Pink Chocolate Covered Strawberries

Who doesn’t love the combination of chocolate and strawberries? They are like the perfect couple for any special occasion including Valentine’s Day.

Colored strawberries are always a hit at celebrations. They are one of the best Valentine’s desserts. Here we will share the basic method for decorating strawberries and you can easily customize them using your own creativity. Serve them as a dessert or give them away to your beloved ones.

About The Ingredients

For these chocolate covered strawberries with pink candy melts, you mainly need 2 ingredients: Strawberries and pink candy melts. We also use dark chocolate and white chocolate to decorate pink strawberries.

Naturally, strawberries are the hero ingredient for these pink chocolate strawberries. So, you need to pick the best quality possible. You should always choose strawberries that are firm and plump. Small strawberries won’t be perfect to dip into chocolate. And, for these treats, ones with leaves on look prettier.

Our second ingredient is candy melts. We prefer using them because they are literally intended to beautifully coat ingredients. They come in a wide variety of colors that can simply be melted and used. For these pink chocolate covered strawberries for Valentine’s Day, we chose pink candy melts.

If you can’t find candy melts, you can melt white chocolate and color it with red or pink food coloring. Read how to make pink chocolate below.

Alternative Ingredients: Besides these, you might want to add a few more ingredients to decorate the pink chocolate strawberries. For example, use dark, semi-sweet or white chocolate chips to drizzle over the pink chocolate. Other options could be sprinkles, edible glitter, nuts, shredded coconut, crumbled  pretzels. 

How to Make

These pink chocolate covered strawberries are incredibly quick and easy to make. And, when it comes to decorating strawberries, there is no end to all the possibilities. You can add sprinkles, cookie crumbs, and even more chocolate!

1. Prepare your strawberries. Choose firm strawberries and rinse them well. Then, dry them with a paper towel one by one. Allow them to sit for about 30 minutes. You can place them on some more paper towels. They should come up to room temperature.

2. Line a baking sheet with non-stick parchment paper and set it aside for later. 

3. Fill a saucepan with water. Bring the water to a simmer. Pick a heat-proof bowl that fits over the saucepan. Put your pink candy melts in it. Turn the heat off and place the bowl of candy melts over the saucepan. The bottom of the bowl shouldn't touch the water. When you see candy melts are melting, gently stir until they are completely melted.

4. Follow the same steps for melting the dark chocolate and white chocolate in separate bowls.

Note: You might need to use a little oil (coconut oil or vegetable oil) in the melted chocolate if it doesn’t get smooth and silky enough. Especially if you use chocolate bars. You won’t have this problem with candy melts.

5. Coat the strawberries with chocolate. Grabbing onto the leaves, dip strawberry into the pink chocolate and allow it to drip excess chocolate for a couple of seconds. Then, place each dipped strawberry on the lined cookie sheet to set. Repeat the same steps for the remaining strawberries.
6. If you want, you can add your garnishes like sprinkles while the coating is still wet. They won't stick to the strawberries if the chocolate has already been set. We didn't use any.

7. Decorate the strawberries. Once the candy coating/pink chocolate sets, roughly 10-15 minutes, drizzle some melted dark chocolate and white chocolate over them. You can make the chocolate drizzle decorating on the pink strawberries using a spoon. 

Alternatively, place the dark chocolate or white chocolate in a re-sealable bag and snip the corner. To make beautiful drizzles, quickly move the bag back and forth over each strawberry. We find the spoon method easier.

8. Again, allow the dark chocolate and white chocolate to completely cool (about 15 minutes). Finally, store the pink strawberries in an airtight container in a single layer in the refrigerator. They will be best if used within 2 days.

Expert Tips

• Make sure to dry your strawberries as much as possible before dipping them into chocolate. This will ensure that the chocolate sticks to them.
• Candy melts are supposed to be completely smooth and lump-free once they are melted. However, if yours isn't, try adding ½ teaspoon of shortening or vegetable oil. This will help thin the mixture and remove any lumps.
• If you want to use a microwave to melt your pink candy melts, here is how. Add the candy melts to a microwave-safe bowl. Heat them for about 1 minute at 40% power. Remove them, give them a good stir with a rubber spatula, and heat them again for 30 seconds. If it is still thick and doesn’t want to completely melt, place it back in the microwave for 20 seconds, remove, and stir. Continue this process until your candy melts are lump-free. You can follow the same steps for white and dark chocolate too.
•  If your strawberries don’t have any leaves on their tops, insert a toothpick at the top. Then, hold it as a handle when dipping the strawberries into the melted chocolate.
• If melted chocolate thickens as you are working, don’t worry. You can reheat the melted pink candy melts, dark chocolate and white chocolate in their own bowl over the saucepan filled with hot water.
• While you can store your candy melts strawberries for a couple of days, we don’t recommend freezing them at all.

How To Make Pink Chocolate 

If you are struggling to find pink candy melts or pink chocolate in the store, that shouldn’t stop you from making these. Here’s how to make pink chocolate using white chocolate bars or chips and food coloring:

Melt the chopped white chocolate slowly over a double boiler. Once it is fully melted, add red or pink food coloring to it. This can be a gel, liquid or powder. Start with a teaspoon, mix well and continue adding more food coloring until you are satisfied with the color.

Now, you can make beautiful pink and white chocolate covered strawberries!

Decorating Strawberries

There are a ton of different chocolate covered strawberry designs you can try. We have decided to coat our strawberries with pink chocolate first and drizzle dark chocolate and white chocolate over them. But, you can play around with all sorts of colors and drizzling patterns.

Then, of course, you can add a wide variety of delicious and flavorful garnishes. Sprinkles and sparkling sugar are a classic option, especially when making Valentine's Day chocolate covered strawberries.

Some other chocolate covered strawberry decorating ideas include adding chopped nuts, crushed cookies, desiccated coconut, or pretzels. Even a simple sprinkle of sea salt flakes will make a tasty treat!

How to Store

You can either keep your pink strawberries at room temperature or in the fridge. Either way, make sure they are kept in a single layer and are placed inside of an airtight container.

At room temperature, they will only last about 2 days. Keep them away from high temperatures or direct sunlight. In the fridge, they will last up to 4 days if stored well.

As we have mentioned before, do not store the strawberries in the freezer. It completely ruins the texture and flavor.

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