Chocolate-covered fruit
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Chocolate-covered fruits can be either fresh or dried. Fruits used include strawberries,[1] blueberries, cherries, pomegranates, kiwi fruit, pineapple, bananas, oranges,[2][3] dried apricots, raisins, citrus peels and other dried or candied fruits.[4] Fruit can be dipped in dark chocolate, milk chocolate or white chocolate, which are also used for decoration.[3] Nuts, coconut, chocolate chips, sprinkles, and other toppings are sometimes added.[5]
Preparation
| External videos | |
|---|---|
 | |
 "Easy Chocolate Covered Strawberries" |
Fruits should be dipped in a chocolate containing more than 50% cocoa butter. A chocolate bar made for eating is more likely to have this level of cocoa butter than chocolate chips, which are meant to hold their shape when heated.[6] Tempering, a process of heating and cooling the chocolate, is required to achieve a smooth dipping consistency[7] and a crisply cracking shell. The tempering process first melts the fat crystals in cocoa butter, and then allows them to solidify again with a stable crystal formation that gives the coating its smooth finish.[8] Some confectioners may use a non-chocolate confectioner's coating which does require tempering.[9]
Fresh fruit should be carefully washed and dried ahead of time to ensure that the chocolate sticks. It is best to use fruit at room temperature: if it is too cold, surface moisture may prevent chocolate from sticking to the fruit.[6] Fresh fruits such as strawberries, which are 90% water, cannot be covered in chocolate more than a day or two in advance of eating, because their high water content means they will not keep well.[9]
History
In 1544, Dominican friar Bartolomé de las Casas and a delegation of Qʼeqchiʼ presented cocoa beans and chocolate to Philip II, later King of Spain. Drinking chocolate did not become popular in Spain until the late 1500s.[10][11] By the 1700s, it had spread to France and England as a drink of the wealthy.[12] Pre-industrial producers of wafers for use in making drinking chocolate included Fry & Sons of Bristol, founded in 1728, and the Steinhund or Steinhude factory in Germany, founded in 1765.[11]
Production of powdered cocoa and chocolate in bars were industrialized in the 1800s. In 1828, Coenraad van Houten developed a process for separating out cocoa powder, revolutionizing chocolate production.[11] Per capita intake of both chocolate and sugar rose dramatically as sweetened solid chocolate became a staple of confectionery and desserts.[11] In 1847, J.S. Fry & Sons of Bristol, England sold the first sweetened chocolate bar for eating.[13] In 1875 Daniel Peter developed the milk chocolate bar using concentrated milk invented by Henri Nestlé.[14]
Fruit cordials can be made far in advance using fruits such as cherries,[15] soaked in liqueur or sugar syrup, within a chocolate shell.[16] Chocolate-covered cherries may have been made in France as early as the 1700s.[17] Long-stalked tart griotte cherries, a speciality of the Franche-Comté region, were soaked with kirsch to preserve them. At some point they were covered in chocolate.[18] In the United States, Cella's began making chocolate cherries in 1864, the Brock Candy Company (later Brach's) in the 1930’s and Queen Anne's in 1948.[16]
Chocolate covered fruits are popular at European markets during the Christmas season.[19] Chocolate-covered dried fruits are sometimes included in boxed chocolates.[20] Chocolate covered dried fruits were a world-wide export of the California fruit industry as early as 1927.[21] In 2024-2025, Vietnam, Uzbekistan, and Mexico were the biggest exporters of dried fruit while the United States and Russia were the top importers.[22]
Strawberries dipped in chocolate are a popular gift for Valentine's Day in the United States.[23][24] Credit for inventing the chocolate-covered strawberry has been given to Lorraine Lorusso in the 1960s, who dipped strawberries in chocolate, and first sold them for Mother's Day in a gourmet food store in Chicago.[9]
Chocolate fondue with various fruits is eaten for dessert.[25] Strawberries and other fruits are also served for dipping into chocolate fountains, often on wooden skewers.[26]
December 16th has been referred to as "National Chocolate Covered Anything Day", promoting the use of chocolate to cover not only fruit, but all sort of other foods. Other chocolate-related "holidays" promoted by the United States National Confectioners Association range from National Chocolate Covered Cherry Day (January 3) to National Chocolate Covered Insects Day (October 14).[27][28]
Examples
"Chocobananas" from Japan
Chocolate-dipped strawberries
Chocolate coated citrus peel
Chocolate-dipped raspberry
Chocolate fountain for dipping fruit
.jpg)
Brands
Various brands make fruit covered chocolate candies including:
- Cella's – chocolate-covered cherries[29]
- Marich Confectionery – chocolate-covered dried fruits[30]
- Mon Chéri by Ferrero SpA[31] – The Mon Chéri is a single-wrapped combination consisting of a "heart" of cherry (18%) floating in a liqueur (13%) and contained in a bittersweet chocolate housing (69%).
