Chocolate fruits are trendy: How to prepare them yourself

Covering fruit with chocolate – for many people with a sweet tooth, there is nothing tastier. In fact, chocolate bananas are considered an absolute cult snack in Japan and have been eaten there for ages. In Germany, chocolate fruits are mainly found at public events and have been enjoying increasing popularity in recent years. The fruity chocolate pieces are also easy to make yourself – if you know what to look out for.

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Anyone who wants to buy some chocolate-covered fruit at the fairground stall is spoiled for choice. A number of fruits are covered in chocolate and sold here. You can find strawberries, bananas, grapes, blueberries, kiwis, apples and much more. Anyone who wants to recreate the sweets at home can also draw from this pool.

There are a few steps you need to follow to prepare the perfect chocolate fruits. It starts with the purchase. The best fruits are very fresh. If the fruit already has bruises, it is better not to use it. If the fruit is not quite ripe, however, this will affect the taste of the chocolate fruits - after all, they should taste sweet on the outside and inside.

To ensure that the delicacies remain crisp and fresh, it is very important that the fruit is cleaned particularly carefully. Simply using water is not enough. If you want to ensure that the fruit is free of dirt and, above all, bacteria, you should put it in a cold water bath with a little vinegar, recommends the consumer advice center . Soak the fruit for about five minutes and then rinse with clean water.

Once the fruit is clean, it is important to dry it completely. To do this, briefly place the fruit in a sieve, shake it gently and dab it gently with a kitchen towel. Then spread the fruit out and let it air dry completely. If you are in a bit of a hurry, you can also dry the fruit in the fridge after dabbing it dry.

If you like, you can cut your fruit into pieces or leave it whole. For bananas and kiwis, for example, only the peel is removed, while grapes and blueberries are used whole. With strawberries, it is best to leave the green part on the stem. This fruit is the ideal way to avoid getting your fingers covered in chocolate when eating.

Once the fruit is prepared, it's time to melt the chocolate. It should never be melted at too high a temperature.

Important to know: The melting point of chocolate depends on how much cocoa butter it contains. Milk chocolate contains less cocoa butter and melts faster, dark chocolate contains more cocoa butter and takes longer to melt. Milk chocolate should be melted at around 40 degrees Celsius, dark chocolate at 50 degrees Celsius. The temperature of the chocolate should then be cooled down to around 30 degrees Celsius before processing.

Melting chocolate is a class of its own. If you open the microwave door during this step, please close it again quickly. Because chocolate quickly gets too hot in the microwave and burns. Melting it in a water bath is better.

To do this, the chocolate is first chopped into small pieces and then placed in a stainless steel bowl. This is placed on a small pot that is about a third full of water. The pot is heated to a low to medium temperature and the vapors from the water slowly melt the chocolate.

When the chocolate has almost completely melted, remove the bowl from the pan, add a little coconut oil and stir until the coconut oil has dissolved and combined with the liquid chocolate. The coconut oil ensures that the chocolate shines after drying and is easier to spread on the fruit.

Once the fruits are dry and ready and the chocolate has melted, you can finally get started.

For delicious chocolate fruits you need:

• 400 grams of fruit
• 500 grams of chocolate (light or dark)
• two teaspoons of coconut oil
• wooden skewers
• optional: chopped hazelnuts or crumbles
• Also: a baking tray lined with baking paper, a stainless steel bowl, a small pot

Now prepare the fruit as described above and melt the chocolate and allow it to cool to 30 degrees Celsius. Skewer the fruit on the wooden skewers, dip them in the chocolate and shake them off gently. Then place them on the baking paper until the chocolate is dry. Strawberries that still have their stems can be held on to them and dipped in the chocolate.

Store chocolate fruits in the fridge and eat them the same day or the next day at the latest. Enjoy your meal.

If individual chocolate fruits aren't enough for you, a current food trend from social media might be something for you. The so-called "berry chocolate" creates a whole bar of chocolate fruits. It's best to prepare the fruits and chocolate using the tips mentioned above.

For a Berry Chocolate you need:

• a handful of berries (such as blueberries or raspberries - preferably of the same size)
• some chocolate melted with coconut oil
• some sea salt
• a baking tray lined with baking paper

And this is how it works:

1. Melt the chocolate and let it cool to 30 degrees Celsius. Wash the berries and make sure they dry thoroughly.

2. Then arrange the berries on the baking paper in the shape of a chocolate bar (see video). Now pour the cooled chocolate over the berries so that an edge remains free but all the berries are covered with chocolate. Now sprinkle some sea salt over the melted chocolate, let it dry and enjoy.