Chocolate Dipped Fruit with a Surprise

Ingredients:

1 lb strawberries

1 package raspberries

2 dozen cherries

2 dozen mini oreos

Chocolate mousse

3 cups semisweet chocolate chips

1 cup white chocolate melts 

Start by preparing your chocolate mousse. If you have a recipe that you love, make that! If not, I really like this one from All Recipes.

While the mousse is setting up, wash and dry your fruit. Cut the stem and the core out of the strawberries. Pit the cherries. Now I'm going to be picky about this and tell you that your cherries will be the highlight with your guests and they will be twice as cute if you pit them from the bottom and leave the stems attached. It is more work, but totally worth the end result. I normally make two slits across the bottom of the cherry (it makes an x) and then I stick my fingers in and pull out the pit. This will effectively divide your cherry in 4 sections, but that is okay. The mousse will pull it back together, and when it is chocolate dipped no one will be the wiser!

When your mousse has set up you are ready to start filling the fruit. Start by lining a cookie sheet with wax paper. Fill a piping bag with chocolate mouse. Fill each piece of fruit and then place it on the cookie sheet. For the raspberries, I fill them slightly over the top of the raspberry. Finally, move on to the Oreos. Pipe mousse onto the top of each Oreo and place on the tray with the fruit. Place cookie sheet in the freezer for 10-15 minutes.

While your delicacies are in the freezer you can start melting your chocolate in a double boiler on the stove. I like to work with a half a batch at the time. Sometimes when moisture gets into chocolate it can seize. By only melting half of the chocolate at a time you can avoid losing all of your chocolate if it does seize. When your chocolate is melted turn your burner all the way down to it's lowest setting. This will maintain some heat in the chocolate while you are working. Place your tray next to the double boiler.

Start with the strawberries. This is going to feel a little backwards to you because you are dipping the opposite end of the strawberry than you normally would. Dip the top of the strawberry 1/2-1 inch into the melted chocolate. This seals the chocolate mousse inside the strawberry. Place the dipped strawberry back on the wax paper.

Repeat the process with the raspberries, Oreos and finally the cherries. It is important to do the cherries last as they are extremely juicy and can cause your chocolate to become grainy and seize. Melt more chocolate as neccessary.

When you are finished, place your chocolate covered delicacies in the refrigerator. While they are setting up you can melt the white chocolate. You can do it in a double boiler on the stove, or if you purchase the white chocolate melts they will melt just as easily in the microwave. White chocolate can be a bit finicky. Which, in my opinion, makes it worth the trip to Michael's to pick up the White Chocolate Melts!

Finally the fun part. When the white chocolate is melted, take the tray out of the fridge. Now you can drizzle with white chocolate in one of two ways. You can fill a piping bag with the melted white chocolate and pipe it onto the chocolate covered fruit and Oreos, or you can go with a more haphazard approach. I usually dip a fork or knife into the melted chocolate, and shake it back and forth over the tray. It adds a bit of whimsy and lends a less formal feel to your dessert. But again, suit your own fancy!

Keep the chocolate covered fruit and Oreos refrigerated until you are going to serve them. Arrange on a platter and await the oohs and ahhs as your guests discover the secret hidden beneath the chocolate!