Sweets to the Sweet: Chocolate Recipes for Your Valentine

Sure, you could spend a small fortune to buy an exquisitely wrapped box of gourmet chocolates to present to your love. Have you considered the more wallet friendly, and ultimately more romantic alternative of giving something you created yourself? The gift of your time and effort will certainly be appreciated, especially if your labors produce some delicious chocolate goodies.

Long a traditional gift for February the 14th, chocolate has also been one of the all-time favored weapons of seduction since it was first wrapped around a dark, creamy, truffle center and packaged for presentation in a heart-shaped, lace-trimmed bon-bon box. You would be hard-pressed to come up with a more perfect token of your admiration than a prettily wrapped selection of home-made chocolate goodies - especially if you prepared them.

Granny's cookbook is full of recipes for fabulous dessert . These luscious treats are all either rolled in cocoa powder, dipped in melted chocolate, or iced with a decadent chocolaty-rich icing for some of the nicest Valentine's goodies ever to be tied up with a big red bow.

Chocolate Marshmallows

Ingredients:

• 2 Tbsp gelatin
• 4 Tbsp cold water
• 1/2 cup boiling water
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar sifted together with 1 - 2 Tbsp cocoa powder
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 cup icing sugar
  
• 1 Tbsp cornstarch
  
• 1 Tbsp cocoa powder

Method:

• Soften gelatin in the 4 Tbsp cold water
• When soft, pour in boiling water and stir 'til dissolved
• Sift cocoa powder into granulated sugar
• Add granulated sugar and flavoring to dissolved gelatin, and stir 'til sugar is melted
  
• Beat mixture 'til thick and foamy (the more beating, the better)
  
• Pour into wet mold or cake pan, chill until set
• Sift cornstarch and cocoa powder together
• Cut marshmallow into squares and roll in cocoa mixture

Chocolate-Dipped Peanut Brittle

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups shelled peanuts
• 1 cup sugar
• Callebaut chocolate, melted
  

Method:

• Spread peanuts evenly on a buttered pan
• Put sugar in cast iron frying pan
• Heat over medium heat, stirring constantly, until sugar is melted
• Immediately pour over the peanuts in the pan
• When cool, break into irregular pieces and dip half of each piece in the melted chocolate
• Set on wax paper to cool completely

Chocolate Drizzled Coconut Creams

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 Tbsp butter
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 cup shredded coconut
• Dark Callebaut chocolate, melted

Method:

• Boil sugar and milk together to "soft ball" stage (234 F)
  
• Add butter, vanilla, coconut
• Remove from heat and beat until creamy
• Pour into a buttered 9 X 9 pan and let cool
• Drizzle with melted chocolate and cut into squares
  

Chocolate Brownies

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 cup white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 squares semi-sweet chocolate, melted
• 1 cup sifted flour
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp vanilla

Method:

• Cream butter
• Add sugar and cream 'til light and fluffy
• Add lightly beaten eggs and mix well
• Add chocolate, flour, nuts, salt, vanilla
• Spread into greased pan and bake at 325 F for 20 minutes or until center is just set
• Dust the top with icing sugar, or arrange halved nuts over the top
  
• Cut into squares while warm

Variations:

• Add 1/2 cup bittersweet chocolate chips or nuggets with the nuts, etc.
• Add 1/3 cup butterscotch chips and 1/2 cup chopped pecans in place of the walnuts

Half & Half Brownies

• Use same ingredients as previous recipe
• Melt only 1 square melted chocolate
• Add flour, salt, vanilla before adding chocolate
• Divide batter in half
• Add chocolate to one half of the batter
• Pour the chocolate batter into the "white" half and swirl them together lightly. Do not over-mix - leave definite swirls of each color in the batter
  
• Pour the batter into a buttered pan
• Bake at 325 F for 20 minutes until just set
• Cut into squares while still hot
  

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup butter
• 2/3 cup sour cream
• 2 cups brown sugar
• 1/4 tsp vanilla
  
• 2 eggs (well beaten)
  
• 2 3/4 cups sifted flour
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder
  
• 3/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 cup bittersweet chocolate chips
• melted dark chocolate
  

Method:

• Cream butter and sour cream together
• Add sugar and vanilla
• Add eggs and beat in well
• Sift together cocoa, flour and baking soda
  
• Add to wet ingredients along with chocolate chips, and mix well
• Drop by teaspoon-fulls onto greased baking sheet
• Bake at 375 F for 10 to 12 minutes
• When cool, drizzle with melted dark chocolate
  

© Elle Fredine, 2010, all rights reserved