Make magic in the kitchen. Create these whimsical white chocolate Unicorn Strawberries using fresh strawberries and modeling chocolate decorations. These cute treats will mesmerize kids of all ages.
These white chocolate-dipped strawberry unicorns are so much fun to decorate and they will make a plate of chocolate strawberries look magical.
When I saw some beautiful-looking strawberries at the grocery store this week, I just had to get a few packages because I have been wanting to create some more decorated chocolate-dipped strawberries ever since I made my Chocolate Strawberry Bears for Valentine's Day.
I went all out and decided to take my unicorn strawberries to the next level. I dipped them in white chocolate and then decorated them with modeling chocolate in a rainbow of colors.
These strawberry unicorns are going to take you some time to decorate but they have an amazing "wow" factor and would look so magical on a tray of traditional chocolate-dipped strawberries.
Video
Want to see how they are made? Watch this video.
RELATED: If you love unicorns be sure to check out my Unicorn Cake, Unicorn Pretzels, and Unicorn Cupcakes.
Ingredients
strawberries
- I find it best to wet some paper towels with water and then use that damp paper towel to wipe off the strawberries.
- If you wash the berries in running water, you must thoroughly dry them before dipping them.
- Your strawberries must also be at room temperature before dipping. If you dip cold strawberries the chocolate shell will most likely crack.
- Once the chocolate hardens you can brush some chocolate on the underside of the berry. This will keep the strawberries from seeping juice.
white chocolate
- You can use melted and tempered pure white chocolate or melted white confectionery coating. I've shared detailed information regarding the differences between the two on my Chocolate Making Tips page but here's a short recap.
- Pure White Chocolate
- Pure white chocolate made with cocoa butter has a wonderful flavor and creamy texture and tastes amazing as a coating for fresh strawberries.
- You can buy bars, blocks, chips, or wafers (also called callets).
- Pure white chocolate will need to be melted tempered in order for the white chocolate to set hard and be free of any fat or sugar bloom (white streaks or spots). See how to temper chocolate, here.
- Callebaut and Lindt make really nice white chocolate.
- Compound Chocolate (confectionery coating, Candy Melts, melting wafers, almond bark, CandiQuik, etc.)
- All of these items are similar to white chocolate but are made using vegetable oil instead of cocoa butter.
- If you like the flavor of the candy straight out of the package then you will also enjoy it as a coating on a strawberry.
- I actually prefer the flavor of some white confectionery coating to pure white chocolate and it's so much easier to work with being it doesn't require tempering.
- I used Nestle Premier White Morsels as they are easy to melt, have a nice white chocolate flavor, and are available in the grocery store.
- You can also use Merckens, Girardelli, or Wilton's Candy Melts.
modeling chocolate - Modeling chocolate is similar to fondant but it tastes like chocolate! It's delicious and easy to make. Find my 2-ingredient modeling chocolate recipe, here.
Instructions
Melt the white chocolate.
- Pour 16 ounces of candy melts wafers into a microwave-safe bowl.
- Heat on high power for 30-second increments, stirring after each, until about 75% melted.
- Then let the candy rest for 3 minutes before stirring until melted.
- It's best to allow the residual heat of the melted candy to melt the remaining wafers so that the candy does not get too hot.
- Do not dip your strawberries in really hot confectionery coating or you will essentially cook the outer edge of the berry. Allow the coating to cool so that it no longer feels hot to the touch.
TIPS:
- When you are shopping for white chocolate and you choose to use chips be sure to look at the ingredients. If cocoa butter is listed in the ingredients then the chocolate will need to be tempered.
- If you simply melt pure white chocolate and use it to coat your strawberries the white chocolate will either not set up hard and your strawberries will have a soft shell or the white chocolate will set hard but the cocoa butter will bloom later causing streaks and spots.
- Tempering chocolate takes practice and keeping chocolate in temper while you are working can be challenging. so there is an alternative. You can dip your strawberries in white confectionery coating instead.
Dip strawberries in white chocolate.
- Dip a clean, dry, room-temperature strawberry into melted white chocolate.
- Allow the excess to drip off then set on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet.
- Allow the chocolate to puddle around the bottom of the strawberry then lift up the strawberry and move it to another spot on the paper if you don't want the foot (the dried puddle) on the dipped strawberry.
- If using pure white chocolate, allow the white chocolate to harden at room temperature. If using confectionery coating pop the strawberries into the refrigerator to chill for 3-5 minutes just until the candy hardens. (see below for details)
Make modeling chocolate.
You can see a very detailed tutorial and instructions on my How to Make Modeling Chocolate page but below is a quick overview.
- Melt 12 ounces of white chocolate or white confectionery coating and allow it to cool, stirring it frequently, until it reaches about 91 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Stir in ⅓ cup light corn syrup until it becomes very thick.
- Either knead the modeling chocolate on a cool surface, like marble or granite until smooth, or place it in a zip log back for about an hour to allow it to cool then knead it until smooth.
Tips:
- Follow the rule about cooling your chocolate to make perfect modeling chocolate every time.
- If you over-heat or over-cool the chocolate and your modeling chocolate becomes greasy or dry, be sure to check out my Modeling Chocolate Tips page for instructions on how to fix it.
Color the modeling chocolate.
- Pinch off pieces of the white modeling chocolate and knead in pink, purple, blue, orange, yellow, and black food coloring. (Gel, paste, or liquid food coloring will work, but liquid coloring will make your modeling chocolate soft.)
- USE GLOVES!!! Be sure to wear food-safe gloves whenever kneading color into modeling chocolate.
- Place the colored modeling chocolate in zip-top bags and allow it to rest for at least 30 minutes so that it can dry a bit. If it's too soft after 30 minutes, let it sit out at room temperature to air dry for 15-20 minutes.
I wrote an entire book all about making modeling chocolate which is also called candy clay when it's made using confectionery coating (Wilton's Candy Melts). My book, Candy Clay Creations, is filled with great tips on making and decorating treats using candy clay.
Cut out modeling chocolate eyes, mane, muzzle, and ears.
- EYES: Roll out some black modeling chocolate to about ⅛th inch thickness and cut out two small circles using a small round plunger cutter.
- MANE: Pinch off pea-sized pieces of purple, orange, blue, and yellow modeling chocolate and roll them into pointed logs.
- MUZZLE: Roll pink modeling chocolate out to about ⅛th inch thickness then cut into an oval then cut that in half.
- EARS: Roll out white modeling chocolate to ¼ inch thickness and cut out two small (½ inch) hearts using a plunger cutter. Then roll out some pink to about 1/16th inch thickness and cut out tiny (¼ inch) hearts. Use water to attach the pink heart to the white heart.
I used very large strawberries so these sizes may need to be adjusted if you use smaller berries.
Make the unicorn's horn.
- Pinch off pieces of black modeling chocolate and roll them into pointed logs then twist two of them together to create a horn. Cut off the excess so that the horn is about 1 inch long.
- Brush the black modeling chocolate horn with edible gold luster dust.
- The gold will look really vibrant when brushed over the dark modeling chocolate. If you want a more muted horn, create it out of lighter-colored modeling chocolate.
Decorate the Strawberries
- Use melted white chocolate or confectionery coating to attach the modeling chocolate pieces to your white chocolate-covered strawberries.
- Wrap the pink muzzle around the tip of the strawberry.
- Attach two eyes, the ears, the horn, and the mane.
- Then make the nostrils using the flat end of a wooden skewer and the mouth using a rounded gumpaste tool or toothpick.
Your unicorn strawberries are now ready to serve.
Watch the video above to see this process in action!
Eat the chocolate strawberries today!
- Chocolate-covered strawberries are best eaten the day they are made.
- You can leave your berries at room temperature after dipping for up to 24 hours but they will be best if eaten within 12 hours of being coated in white chocolate.
DO NOT refrigerate these strawberry unicorns!
- Once you've added the modeling chocolate decorations you do not want to put them in the refrigerator.
- Modeling chocolate will wick up the moisture from the refrigerator and beads of condensation will form on the surface making the modeling chocolate sticky.
Time-Saving Tips:
- Make all of your modeling chocolate decorations in advance. They will keep if stored in a zip-top bag for up to a month.
- Then the day you want to serve these White Chocolate Strawberry Unicorns you can just dip and decorate.
Variations
You can decorate chocolate-dipped strawberries to look like an animal. I've made a few cute strawberry bears.
More unicorn-themed desserts
Recipe
Adorably cute unicorn strawberries are made by decorating white chocolate-dipped strawberries with colorful modeling chocolae.
- 16 ounces white chocolate or white confectionery coating melted and/or tempered
- 8 large strawberries, cleaned and dried at room temperature
- 3 ounces modeling chocolate (pink, black, yellow, orange purple, and blue)
- edible gold luster dust
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Dip strawberries in melted and tempered pure white chocolate or in melted white confectionery coating (candy melts).
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Allow the excess chocolate to drip off.
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Set on a parchment paper lined baking sheet.
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Chill in the fridge (for 3-5 minutes) if using candy melts or let air dry (for about 10 minutes) if using pure white chocolate just until firm.
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Roll out some black modeling chocolate to about ⅛th inch thickness and cut out two small circles using a small round plunger cutter for each of the unicorn's eyes.
-
Pinch off pea-sized pieces of purple, orange, blue, and yellow modeling chocolate and roll them into pointed logs for each mane.
-
Roll pink modeling chocolate out to about ⅛th inch thickness then cut into an oval then cut that in half to create the muzzles.
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Roll out white modeling chocolate to ¼ inch thickness and cut out two small (½ inch) hearts using a plunger cutter. Then roll out some pink to about 1/16th inch thickness and cut out tiny (¼ inch) hearts. Use water to attach the pink heart to the white heart to create the ears.
-
Pinch off pieces of black modeling chocolate and roll them into pointed logs then twist two of them together to create a horn. Cut off the excess so that the horn is about 1 inch long.
-
Brush the horns with edible gold luster dust.
-
Use melted white chocolate to attach the modeling chocolate pieces to your white chocolate-covered strawberries.
-
Wrap the pink muzzle around the tip of the strawberry.
-
Attach two eyes, the ears, the horn, and the mane.
-
Then make the nostrils using the flat end of a wooden skewer and the mouth using a rounded Gumpaste tool or toothpick.
Storage
These unicorn strawberries are best if eaten the day they are made. Keep them at room temperature for up to 24 hours. If absolutely necessary, you can refrigerate them but know that the modeling chocolate will get sticky.
Extra White Chocolate
You will have extra white chocolate but you need enough to be able to dip your strawberries. You can spread it out on a parchment paper-lined baking pan, chill it until hardened, then break it up and use it for another recipe.
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martha says
mmn im eating them now and the are tasty you are awsome beth and thier so cute 🍓🍩
Beth says
Thanks, Martha! I'm so glad you like these unicorn strawberries!
Lilly says
you are amazing
Beth says
Awe, thanks! That's so sweet of you to say.
The Partiologist says
The cutest unicorn in all the world !!
Beth says
Thanks!!
Rachel Quesada says
You really outdid yourself! These turned out incredible!!
Beth says
That's so nice of you to say! Thanks. 🙂