This makes a delicious snack for Valentine's Day if you want to spoil your loved one. Why not double or even triple the recipe and make enough for the whole family? This luxurious recipe is also nice to serve as a dessert, whether you are looking for Valentine's Day recipes or looking for something extra special to make for a dinner party or simply to show your family how much they mean to you.
You can use big strawberries for this recipe or you can use smaller ones. If you are using smaller ones though you will need more. Choose soft, ripe fruit but avoid anything over-ripe because it is too fragile to work with and will go squishy. This is a very good recipe to make if you want to make something in advance because it will keep well in the refrigerator for a few hours and be good to serve whenever you are ready. You can even decorate the plate with extra candies, rose petals or anything else you like.
Chocolate and fruit are beautiful together but make sure you are using good quality ingredients if you want this recipe to turn out well. That means choosing dark chocolate with at least seventy percent cocoa content and using perfect berries. The mascarpone and cream dipping sauce is beautiful. Not everyone who makes chocolate-covered cherries provides a sweet dipping sauce but why not? It adds an extra element of deliciousness and will make this thrilling dessert even more of a thrill.
Ingredients -
3 ½ oz dark chocolate (minimum 70% cocoa content)
1 tablespoon honey or 1 teaspoon white sugar
1 teaspoon butter
6 large, ripe strawberries
½ pint heavy cream
9 oz mascarpone cheese
20 cherries with stalks
Preparation:
Half-fill a saucepan with water and bring to the boil. Break the chocolate into small pieces and put it into a small metal or glass bowl. Put the bowl over the hot water and leave the flame on high. It does not matter if it touches the water. Let the chocolate melt and add honey or sugar to sweeten the mixture. Add the butter. Warm through until all the ingredients have combined well and you have a smooth texture. Turn the heat down to medium.
Mix the cream and mascarpone in a mixing bowl. Wash and dry the cherries. Dip them in the chocolate sauce and put them on greaseproof paper, with the stalks pointing upwards. Put them in the fridge to set. When the cherries have cooled and set, arrange the strawberries (leaving the stalks on) on a dessert plate. Add the mascarpone and cream mixture. Add the chocolate-covered cherries to the plate.
(Serves 2)
Wine Suggestion:
Try a Cabernet Sauvignon if you want to bring out the cherry flavor. This wine is a great match for dark chocolate because it has heavy tannins. If you have used milk chocolate to make this chocolate-dipped cherry recipes you might prefer to opt for the softer Merlot. Either of these wines will be nice with chocolate cherries recipes or you can go for a Tawny or Vintage Port instead.
Photo Description:
As you can see from this photo, the chocolate-covered cherries and strawberries both look really appealing. This colorful dessert will soften any heart because it will be obvious that you have put time and love into this Valentine's Day dessert or special occasion dessert recipe. Making chocolate-dipped cherries is easy and if you use gourmet or top quality chocolate along with perfect ripe berries your dessert will come out beautifully. You do not have to make the creamy dip if you do not want to but it does go nicely with the fruit.
Different kinds of chocolate require different kinds of wine, so it is important to choose your wine carefully. If the wine is not as sweet as the chocolate, it will not taste good. Dark chocolate has a stronger taste than milk or white chocolate so you will need a fuller-bodied wine for it. Serve a Zinfandel, Cabernet Sauvignon, Banyul, or Vintage Port. If you are wondering what a Banyul is, it is a sweet red wine from France, which might be a good option because a lot of people have never sampled this delicious wine.
Milk chocolate is nice with Pinot Noir, Merlot, Tawny Port, or Ruby Port. If you want to make white chocolate covered cherries, serve a white wine with them. Moscato, Asti Spumanti, Riesling and Muscat are all sound choices.
Maybe you do not want to serve wine at all, in which case what about a berry-flavored hot tea or iced tea instead? Coffee is also a nice choice and if you are serving chocolate covered cherries at the end of the meal, that might be a nice time to make frothy cappuccino or your favorite kind of coffee. Coffee and chocolate are beautiful together.
For something totally different, you might like to go for a chocolate martini. There are different recipes for this exciting cocktail but it is usually made with vodka and crème de cacao. It is certainly sweet enough to complement the flavors in your chocolate covered cherries or chocolate coated fresh strawberries but that might be too much chocolate at once for some people.
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