so, a customer made a 'suggestion'

i think that that person sounds rude and ungrateful....i am sure there was nothing wrong...she also sounds jealous....everyone was probley praising you and since it wasn't about her she just had to go and say something negative...unhappy people often do stuff like that!!! i am sure your strawberries and pie were delicious!!!!

I have to agree, good chocolate tastes better, but it doesn't have to be expensive. Jess try making a recipe of the Sarah Bernhardt chocolate glaze sometime and dip your berries in it, it is made with Guittard chcolate chips which are much better quality than Ghirardelli or Nestles but not as expensive as block chocolate. The glaze sets up enough that it doesn't come off on your finger if you touch the berries, but it is softer or creamier than just melted chocolate, it has a nice mouth feel and doesn't shatter when you bite into them. I just can't eat Candy melts, they taste too waxy to me.

Good quality products cost extra dollars!! People are willing to pay for that. I wouldn't use the melts if I'm trying to impress. Even melted choc. chips would be better. Maybe you can get a small quantity just for dipping strawberries? Ghiradelli has one available in grocery stores that would definetely be a step up from the melts.

I wouldn't be insulted by her suggestion, melts have a much different taste than chocolates. I've followed advice of many of my customers and they keep coming back!

I like the sound of the key lime cheesecake stuffed strawberries!! Made my mouth water just thinking of it! YUM!

"Why yes, the price of my berries HAVE gone up! I took your wonderful suggestion and started using a higher quality chocolate."

Premium ingredients come at a premium cost.

Dont take it personal. You can try it and see how that works if they dont want to pay for quality chocolate then give them what they want.

I wouldn't take it as an insult but would turn to my advantage as constructive critisism. I would now simply offer her and everyone else two different qualities of chocolate coatings, one being more expensive than the other. Let her and anyone else that wants to pay the higher dollars for the higher priced ingredients. My husband and I both have a rather expensive taste in the chocolate department and do not care for the melts either.
Take the comment as a positive for yourself!

Ok Shirley - I just looked at the recipe for the chocolate glaze...it sounds divine! I will have to come up with an excuse to bake something just so I can try it out! LOL

jescapades: don't take it personally. People have different tastes (especially when it comes to chocolate) and some are better at expressing themselves than others. I am sure she was trying to give you a polite suggestion, but it came out wrong. Keep your chin up!!

I've never tried the chocolate covered strawberries with candy melts.

I hope that I don't sound snobbish by saying this but actually, you can't really call them chocolate covered strawberries if you aren't using chocolate. If my understanding is correct, candy melts are not chocolate.

I say to try out a few kinds of chocolate and increase your prices as needed. The key lime cheesecake stuffed strawberry sounds DELISH!!

Jescapades...I of course don't know your husband but if he is like many men....it may have been said in a less offensive way than was construed to you? I personally don't like the taste of melts either but I bet you did a great job. Try not to take it personally especially since it was coming to you 2nd hand.

First of all, I can imagine how you feel. I hate it when I make something that I think is going to be so good and someone says "maybe next time you should try this", or "I think I liked your last icing better"..I'm always trying to perfect recipes but I still hate it when they don't love what I just made. Though, most of the time it's my family that tastes things for me. But I know I would be soo upset if a customer gave me a suggestion like that. Even if they were right I would still be crushed, at first at least!!

But I will say that I'm not a huge fan of the taste of candy melts. I really like to use Symphony bars. I can usually get them on sale at my grocery for $1, and they are just really good, but still not soo expensive. I live in a small town so I don't have access to guittards, or anything like that, but everyone loves the symphony bars. I have used cadbury before too and that is good as well. They are both readily available and usually can be found on sale so maybe you wouldn't have to increase your prices so much. It's just a thought. I hope I've helped some.

Your stuffed strawberries sounds amazing though. And just remember sometimes we have to go through trial and error until we get the right recipes that we are happy with and so are our customers. Try not to be too upset, because you are super talented and I'm sure regardless of the chocolate your berries tasted awesome!!

I gotta agree with your customer - give some good chocolate a try. Folks who are into chocolate (and those are likely the folks ordering choco covered strawberries) really do appreciate the taste and texture of the real deal AND will have no trouble paying extra for it. Try Callebaut - it's one of the lower priced fine chocolates... tastes wonderful. Other good ones to try are Guittard, Scharffen Berger and Valhrona. I order all my chocolate from http://chocosphere.com . They're very competitively priced, have an insane selection, ship it quick and always add a little extra treat in my package for me to enjoy.

Hmmm.. I wouldn't take it personally. It's a matter of taste. Some people like candy melts.. some don't. I personally don't like them. I don't think of them as real chocolate, and I am willing to bet that many people would agree with me. Most people see chocolate covered strawberries as a luxury.. so they will pay for them. Especially if you can say they are covered in premium chocolate. I'd switch to a better chocolate and charge accordingly.

And like Shirley suggested, I also use a very firm ganache to cover my chocolate covered strawberries (I only make them for me since I am selfish and won't share.. LOL). It has a great mouth feel compared to just plain old chocolate which breaks off in big chunks. A firm ganache melts in your mouth with each bite.

Edited to add that I can get Ghiradelli chocolate at my grocery store.. if you ask the manager they will probably order something like that for you. A bar costs me $1.99.. they sell it in chip form too.. worth a shot.

Hey Jescapades!

If it makes you feel any better, I personally have only used merkens to make my covered strawberries and have never had a complaint! I like the fact that it firms up nice and doesn't melt easily. I haven't used other chocolates because I feel they would be soft and not really be like the chocolate covered strawberries I've tasted before. If I found a recipe that would give me the same consistency as the merkens, I would consider trying it though! Chin up!

Deanna

I am in total agreement with the others on this string. Use better chocolate on your strawberries. They will taste so much better and the chocolate will be smoother on the taste buds. Make it and they will come and pay top dollar for it.