CHOCOLATE-DIPPED FRUIT

William Parker
ccSCOOP Food Editor

If anything could be considered a snap, this would be it. KO your friends and loved ones by using the best quality chocolate you can get your hands on, because this is one of the great ways to enjoy great chocolate.

You can’t beat Valrhona—72% cocoa, rich, with an unsurpassed depth of flavor. A good quality bittersweet chocolate in the 60 to 75% cocoa range is what you’re looking for. Don’t melt the chocolate directly over the heat. Use a double boiler or a metal bowl over a pot of simmering water.

1 quart strawberries, hulls on, washed and thoroughly dry
Fresh pineapple chunks
Dried apricots
Orange segments, cleaned of pith and membrane unbroken
8 to 16 ounces bittersweet chocolate, broken into chunks

Melt the chocolate in a double boiler or in a metal bowl over a pot of simmering water.
Holding the strawberries by the hull or using a fondue fork or skewer to hold the other fruit, dip the fruit, one piece at a time, into the chocolate. Then place on waxed paper for the chocolate to cool and harden.

That’s all there is to it!

Enjoy your chocolate-dipped fruit with cognac or a great red wine.

Where to get great chocolate in Columbia County:

Top of the line Callebaut chocolate is available at Otto’s Market, 215 Main Street in Germantown.

Callebaut is also available at Olde Hudson, 434 Warren Street in Hudson.

Callebaut is available in bulk amounts only at Ginsburg’s Market, on Route 66, a half mile south of the intersection with 9H.

Vasilow’s, 741 Columbia Street in Hudson, makes dark chocolate bars that are 74% cocoa.

The supernal Valrhona chocolate is available online from World Wide Chocolate. www.worldwidechocolate.com/shop_valrhona_chefs_page.html