Chocolate is often touted as the quintessential Valentine’s Day treat. The two have slowly become more intertwined in the past couple of centuries. In Mesoamerican cultures, such as the Mayans and Aztecs, cacao was considered a divine gift and a powerful aphrodisiac. However, it wasn’t until the 19th century that chocolate became firmly connected to Valentine’s Day. Cacao beans were brought back to Europe by Spanish explorers. It remained only available to the elite until the Industrial Revolution. In 1861, British chocolatier Richard Cadbury introduced the first heart-shaped box of chocolates, capitalizing on the holiday’s romantic connotations. He was able to do so because he could mass-produce and refine the cacao beans with machines, and also benefited from economies of scale (reducing the per-unit cost of chocolate as production increased). Chocolate became far more accessible. Today, gifting chocolates on Valentine’s Day symbolizes affection and indulgence.

However, working with it is challenging. The folks at Modernist Cuisine solved one of the greatest mistakes that people make while working with chocolate into a wonderful treat. I decided it would be a great time to try it; I had a couple of half-empty chocolate bars, and the idea had been percolating in my mind for a while. I used a mix of 100% and 60% chocolate. The abstract concept is that when one adds water to melted chocolate, the cocoa particles clump together, making the result thick and grainy, which is obviously not ideal for most functions. If one adds a drop of water, the chocolate is perfect for piping into shapes or as the base of hot chocolate or a ganache. If one adds about a tablespoon, they’ll end up with a thick paste. I tried to do the former but my makeshift piping bag didn’t work out. I ended up scraping all of it back into my double boiler and adding some more water. From that, I tried rolling it out into little logs attached to the same skewers. It was visually unappealing, to say the least. I scraped out all of that chocolate and packed it into a heart-shaped mold that my family got from IKEA. I sprinkled some coarse salt on top and stuck it into the freezer. It turned out wonderfully. For the garnishes, anything works. Chopped nuts, dried fruit, or Fleur de Sel would all work great. I think some sugar baked in the oven at 400° F until melted and a dark color, then smashed into shards, would make it even more flavorful

Ingredients:

4 oz or 1 bar of Chocolate (Percentage of choice, medium to high quality)

1 tsp water

Garnish of choice (I recommend coarse sea salt)

Directions:

Make a double boiler using a heatproof bowl and a pot of boiling water, and put it on medium heat. Make sure the bottom of the bowl does not touch the water. Place the chocolate in the bowl, stirring frequently until melted. Remove bowl from double boiler, and add in water until it is a thick paste. Stir until homogeneous. Pack chocolate into a lightly greased mold and place the garnish on top. Freeze for an hour, and pop them out. 

Directions for alternate method:

Make a double boiler using a heatproof bowl and a pot of boiling water, and put it on medium heat. Make sure the bottom of the bowl does not touch the water. Place the chocolate in the bowl, stirring frequently until melted. Remove the bowl from the double boiler, and add in a couple of drops of water until it is slightly thicker. Stir until homogeneous. Prepare a couple of skewers or toothpicks, and tape them onto some parchment paper on a sheet pan or cutting board. Using a plastic bag with a cut corner or a piping bag with a round nozzle, pipe the chocolate onto the skewer in whatever shape you like, and add the garnish. Place it into the freezer for about 30 minutes and enjoy.