How to make homemade chocolate for Valentine's day

Get to know two delicious chocolate recipes to gift them to your significant other with a brief history of why chocolates are gifted on Valentine’s day.

 

 

Chocolates are our guilty pleasure or just pleasure for most of us. Chocolates can be eaten any day, but Valentine’s day becomes a little special to indulge in the heavenly taste of chocolates with your significant other.

 

Many of us would think about why we gift chocolates on Valentine’s day and not something else like a cake or cookies. Well, here’s the story.

 

Valentine’s day is a feast day in the Catholic church commemorating the lives of several martyrs named “Valentine.” Geoffery Chaucer, the writer of “The Canterbury Tales,” linked Valentine’s Day with romantic love in his poem “Parlement of Foules,” in 1382. He described that Valentine’s day is the day when the birds choose their mates. Many poems took inspiration and hopped on the bandwagon to make more such poems and songs. Through this, partners began to give some gifts to their significant other. But chocolates hadn’t entered in the gifting scene for another 450 years.

 

Until the Victorian age, chocolate was considered an aphrodisiac (science says it’s not) and sugar became less extravagant. Taking advantage of this time, a businessman and chocolatier named Richard Cadbury made eating chocolate utilising the cocoa butter. He sold these chocolates in beautifully embellished boxes and as Valentine’s day would approach he sold them in heart-shaped boxes adorned with flowers and cupids.

 

To make the people admit that his chocolates were the perfect gift for lovers, he emphasised the box’s utility features. When the consumer has eaten the chocolates, the box could be repurposed for holding cards, letters or remembrances. And that’s how chocolates have become an integral part of valentine’s day celebrations.

 

To make valentine’s more special people believe in gifting their loved ones, something that is handmade and has more feelings attached to it than buying stuff off the rack.

 

Also, considering the current scenario of how we need to be cautious about what we eat, it’s always a good idea to gift handmade chocolates and that also shows that you have put in extra efforts and makes your significant other feel special.

 

Here are two chocolate recipes that you can make for your loved one this Valentine’s day.

1. Chocolate truffle:

 

Ingredients:

 

Unsweetened chocolate chips 3 cups

Sweetened condensed milk 1 can

Vanilla extract 1 tablespoon

Coatings (optional): chocolate sprinkles, espresso powder, cocoa powder

 

Method:

 

1. In a microwave, melt chocolate chips and milk and stir until smooth. Mix the vanilla extract and refrigerate by covering it for 2 hours or until firm enough to roll.

2. Shape in 1 inch balls and roll in the coatings of your choice.

2. Three-Chocolate Fudge:

 

Ingredients:

 

Butter 1 tablespoon

Sugar 3-⅓ cups

Packed dark brown sugar 1 cup

Evaporated milk 1 ½ cups

Butter 1 cup, cubed

Marshmallows 32, halved

Vanilla extract 1 teaspoon

Semisweet chocolate chips 2 cups

Milk chocolate 1-½ cups, chopped

Semisweet chocolate ½ cup, chopped

Walnuts/Almonds 2 cups, toasted

 

Method:

 

1. Line a 15x10x1-inches pan with foil and grease with 1 tablespoon butter.

2. In a large saucepan, combine all the sugars, milk and cubed butter. Bring to a boil over medium heat by constantly stirring every 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir marshmallows and vanilla extract until blended.

3. Gradually stir in chocolate chips and chopped chocolate until they melt. Add walnuts/almonds and immediately spread into the prepared pan.

4. Refrigerate for 1 hour or until firm. Lift the fudge out of the pan using the foil.

5. Remove foil and cut fudge in 1-inch squares.

 

Here you have not one but two scrumptious chocolates that are perfect for gifting to your Valentine.

 

You can make more chocolates like classic chocolate brownies, chocolate bliss balls or hot chocolate on a stick.

 

You do not necessarily need to stick on chocolates you can also bake a chocolate cake, make some dessert or even a healthy recipe with chocolate.