Are Chocolate Covered Strawberries Worth the Expense?

Valentine's Day is one of my top 3 favorite holidays, although most tightwads have mixed feelings about this particular yearly observance. After all, why do we need to spend all that money on greeting cards, flowers, and candle-lit Italian dinners? The truth is, you don't need to.

 I love Valentine's Day because it's a day where I can reflect on the people (and animals) I care about in my life. This day is about celebrating various types of love. Enjoy today as a way to show affectionate love for friends, family, significant others; or to proclaim your passion for a social issue; or even to appreciate yourself!

I usually show some self-appreciation by splurging on fancy chocolate covered strawberries from Godvia Chocolatier boutiques.

It's happened to the best of us, you walk by that elegant display case with that luscious, fat, strawberry sitting there covered in rich chocolate, and it practically calls out to you by name! You silently justify the indulgence to yourself, (I walked 4 miles today, I took the stairs at work all week, etc) and you mosey on into the store only to find that one chocolate dipped strawberry is $7.00! 

Home-made White Chocolate/Dark Chocolate strawberries , Dark Chocolate Almond strawberries, Dark Chocolate Pecan strawberries, Dark Chocolate Walnut strawberries.

You gasp.
You are sure that this is way overpriced, but by how much? Well, The Thrifty Scholar has worked it out for you:

-I purchased approximately 30 medium sized strawberries in a wholesale store for $5.99.
-I was able to purchase 11.5 oz Ghiradelli dark chocolate chips for $2.00 at my local grocery store.
-It only takes me 4.5 oz to cover all 30 strawberries. The 4.5 oz of chocolate cost me $0.77.
-My total cost for chocolate and strawberries was $6.76 and each unit came to $0.23 to make.

If I estimate that 2 medium strawberries covered in Ghiradelli chocolate make up the weight of the large strawberry at Godiva, then I spent $0.46 by making my own chocolate covered strawberries at home. Net savings: $6.54.

In comparison to the $42 box of 6 Godiva chocolate dipped strawberries, net savings were $39.24.

Read on to see how I did it.
What you will need:
-30 medium strawberries
- 4.5 oz of dark or milk chocolate (white chocolate is harder to use for dipping because of it's makeup)
- 1 cup of chopped walnuts, pecans, or sliced almonds (optional)
- 1 fork
- pot and mixing bowl or microwave
-tray lined with parchment paper , wax paper, or aluminum foil

1. Rinse strawberries in cold water and drain. Make sure strawberries are completely dry before dipping and use a paper towel to dry if necessary.

2. Set up a double boiler on the stove by boiling a cup of water in the pot with the mixing bowl balancing on top. You don't want the bowl to be touching the boiling water, but the steam will gently melt the chocolate. Alternatively, use the microwave to melt the chocolate but monitor it carefully or it will burn. You can choose to use a spatula to mix the chocolate a bit to assist the melting process.
If you are adding nuts, chop them as finely as you desire. Tip: the more finely they are chopped, the better the nuts will stick into the chocolate.


3. Pluck off the green strawberry tip and insert the fork where the tip was. Roll the strawberry in the chocolate and allow the excess to drip off. Quickly roll the strawberry into the chopped nuts or, for more coarsly chopped nuts just sprinkle them onto the strawberry after it has been placed on the lined tray. Tip: don't put the fork in too far into the fruit or it will be difficult to slide off onto the tray.


4. Refrigerate until chocolate has set.

5. Gorge yourself and feel good about being thrifty and getting in some servings of fruit loaded with 140 % of your daily Vitamin C needs as well as cancer-fighting antioxidants too!