As we get closer to Valentine’s Day, many of us start thinking about chocolate covered strawberries. Because it can be hard to find them locally, I usually end up ordering mine online. However, I recently discovered that not all chocolate covered strawberries are the same. In fact, some of them are actually fake chocolate!
I’m not going to go into specific brands, but I think this is important information for those of you who might be ordering chocolate covered strawberries online. The last time that you shopped online for chocolate covered strawberries, what was the actual description of the product advertised. Did it include the word “chocolate” in the ingredients? I’ve recently found out that many of them do not. Many say things like “hand dipped strawberries” or “covered strawberries.” Chocolate isn’t mentioned when you look closely. Why is that? Because those companies are not using real chocolate and the FDA won’t allow them to say “chocolate covered” unless they truly are.
I talked to the owner of ccberries.com to get educated about the differences. Apparently most companies use a candy coating rather than chocolate on their strawberries. In order to be advertised as “chocolate,” the coating must contain cocoa butter…and a lot of cheaper coatings do not. Instead, they use vegetable oil as a cheaper filler.
So if you are looking for chocolate covered strawberries this Valentine’s Day, educate yourself and make sure that you are getting what you pay for. Read descriptions of products called “hand dipped strawberries” carefully and check out their ingredients. Find sites like ccberries.com that actually sell real chocolate covered strawberries so that you or your recipient will not be disappointed.
Looking for a terrific Valentine’s Day gift for a chocolate lover? Rosa Regale and chocolate would be at the top of my list! Rosa Regale is probably my favorite wine, and nothing says “Valentine’s Day” like chocolate covered fruit. wine.com has a set that sells for only $29.99 and includes Godiva Chocoiste Dark Chocolate Raspberries and Almonds.
What makes this combination especially perfect for Valentine’s Day is that the wine is sparkling but not traditional champagne. It pairs beautifully with chocolate, especially dark chocolate. The wine has a slight raspberry flavor that would also go well with fresh chocolate covered strawberries.
I first tasted Rosa Regale on a Disney Cruise at Palo and they brought it to us with little pieces of dark chocolate. It was heavenly! I’ve seen it priced everywhere from $15 to $40. Read more about it at wine.com:
Chocolate is everywhere during the holidays, even in the drinks. I’m a sucker for a good chocolate martini and have been trying out a number of different recipes to find just the right one for the holidays. Here are a few of my favorites. If you have a favorite of your own, leave a comment to share it with everyone else!
Godiva Chocolate Martini (the classic)
1 oz. Godiva Liqueur
1 oz. Smirnoff Vodka
Godiva Cranberry Martini
1 oz. Godiva Liqueur
1 oz. Smirnoff Vodka
1/2 oz. cranberry juice
Mint Patty martini (from Martiniart.com)
3 ounces of freezing Absolut Pepar vodka
2 ounces of White Creme de Menthe
1 tablespoon of Peppermint Schnapps
1 ounce of Godiva Dark Chocolate Liqueur
1 Starlight mint
2 freezing martini glasses
Add your vodka, Creme de Menthe, and Starlight mint to a cocktail shaker 1/2 full of ice and let the shaker stand for a minute.
Give ten good shakes, and add your Godiva Chocolate Liqueur and give another fifteen shakes.
Strain your cocktail into the martini glasses.
Top each glass with half of the Peppermint Schnapps.
Need a little more help? Check out this chocolate martini video for some hands-on advice.
Mrs. Prindable’s 24 Treat Size Holiday Apples
Price: $31.14
Savor the sweet flavors of fall with this selection of treat-sized gourmet apples. Dipped in caramel, each is rolled in tasty holiday sprinkles, then individually packaged in holiday wrapping. Perfect for favors at your next mixer! From Mrs. Prindable’s.
I’ve been a big fan of Mrs. Prindables for some time and had no idea that you could get such great deals on Mrs. Prindables products on QVC. Check out this Christmas gift idea–24 treat sized apples for only 31.14. This would be perfect for making up small baskets or bags to give to friends, teachers, and family. These particular apples are dipped in caramel and then rolled in holiday sprinkles.
While you are at QVC, check out the other 30+ Mrs. Prindables products they have. Some of them are not even available on the Mrs. Prindables website itself. I am partial to the dark chocolate but wouldn’t turn up my nose to any of them.
Although I’m a big chocolate fan, I’m not really a big chocolate candy bar eater. In particular, I don’t really enjoy the nutty chocolate bars. A few years ago, my husband and I bought Halloween bags of Snickers, Baby Ruth, and 3 Musketeers just to taste test them against each other. It’s been a while and I can’t even remember what we decided. So I decided to steal some of the kids’ Halloween candy and give it a shot again.
Snickers: This is the one that I always think about when I think about nuts in a candy bar. It contains peanut butter nougat, which I don’t particularly enjoy. I do, however, like the peanuts and the caramel.
3 Musketeers: The filling in the middle of the 3 Musketeers is a fluffy, light chocolate. So it’s essentially chocolate on top of chocolate. What’s not to like about that? It’s very sweet for its little size. I think this is a candy bar that I could eat a lot more of. Why did I think that it had nuts?
Baby Ruth: This is a complex candy bar with a lot going on–chocolate covered peanuts, caramel, and nougat. I had to eat more of this one than the others to even figure out of I liked it or not. It’s very sweet. And I like the nougat better than in the Snickers. But I don’t think I like the peanuts as much.
In the end, I decided that while I like them all, I’m still not going to start eating any of them on a regular basis. Candy bars are just not my first choice in chocolate. Keep in mind that my findings are based only on the “fun size” of each of these candy bars. Much more than that and I would be sick to my stomach!
