I'm going to dip some berries in chocolate, and I have a

[dawnnys]

block of chocolate that I want to use up, rather than use chocolate chips. Do I need to add anything to it, like a little butter? I usually use the chips, or wafers, and I know these both differ from the block type.

Dark-chocolate-covered blueberries, yumm...

 

[dawn_mo]

I can't help you with the chocolate question,

but I can tell you that chocolate blueberries are delicious. I made some blueberry bark with semi sweet chocolate and everyone went nuts over them, and it was so easy. Are you running out of blueberries yet?

 

[dawnnys]

Yes, picked some about 2 weeks ago and they were small and tough. I ended

up letting the birds get them. I bought this last quart in the store, which just about killed me!

I think I have to add some kind of fat to the block. Did you use chips?

 

[pat-nocal]

No, Dawn, you don't need to add any

fat to the chocolate. Just melt the chocolate and you're ready to go with dipping the berries.

 

[dawnnys]

Thanks - I tried it an it worked fine. I wonder where I got the idea that

I had to add paraffin or butter. Maybe that's if you're tempering it to make it shiny.

'Worked perfectly. I used a toothpick to do the dipping and a another one to get it onto the foil. It's so cool here today that they didn't take long to harden. I wish I could find my camera and post a picture - it looks like I'm all OCDish, all the little berries lined up perfectly!

 

[pat-nocal]

My thoughts are that it has to do with the

type of chocolate you use. Some chocolate is better than others at melting. And adding a fat, like butter, can give a smoother, creamier texture, but I personally don't feel that adding fat is necessary if you're using a good quality chocolate (like the block of chocolate you said you used).

Now, chocolate chips are sometimes another story, as they sometimes contain something which prevents them from melting readily (which is one reason they hold up so well in a cookie). So, if you're melting chocolate chips for dipping strawberries, you might find it better to add a little butter to the process. Someone else with more knowledge of chocolate and its melting properties may be able shed more light on this topic.

Another thought, what you could do is a little side-by-side test...do a small batch of berries dipped in melted chocolate with butter added, then a small batch without butter added. Decide for yourself which you like better. smileys/smile.gif