A Harmony Of Flavors Published “Chocolate Dipped Food Ideas for Valentines Day”

Feb. 11, 2013 - PRLog -- Chris Rawstern, Culinary Advisor for A Harmony of Flavors, published the article “Chocolate Dipped Food Ideas for Valentines Day”.

This article is part of A Harmony of Flavors mission to publish pertinent articles to help bring people’s attention to important issues or problems and hopefully offer some form of education for them to make the best decisions. This Article describes that I am by no means skilled with chocolate. My first experience with chocolate dipping was little chocolate cake mice for a Princess Party. An ambitious project, the mice bodies turned out wonderfully. The chocolate dipping part had me terrified. I used chocolate bark because it was less expensive that finer chocolate in case a batch was ruined. The chocolate bark was easy to work with. It melted well over slow simmering water in a double boiler. It dried quickly on the mice, making them easy to handle. Saving leftover chocolate for later worked like a charm.

The second time I made these, I ran out of chocolate bark before I ran out of mice to dip. I melted some quality dark chocolate, dipped the mice and set them to dry. It took at least three times the amount of time for the chocolate to set. It was far too soft, easily leaving fingerprints. I have been informed that mixing quality chocolate with chocolate bark makes a great combination. It heightens flavor while maintaining ease of use.

With that in mind, here are some foods to dip for Valentines Day or any special occasion. I prefer melting chocolate bark over a double boiler. For safety, keep the water in the bottom pot at a very low simmer, or steam will shoot out. This heightens the risk of burns to the skin. Keeping the chocolate at a steady liquid state throughout the process is key.

Rawstern is an author, teacher, gourmet cook as well as a photographer and graphic artist.  She has taken or created all images appearing on these sites. Her articles have been syndicated nationally.

Her background is Slovakian on her mother's side and Yugoslavian on her father's. Her grandparents came from Europe to the United States to make a better life for themselves and their families. Her ethnic cooking influences began at the cradle. She began her cooking career in Guatemala, in 1970 when she moved there as a 20-year-old newlywed, and set out to learn to cook in a foreign land. This process was complicated by the fact that she could not speak or read the language.

Rawstern loves food, new recipes, and to teach people how to cook from scratch. Her passion is to teach people how to create A Harmony of Flavors when they cook, find joy in baking and help pass along her love of and joy in foods, both simple and exotic, plain or fancy, as she continues her journey in both ethnic cooking and domestic. Her favorite saying in her class is “Life is short – eat dessert first”.

About the Author

My name is Chris Rawstern and I have been on a cooking and baking journey for 42 years. I love food. I love to cook, and teach people how to cook, from scratch.  I love baking.  I love to create new recipes and try them.  I hope to inspire you to follow me!

I would love to hear from you, to help me continue my journey to explore diverse culinary experiences and hopefully to start you on a journey of collecting favored recipes of your own.  Visit me at my Web site (http://www.aharmonyofflavors.com/) my Blog or Marketplace (http://www.a-harmony-of-flavors-marketplace.com/).  Email me at chris@aharmonyofflavors.com.