Valentine’s Day chocolates at home

ARTICLE AND PHOTO BY SARAH KROLEWSKI

Valentine’s Day is widely known to be reserved for couples, which tends to leave a lot of people out of the equation. Making chocolates is something that anyone can do for Valentines, whether you are in a relationship or not. It’s a great way to show someone you care; for instance, I have been making Valentines chocolates for my parents for the past five years.

Whether you are unsure what to get your partner for Valentines, or just want to show someone that you appreciate them, chocolates are a great gift idea. It sounds intimidating, but I promise it isn’t that bad, and you can make your chocolates as simple or as complex as you’d like. If you think it may be a challenge, another great idea would be to invite your partner or loved one to make them with you!

There are two ways to make homemade chocolates: completely from scratch or by using storebought chocolate. Making them from scratch can be a little more difficult, and is usually best in bar form, while using store-bought chocolate allows you to make your own fillings.

FROM SCRATCH

• Cocoa nibs • Sugar • Milk powder (optional) • Food processor or Blender • Tupperware lid or bar mold

1. Roast the cocoa nibs on a pan at 325 degrees Celsius for eight to ten minutes, or until browned and fragrant. 2. Pour the roasted nibs into a blender or food processor, then add in sugar as you blend to taste. Blend until the mixture becomes a paste, then a liquid. 3. Pour into Tupperware containers or bar molds, then refrigerate until set.

In industrial chocolate factories, a conching machine is used to make the chocolate smooth and thick. This process cannot be recreated in a typical kitchen, which means that any chocolate that is made from scratch will be harder to temper, as well as harder to use if you choose to add fillings to it. You can still add extracts or nuts to this chocolate if you would like to mix things up, though!

WITH STORE-BOUGHT CHOCOLATE

• Ice cube tray or chocolate molds • Chocolate chips or finely chopped bars • Fillings of your choice

1. Melt your desired amount of chocolate in a double-broiler or in 15-second intervals in the microwave until most, but not all, chocolate is melted.

Mix the chocolate until there are no more lumps. If you are fine with your chocolate not being tempered, you can pour it straight into the molds.

Chocolate that sets at room temperature and has a glossy finish.

Sarah Krolewski suggests two ways to make Valentine’s Day chocolates: from scratch or with store-bought chocolate.

If you would like your chocolate tempered, there are a few ways to do so. On YouTube, the channel HowToCookThat has a video titled “Chocolate Secrets,” which goes over tempering methods in great detail.

What I tend to find easiest is to melt my chocolate, then add in some unmelted chocolate and stir until the mixture thickens. I then put some of that chocolate on a piece of paper and wait a couple of minutes to see if it sets at room temperature. If chocolate is improperly tempered, there may be blooms of white on it, but don’t worry; that’s just the cocoa butter separating. 2. Once the chocolate is in the molds, tap the tray on the counter to get rid of any air bubbles. Then, flip the tray over and let the excess chocolate drip back into a bowl for later use. This is so that your chocolates will have a hollow centre for fillings. Clean up the edges of the molds and place the tray in the fridge to harden the chocolate. 3. While the chocolate is hardening, you can prepare your fillings. A popular filling in my family is mint. To make it, I mix half a cup of powdered sugar with a couple drops of mint extract. Then, I sparingly add milk until the mixture forms a paste. There are many different fillings you can use, such as caramel, toffee, peanut butter, and

Nutella. If you plan on using online recipes, I recommend halving or even quartering the recipe, since chocolates do not need a lot of filling (although having excess isn’t a bad thing). 4. Once the chocolate in the fridge has set, remove the tray and spoon or pipe in the fillings of your choice. Make sure not to fill the molds too much, since you will need to add more chocolate on top. 5. Once filled, add more chocolate on top (If you tempered your chocolate, you may need to re-melt it as it will probably be hard by now). You can scrape any excess chocolate off the top with a flat surface, such as a bench scraper or the back of a knife.

Icon by Iconfinder

Once you have finished your chocolates, you can choose to decorate them. I like to use edible gold dust or white chocolate to add some small details. You could even colour your white chocolate (by melting it and mixing in food colouring) to make some cool patterns.

For presentation, the dollar store has plenty of small boxes, which you can line with tissue paper and place your chocolates in. The presentation can be as extravagant or as simple as you like.

Tempering tends to be what scares most people away from chocolate making, and if you are just beginning it can be intimidating. If you choose to not temper your chocolates, make sure you keep them in the refrigerator so that they don’t melt. And remember, no matter how your chocolates turn out, whoever receives them is lucky to have you!

Other filling suggestions: Caramel pretzel, cookies and cream, coconut macaroon, orange fondant, dark chocolate raspberry, cookie caramel, chewy toffee, chocolate ganache, and sponge toffee. Ann Reardon from the channel HowToCookThat on YouTube has some great chocolate filling ideas, too.