Chocolate-covered Blueberries and Raspberries

Diamonds are a girl’s best friend. Or is it chocolates?

Enrobing fruits with milk and dark chocolate is a delicious way to enjoy summer’s bounty. Chocolate-covered strawberries. Chocolate-covered oranges. Chocolate-covered cordial cherries. Delicious. Very easy to make. Just melt, dip, cool. That is if you are going to consume your treats right there and then. Now, if you want to store your chocolate treasures for later snacking, the fruits have to dehydrated. Natural water needs to be expelled for fruits to last longer. As you know, moisture harbors growth of bacteria and molds, thus hastening spoilage. Of course the trade off, due to the “heat treatment”, fruits lose their Vitamin C values in the dehydration process.

Dehydration of foods is really more time-consuming than complicated. All it takes is proper temperature, adequate air circulation and…patience. Temperature must be maintained at 120 to 140 degrees as anything higher, fruits will be cooked instead of dried. You need to allow 10 to 20 hours for fruits to adequately dry and dehydrate.

There are three ways food dehydration can be done:
1) Under the sun-a very unreliable heat source; need consecutive 3 days of good sun
2) In the oven-not very practical but doable; prop oven door open to allow air circulation
3) In a commercial food dehydrator-best method; follow manufacturer’s directions

Regularly turn foods and rotate trays during the drying process.

When done, blueberries should be leathery (like raisins) and the raspberries crisp. To check, split open fruits. There should be no moisture pockets or drips present.

Once the fruits are ready, check out my tips on how to melt chocolate. Use toothpicks or tweezers to handle as you dip into melted chocolate. Arrange dipped fruits in a single layer on a pre-cooled tray. Allow to set and store in airtight containers.

Note on August 4, 2008: I just discovered this food blogging event called Sugar High Fridays, which is hosted by Susan of FoodBlogga. This month, Sugar High Friday aims to showcase July’s berries in all their lusciousness and deliciousness! Wow! I am sure my chocolate-berry treats will find lots of mouth-watering company there! Oh, no! Deadline was yesterday. Ok, let me go and start begging…

 

Sweets and Treats in The CookMobile Archive:

Chocolate Truffles

 

 

 

Berry Crumble