The perfect strawberry
The labor-intensive process of dipping chocolate-covered strawberries starts with prepping the berries. “When picking the perfect strawberry, we look for ones that have a sweet flavor and some acid in the berry,” Dinstuhl said. “The acid helps break down the fondant to make the juice.” While they use locally grown berries from Jones Orchard in the summer, Dinstuhl’s sources strawberries from Florida for Valentine’s Day. “First-batch Florida berries have
more flavor than California early-season berries,” Dinstuhl said.
Memphis-based produce company Palazola will deliver approximately 350 flats of strawberries to the Dinstuhl’s production kitchen on Pleasant View over the course of three days.
Each strawberry is cleaned and capped to remove the stem by hand. The staff also sorts through the strawberries picking out the ones that are perfectly ripe.
The secret ingredient
“The fondant is the secret ingredient,” Dinstuhl said.
The fondant formula the company uses today is the same recipe that was developed by current kitchen manager and head candy maker Andrew Dinstuhl’s great-grandfather.
“We make it the same way they did back in the 1920s,” Andrew Dinstuhl said as he pointed to the original equipment they still use today, including a 1914 fire mixer with an antique copper kettle resting on the burner.
Fondant is made from only two ingredients — granulated sugar and water. The two ingredients are prepared in an exact process that heats the mixture to a certain temperature and then cools it down into a taffy-like substance that can be re-melted in to a liquid state. This type of poured fondant used in candy making is different from the rolled fondant used to decorate cakes.
The candy makers hand dip each strawberry completely in the liquid fondant before putting it on a tray to set. Racks and racks of trays are whisked away to the walk-in coolers to set for about 15 to 30 minutes before being dipped in chocolate.
For these four days, this is an “all hands-on deck” process for the Dinstuhl’s team. They have created a multistep system to enable them to produce so many chocolate-covered berries in such a short time frame.
The chocolate
For Valentine’s Day, Dinstuhl’s only uses milk chocolate.
“During the rest of the year, we can take special orders for dark- or white chocolate-dipped berries,” Dinstuhl said. “We just can’t do it this week because of how busy we are.”
In their production kitchen, Dinstuhl’s has two chocolate machines. Most of the year, one machine only does milk chocolate confections and the other only does dark chocolate. For the week of Valentine’s Day, both machines are converted to milk chocolate.
As she pointed to a pallet of cases of humongous chocolate bars, Dinstuhl said their candy shop has had Peter’s Chocolates, a specialty chocolate company founded in 1887, specially blend their chocolate for them since the early 1900s.
Valentine’s Day boxes
Once in the packaging room, the berries are hand packed in to Dinstuhl’s signature boxes.
“Each box contains one pound of chocolate-covered strawberries,” Dinstuhl said. “You are guaranteed six in a box, but depending on weight you may have one or two extra.”
Dinstuhl’s chocolate-covered strawberries should be kept refrigerated until ready to eat. Dinstuhl suggests eating them within four to five days because the berries begin to break down quickly.
Ordering in advance is highly suggested to guarantee you get a box, as well as to avoid the lines. At all four Dinstuhl’s locations, pre-paid orders will have a separate pickup area from Feb. 12-14.
But there will be “plenty for those that forget and just walk in the door,” Dinstuhl added.
And as for how best to enjoy the chocolate-covered strawberries, Dinstuhl’s owner Judy Moss offered some advice: “There is an art to it! Take a small bite off the end and drink the juice. Then eat the rest.”
Jennifer Chandler is the Food & Dining Reporter at The Commercial Appeal. She can be reached at jennifer.chandler@commercialappeal.com and you can follow her on Twitter and Instagram at @cookwjennifer.