Valentine's Day Treats!

I won't go as far to say that Valentine's day is one of those overrated "not-really-a-holiday" holidays that takes advantage of our consumerist tendencies by appealing to some romanticized notion that hearts, the color red and chocolate represent some half-naked cherub with a bow and arrow. Some people hate it, some people like it, and some just take it as an opportunity to nosh on chocolates and candies. I take it as an opportunity to bake and to feed people.

This year instead of making tried and true shortbread hearts dipped in chocolate, I figured I'd do a classic and a newbie. Classic, meaning something from my arsenal of recipes, and newbie meaning something I've dragged home from Paris. And no, I don't mean the fact that now I'm quite a bit more stinky and more of a pastry snob than I was before. I made about 6 dozen chocolate chip cookies.

I made the dough a couple days ahead and let it rest in the fridge. No harm done. Of course I had to throw in Valentine's day-ish M&Ms to make them festive!

Valentine's day wouldn't be Valentine's day without the required serving of chocolate. I didn't realize how difficult it would be to get high-quality chocolate back here in the States. When I was working, we were spoiled with 2 kilo bags of every type of Valhrona chocolate imagineable.

Of course all that chocolate costs a pretty penny. I imagine I could probably find it at a specialty food shop, or even order online. A lot of the chocolate bars you find in stores are loaded with additives such as extra emulsifiers, flavorants, etc.

What does that mean? It means that the chocolate is probably fine to put in baked goods, make ganache, and well... eat. On the other hand, it also means these chocolate bars aren't considered 'couverture'. Couverture chocolate is classified as having extra (32-39%) cocoa butter. This type of chocolate is easier to temper and what professionals use for decor, sculptures, and molding chocolates. Because of less additives, this chocolate is less likely to seize or develop inconsistencies when you're enrobing or molding chocolates.

So after digging around I was able to find some Valrhona chocolates. What did I do with these bars? Truffles of course. After making the ganache and letting it set a little, I piped small balls onto parchment paper. I really advise piping, since its a lot less messy than trying to roll them with your hands.

 

While the ganache set, I tempered my chocolate by heating up the chocolate and melting it, cooling it, and then keeping the temperature at 89 degrees Fahrenheit. Once dipped in the tempered chocolates, I threw the chocolates into a bowl of cocoa powder to set. Traditionally this is how truffles are made in France, though I think the cocoa powder is a bit much for American tastes. Personally, I think the cocoa powder offset the sweetness of the truffle, but to some, it "tasted like eating dirt".