In planning our Valentines day dinner, I decided to go somewhat healthy for our dessert and chose chocolate dipped strawberries. But of course, being me, I had to make them fancy with the tuxedos. I stood in my local grocery store for about 5 minutes with two boxes of strawberries. One box consisted of two pints for $4 of regular strawberries, the other was a mere (perfect) dozen ones with the stem still on. That one was $10. I was so torn… should I spend $6 more for a fraction of the strawberries simply to have the stems? The frugal side of me took over, and I bought the less expensive ones. If I had to go back, I’d say screw it and spend the other 6 dollars! The stem really does help with the dipping process. So the moral of the story is… if you’re planning on taking the time to do tuxedo strawberries, don’t cheap out… buy the fancy strawberries with the stems!

Tuxedo Strawberry Recipe

1 dozen perfect strawberries, preferably with stems
8 oz white chocolate
8 oz dark chocolate

1. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper. Chop the white chocolate into small pieces, place in a small glass bowl and heat in the microwave in 30 second increments. Remove and stir; repeat until completely melted and smooth.

2. Gently rinse and dry each strawberry. Holding the strawberry by the stem or the leaves, dip into the white chocolate, almost to the stem. Only leave a bit of strawberry exposed, right by the stem. Scrape one side of the strawberry on the side of the bowl to remove excess chocolate and then place that side down on the parchment paper covered sheet pan. This helps to avoid a big “foot” of chocolate on the strawberry. Repeat with remaining strawberries. Refrigerate for about 10 minutes, until the chocolate has hardened.

3. Melt the dark chocolate as you did the white chocolate above. Take a white chocolate dipped strawberry and dip it at an angle on both sides, to create the jacket of the strawberry. Again, scrape the bottom of the strawberry to remove excess chocolate and place on the parchment paper. Repeat with remaining strawberries and refrigerate again for a few minutes.

4. Make a paper cone out of parchment and fill with 1-2 tablespoons of melted dark chocolate. Pipe the bow tie and dots for buttons on each strawberry.

5. Let sit at room temperature for about 20-30 minutes before serving to allow the chocolate to soften.

Note: If you have plenty of time, do not refrigerate between dippings, and the chocolate will remain very smooth and shiny.