Chocolate Covered Strawberries with Chile Salt

Last week I made chocolate covered strawberries to bring to work. When making traditional recipes I think about how a personalized touch can be added. It might be as simple as substituting an ingredient or modifying the cooking technique, but can be as elaborate as transforming the dish into something completely unique. My kimchi bacon hash, with egg and gochujang hollandaise is a good example. Traditional hash and eggs Benedict are combined to make a delicious brunch dish with a decisive Korean twist.

Chocolate Covered Strawberries with Chile Salt (1 of 7)

While at the market buying the ingredients for the chocolate-covered strawberries I perused the bulk section, as I often do (Mrs. B & B doesn’t like food shopping with me because she says I take too much time), when I spotted the flavored salts. I like using flavored salt to add extra dimension, flavor and texture to dishes. Sprinkling porcini salt over grilled steak adds a subtle but noticeable umami-kick. When I spied the Habanero salt I knew it was the perfect addition to my strawberries.

Salt alters how savory and sweet foods taste on the palate. It doesn’t take much, but the addition is important in baking and dessert making. Try making a pie without salt in the crust and see how it compares. The addition of salt in this recipe helps highlight the fruitiness of the strawberries. Flavored salts aren’t available everywhere but most high-end markets like Whole Foods or Central Market carry them. Alternatively, be creative and make your own, which is fairly simple to do. Create your own flavor combinations or defer to Popsugar or The Kitchn for direction. For this recipe, another possibility is using chile-flavored chocolate and sprinkling on plain sea salt.

Chocolate Covered Strawberries with Chile Salt (7 of 7)

These chocolate covered strawberries with chile salt are simple to make. While the combination might seem odd, the sweetness from the strawberries, bitterness from the chocolate, heat from the chile and flavor boosting salt make for one delicious bite…or two….or three.

Chocolate Covered Strawberries with Chile Salt

Ingredients

  • 6 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips
  • 1 pound strawberries (washed and dried)
  • 2 teaspoons habanero chile salt

Instructions

  • Find a metal or glass bowl that will fit on top of a saucepan. Fill the saucepan with water an inch high and bring the pot to a simmer. Add the chocolate to the bowl and rest it atop the saucepan. Stir the chocolate continuously until it is completely melted and turn off the heat.
  • One at a time, grab each strawberry by the green stem and submerge it into the chocolate so that some of the red flesh still shows. Lift and twist, shaking off any excess chocolate.
  • Sprinkle on a pinch of the chile salt and lay the strawberry on a wax paper-lined sheet pan. I recommend tasting the first strawberry to see if you like the level of salt and spice so you can adjust the remainder of the batch to your liking.
  • Repeat the process until all the strawberries are coated.
  • Refrigerate until the chocolate hardens, about twenty minutes.

Notes

I recommend refrigerating until service. Leaving the strawberries out for too long will cause the salted strawberries to sweat and look unappetizing.