Valentine's Chocolates and The Winners!

With 99 different entries to consider in our search for the ideal Valentine's chocolate, we had our work cut out for us. Armed with Excel spreadsheets, highlighters and pens, my friends and I settled down with tea and cake to make our picks. We were looking for flavors that struck us as emotionally evocative, delicious and creative; flavors that would truly inspire love. And indeed, we each found many reasons love on the wide-ranging list of entries and despaired of ever making a final choice. After developing our individual top ten lists and comparing notes though, we found that while individually our task was difficult, the final selection emerged with surprising clarity and consensus as our diverse top tens overlapped on two flavors. Rather than haggle, we happily agreed to award the two entrants who brought us all together in agreement.

saffron infused coconut crème in bitter chocolate

One of our picks was Nico of Coconutz who suggested a chocolate made with a saffron-infused coconut creme center. We all agreed that such a richly, sweetly decadent delight of coconut cream laced with the unique and suggestive bitter-honey flavor of saffron would be a perfect way to say "I've got love for you." Suspended in a shell of 90% Vintage Plantation chocolate, the bitter edge of the chocolate breaks into the alluring, sweet cream in the center and meets every one of our expectations for Nico's entry. Thanks, Nico!

lapsang souchong, fig paste and Sichuan peppercorn

Our other pick was a sort of surprising one, as none of us are or have ever been smokers, but we were romanced by the suggestion from Kris of a smokey chocolate with fig and black pepper. Maybe it's one too many Bogart movies, but we thought the notion of a lingering smokey element in deep dark chocolate with the earthy, sexy complexity of fig and the final bite of black pepper on the back of the tongue could make us go a little weak in the knees. Since the first comment from one taster was that the chocolate gave his thighs goosebumps, I think we were on the mark with this one. Thanks, Kris!

the Valentine's Day assortment, completed

I have to say though that I was totally inspired and fascinated by all of your suggestions. Thanks so much for playing along! I think this chocolate making venture was a very collaborative experience and you'll see ideas and inspirations from all of your suggestions echoed throughout the assortment. So while I wish we could have shared these chocolates with all of you, I hope it will at least be interesting for everyone to share in the results of these lovingly communally-created chocolates digitally.

bay leaf, juniper berry and fennel seed infused-Muscat Canelli

Taking a page from Marleigh of Sloshed, (who, incidentally, was also the only person with multiple flavor suggestions to have every single one of her chocolates selected by at least one person, a feat for which we dubbed her an "overall honoree") I infused a Muscat reduction with fennel seed, juniper berry and bay leaf for a tart, fruity chocolate with a lightly lingering herbal finish.

ricemilk chocolate covered tart cherry, zinfandel port and espresso salt

We had a couple of port chocolate suggestions in the contest and I was happy to oblige those ideas with this ricemilk covered chocolate filled with tart cherries soaked in zinfandel port and finished with my favorite espresso salt for a mysterious, bittersweet finish.

Turkish coffee with urfa biber in ricemilk chocolate

Remembering a cupcake I made for Iron Cupcake, I drew the smoked ufra biber chili back into a sweet. I've been loving this new-to-me ingredient in many savory dishes, so it was fun to taste it again melded with the sweet tones of cardamom and ricemilk chocolate against the deep, bitter edge of fresh brewed Turkish coffee. This was also my first time working with a "milk" chocolate, a task made all the easier because of the early birthday present of a chocolate tempering machine from my dad. It's impossible to tell you how exciting this machine is and how much time it will save me and how much easier it will be to whip up small batches of chocolate any time I want. The overnight mode means I can instantly make chocolates right after I get out of bed if I wanted, which to be frank, I often do. You all know this means even more chocolate to come, right?

sassafras root infused truffle

On a recent visit to Christina's Spice Shop, I noticed a little bag of sassafras in with the herbs. I immediately snatched it up since this controversial ingredient is not something you can typically find for sale. Use of sassafras in food was banned by the FDA 1960, because in high doses it apparently caused cancer in mice (as if that is a directly applicable result). Canada and the US continue to prohibit its use in any consumable product, but it was in fact a prized treatment against some sexually transmitted diseases throughout history and has a significant place in particularly Southern US culinary traditions. It is also one of the primary roots used in the traditional brewing of rootbeer and it is amazingly delicious. So, I had to experiment with this as a "forbidden love" truffle, infusing soy creamer with the banned sassafras to create a spicy and wonderfully woody chocolate that feels really grounded and deep in it flavor. One or two can't hurt, can it?

hazelnut praline caramel with smoked sea salt

With specific thanks to Amey of Vegan Eats and Treats, as well as to all those who suggested that the ooey gooey cooked sugar flavors and textures of caramel make for a sexy addition to Valentine's, I made this praline caramel with a liberal pinch of smoked sea salt, an ingredient that set off the sweetness perfectly with a wonderfully mellow saltiness and subtle smoke.

pink peppercorn and Meyer lemon caramel

And since I can't help myself with caramel, another one, this time with the addition of some pink peppercorn and Meyer lemon. This was a thin and lightly cooked caramel that really looked beautiful flecked with pink and yellow and offered a really intriguing citrus spice to the pale sugar.

oro blanco and cara cara infused sake fondant with candied ginger

Citrus was a popular suggestion in the contest, and why not? It's in season, it's juicy, it's compelling sweet and tart, it's all coy with the thick rind hiding jewel-like flesh. The combination of a grapefruit-tinged orange like the cara-cara with the sweet orange-tinged flavor of the oro blanco seemed like a fun pairing along with a dash of sake and a fine dice of candied ginger.

maple brittle, chicory and black tea

Sometimes romance isn't the exotic allure of distant shores and heady spices, sometimes it's the cozy homestead and a roaring fire and the slow sap of a New York maple tree creeping out from a deep winter sleep. From a family friend, this maple syrup really does taste like my New York childhood, so combined with black tea, a little maple brittle and roasted chicory, I hit on the nostalgic romance of a winter day bundled up inside with all the comforts of home kind of chocolate.

mangosteen, toasted sesame seed and cocoa nib

Then again, sometimes romance is a distant shore and exotic fruit and so this little chocolate was born of mangosteen (the Southeast Asian queen of fruits) toasted black and white sesame seeds, a little coconut cream and cocoa nibs.

macadamia, olive oil and lemon

I really can't get enough of olive oil and chocolate, so it's worth exploring new ways of combining the two. Though I'm not always a lover of macadamia, the soft, rich nut seemed like a sexy and more sophisticated choice than peanut butter, and from earlier experiments, I knew that I liked it with olive oil, orange and white chocolate. So, mixing things up a little, I used olive oil to coax the macadamia into a smooth nut butter, sweetened it with agave, salted it with pink Himalayan sea salt and cut the richness with a tiny bit of lemon zest. This is the savoriest of the chocolates in my Valentine's assortment and I love it for that.

forelle pear and vanilla bean crème with Riesling reduction

Intrigued by a suggestion to cook down beer to a syrup, I applied the idea to a favorite dry Riesling of mine that I had reserved earlier as part of the poaching liquid I used to cook these amazing forelle pears for a tart. Reduced to a pale amber syrup, the Riesling was like an intensely fruity honey caramel spiked with pear nectar.

caramel ganache with cocoa nib brittle, orange zest and allspice

After observing the caramely reduction of the Riesling, I wondered what would happen if I whisked that into melted chocolate to make a caramel ganache. So, next opportunity I got, I made a small batch of dark caramel and poured it into melted chocolate along with caramelized cocoa nibs, a little orange zest and allspice. The resulting texture was intriguingly trapped between a caramel and a ganache, soft and slighly chewy with a tendancy to linger.

sweet marsala, rosemary and cranberry

A suggestion from Madeleine to encorporate rosemary in a chocolate made me remember a sweet marsala plumped cranberry and rosemary biscotti that I made a lot of last winter and hadn't revisited since. Something about rosemary is really great against cranberry for me and the marsala is a nice foil for the tartness in the cranberry and bitterness of the chocolate and the herbal punch of the rosemary.

lemon verbena and cucumber-scented green tea white chocolate

Having to buy rosemary made me inexpressably sad, wishing I could just cut it off from my months dormaint plant in my snow-covered garden, but I was able to cheer up a little by using the lemon verbena from my garden that I had dried and saved for an occation just like this. Paired with a sweet white chocolate and grounded with the clean-cool scent of cucumber and green tea, this is definitely a summer chocolate, but it's nice to have a reminder of the warmer days in the dreggs of winter.

blood orange and mango chili fondant in ricemilk chocolate

Another popular ingredient in many suggestions was blood orange, which seems right on the mark for Valentine's day, so how could I resist a red heart chocolate (annatto in oil brushed into molds and dabbed with pearlized luster dust) filled with chili-spiked mango and blood orange fondant?


I should also mention that we had a surprising moment in the tabulation of our top ten lists when two new members popped into the group to demand a voice in the proceedings. River and Oslo were adamant that we recognize the sensible suggestion of Patti's cat, Kissa, who thought that nothing said love like a cat nip truffle. Swamped as I was with the holiday, I handed the task of creating this chocolate off to River, who you can see above working her magic with some Cosmic Catnip!

Hope everyone enjoyed some chocolate and love over this Valentine's weekend. Thanks again for all your entries.