Mr. & Mrs. Strawberry

Ahhh..Strawberries. These days, they tend to look so big and so good, but after one bite into them, I'm dipping them in some sugar to sweeten them up. The ones that I purchased yesterday though were a pleasant surprise. They were small to medium sized, kinda sweet, and actually tasted much like a strawberry, but best of all, they were only $1.99 CAD at my local No Frills. Score! BTW, the strawberries in the pictures are the ones I bought yesterday. Don't they look good?

So why are the majority of our strawberries so sour? With strawberries, they're pretty fickle. Strawberries are not capable of ripening after they've been harvested, unlike some other fruits (e.g. bananas and apples). This means, if they're sour when they're picked, they'll be sour when you eat them. The only way for strawberries to get sweeter naturally is if they were allowed to ripen while still attached to the plant. But once ripened, the quality of strawberries goes downhill from there, and fast too! So when harvesting strawberries, they're usually not allowed to ripen further after they've turned red. This is especially important when they're being shipped from far-off destinations like the U.S.A. So what should we all do? Buy local strawberries! Despite my Pro-Local comment just now, I have to admit, the strawberries that I bought were a product of the U.S.A. What can I say, I'm a sucker for cheap fruit.

Although the strawberries I bought were pretty delicious eaten on their own, I really wanted to dip them in chocolate. Strawberry Tuxedos were something I learned in my Baking Arts class at George Brown College and I really wanted to try it again at home, but this time, with a special lady strawberry - a bride! Introducing, Mr. & Mrs. Strawberry!

For the white chocolate, I purchased Belgium White Chocolate wafers from Bulk Barn, but I think next time, I'll try using White Chocolate Coating. The Belgium chocolate took a long time to set and even when it was set, it wasn't as dry as I'd like it to be.

Things to note when melting chocolate. Melt slowly over a pot of simmering hot water. For white chocolate, be sure to stir frequently to avoid it from burning. Burning white chocolate will cause it to discolour.