4th of July Blueberries

This year, in addition to the 4th of July Cake, I also made these blueberry treats. I saw the idea online and thought “Hey, those look easy and cute”. I will say, they were very easy, but also very tedious, which I guess I should have expected. But they did turn out pretty cute, and they tasted good. Everyone enjoyed them, so that’s a win.

These treats were not nearly as exciting as the flag cake I also made for our family celebration this year. But they are still a good option, especially for someone who doesn’t want to expend the time and energy for something as in depth as the cake.

So what do you need to make these?

• Blueberries
• White chocolate bark
• Red sugar sprinkles
• Toothpicks

By "white chocolate bark", I mean something like this one to the right. It could be called bark or chocolate coating. This kind of chocolate will harden well after it cools. It is the kind of chocolate I use for anything that I dip in chocolate. Making chocolate dipped pretzels, chocolate covered Oreos, etc? Chocolate bark is the way to go.

And, in case you don't know what sugar sprinkles are, they look like those pictured to the right. They are essentially just sugar crystals with coloring. You can find them in pretty much any color you want. Currently at my house, I have red, green, orange, black, gold, and silver. These sprinkles are great for all types of decorating. Cakes, cupcakes, sugar cookies, etc.

So, first thing: Put the blueberries on the toothpicks. You need 3 blueberries per toothpick. I tried to have the 3 blueberries all about the same size. Not very important, just makes them look neater.

Then, you need to melt the white chocolate. I find it best to do this using a double boiler. If you’re not familiar with double boilers, they are essentially two stacked pots. You put water in the bottom pot, and in the top pot, you put the chocolate. The water boils, creating steam, which then heats the chocolate. This allows the chocolate to melt without coming into direct contact with the heat from the stove. Using a double boiler helps to prevent the chocolate from burning.

Dip the bottom two blueberries into the white chocolate. Then, dip the bottom blueberry into the red sprinkles. You need to do this before the chocolate cools. Place the blueberry stick on a sheet of wax paper to completely cool and harden. I like to use wax paper anytime I am dipping something in chocolate. The wax paper keeps your treats from sticking.

Once the chocolate hardens, you can enjoy your blueberry treat! They didn't turn out quite as neat as I had hoped. In future, I may wait just a minute after dipping the blueberries in the chocolate before dipping them into the sprinkles. When I made mine, I went from white chocolate to sprinkles immediately, so they chocolate was still very very hot. Because of this, the chocolate started to drip while I was dipping it into the sprinkles.