Strawberry Surprise!

I was trying to come up with a (somewhat) healthy dessert for my boyfriend and myself as a post-dinner treat on Valentine's Day. The first things to come to mind were strawberries - they're red, very Valentines-y, and they're healthy. Score! And you have to have chocolate on V-Day, right? I mean, what's Valentine's Day without at least a little chocolate? Not a very good Valentine's Day if you ask me! So the obvious choice was chocolate covered strawberries. But that's so boring! "How can I sass it up a little?" I asked myself.

And then it came to me: cayenne pepper! My boyfriend really loves spicy food so I knew he would love the spicy kick at the end of these sweet treats. Plus, both spicy food and chocolate are supposed to release endorphins, which make you happy, and what better day to give the gift of happiness than on Valentine's Day?! The results were amazing and just what I intended: sweetness from the strawberry, richness from the chocolate, and the ZING! from the cayenne at the end. Spicy, but not overly spicy.

You can make these (somewhat) healthy treats any day of the year. Make them as a treat for yourself, for a loved one as a gift, or take them to a party so you can share the love.

Let's get cookin'!

Servings: We're making a dozen of these babies, so however many can eat one dozen chocolate covered strawberries... could be one, could be twelve! We ate about three each.

Prep time: about ten minutes

Cooking time: about an hour and ten minues if you count the time needed for the chocolate to harden before serving

Note: I prefer to use organic strawberries, mostly for the taste - I think they're much sweeter - but also for this reason.

Ingredients:

About a dozen strawberries, more or less depending on their size

3 ounces of dark chocolate chips

1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper (cayenne)

1/8 teaspoon vanilla extract

Create a double boiler (as seen here) to melt the chocolate chips. Turn the burner on medium-low heat. Pour chocolate chips into the bowl while it's heating up over the sauce pan. Stir occasionally with a spatula while the chocolate is melting.

Meanwhile, prepare the strawberries. Wash to make sure all of the dirt is removed from the surface of each berry. Dry off thoroughly with a clean towel and pull up all of the green leaves at the top of the strawberries so that none of the leaves are sticking to the berries, leaving plenty of room for the chocolate coating.

Cover a plate with a piece of wax paper and place the stawberries on top of the paper.

Position the plate in close proximity to the double boiler so you can rest the strawberries on it after you bathe them in the chocolate.

When chocolate is melted and silky smooth, add the ground red pepper and vanilla extract. Stir to combine, making sure the ground red pepper and vanilla are fully incorporated into the chocolate.

Start dipping the strawberries into the chocolate while it is still sitting over the heat. Hold each berry at the top, right under the leaves, and dip into the chocolate, pointy end first, making sure to coat all sides.

Place on the wax paper covered plate, and repeat this process with the remaining strawberries until they are all coated. Place the plate full of chocolate coated berries into the fridge for at least an hour so that the chocolate can harden.

Serve chilled and enjoy with a glass of champagne (and a loved one!). Salute!