainy in an instant. Set the washed and dried berries on a perfectly dry towel and let them come to room temperature while you prep the baking sheet and the chocolate.
2) Line a baking sheet with parchment or waxed paper. Use a large enough pan to allow an inch or two of space between the strawberries.
If you plan on coating dipped strawberries with finely chopped nuts, sprinkles, coconut flakes, crushed candy, etc., prep them now and put them in bowls.
3) Melt the chocolate. In a bowl set over hot water, or in the microwave. The key is to go low and slow for a smoother melt. And I can’t say this enough: Do not let any water come into contact with the chocolate. Some people add shortening to the chocolate to make it smoother, but this isn’t necessary if you’re using a good quality, high cocoa fat chocolate.
4) Dip the strawberries. The chocolate should be warm, not hot. Working one at a time, pick up a strawberry by the stem, or insert a skewer or toothpick into the top, or just pick up by the leaves. Dip into the chocolate, bottom first, to about ¾ of the way up. Gently rotate the strawberry as you pull it out of the chocolate, so the excess drips back into the bowl and the last drip rolls onto the strawberry.
Optional: Dip the strawberry into the nuts, sprinkles, etc. that you’ve prepped. Instead of rolling, use a small spoon to scoop the ingredients over the wet chocolate.
Place the strawberry onto the lined baking sheet. Repeat until all the strawberries are dipped.
Sweetheart Trifle
INGREDIENTS
1 package (18-1/4 ounces) chocolate cake mix
1 package (10 ounces) peanut butter chips
4-1/4 cups cold milk, divided
1/2 cup whipping cream
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 packages (5.9 ounces each) instant chocolate pudding mix
1 carton (12 ounces) frozen whipped topping, thawed
4 Nestle Crunch candy bars (1.55 ounces each), crumbled
DIRECTIONS
Prepare cake mix according to package directions. Pour the batter into a greased 13-in. x 9-in. baking pan. Bake at 350° for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack.
In a heavy saucepan, combine chips, 1/4 cup milk and cream. Cook and stir over low heat until chips are melted. Remove from the heat; stir in vanilla. Cool to room temperature. Place the remaining milk in a mixing bowl; beat in pudding mixes on low speed for 2 minutes.
To assemble, crumble half of the cake into a 4-qt. trifle bowl or large bowl. Layer with half of the peanut butter sauce, pudding, whipped topping and candy bars; repeat layers. Cover and refrigerate for at least 3 hours before serving. Yield: 12-15 servings.
