Finding chocolate dipped strawberries... ?

July 4, 2005 2:53 PM

Aside from buying the ingredients and making them myself, where would one go to buy chocolate dipped strawberries in Southern California - preferably in the San Fernando Valley? There are countless companies who will ship these to me but I need them for Tuesday evening and with the holiday today that makes shipping, sadly, impossible...
posted by MarkBakalor to Food & Drink (6 answers total)

Suggestions: try your local Bristol Farms or Gelsons as they usually have premium candies and such. Or, perhaps Googling a company from whom you can rent a chocolate fountain and allow your guests to make their own - it's all the rage these days.

Speaking of Googling, here's a SoCal source for the finished product:

Halgren’s Candies
1206 N. Grove Avenue
Ontario, CA 91764
[phone]; Fax: [phone]

The city’s finest gourmet candy, jam, jellies and gifts. Brandied Cherry Cordials, gourmet turtles, delicious chocolate-covered strawberries, citrus jelly, party mint wafers, caramel-dipped chocolate-covered apricots, gourmet candy florals, and 12-inch long, stemmed chocolate-covered strawberries.
posted by seymour.skinner at 3:29 PM on July 4, 2005

Even Ralphs has kits to make them - the strawberries and chocolate packaged together with a recipe. Gelsons for sure.
posted by johngumbo at 3:43 PM on July 4, 2005

Most Godiva stores have them in the window ready to go or can make them for you on demand when you want them.

If that doesn't work try calling the California Strawberry Commission in the morning. They should be able to point you in the right direction.
posted by smash at 4:03 PM on July 4, 2005

Best answer: The kits sound like the low-cost way to go. But if you're set on buying them, another retail spot to possibly try is the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory. A mall near me (it's in the San Gabriel Valley) has one in its food court and it always has candy apples and chocolate dipped strawberries in the display. RMCF's CA locations include a few in LA. It's not low-cost but probably less than Godiva and closer than Ontario.
posted by PY at 6:25 PM on July 4, 2005

Best answer: CA locations
posted by PY at 6:27 PM on July 4, 2005

If you're using these for a dinner party, MarkB, it's really easy to melt chunks of dark chocolate (medium-low in the microwave--stop and stir before it looks melted), arrange fresh strawberries, cherries, etc. around the outside, and have your guests dip them. My cherries are in season now, and everybody loves doing this. It's cheaper, fresher, you do less work, and it creates a conversation/focal point better than a ready-made dish.
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 8:55 PM on July 4, 2005