February 14th – Valentine’s Day. The first thing I think of is a big red heart and those cute little cards we used to exchange in school. Then my mind goes to CHOCOLATE!! All the glorious chocolate that fills the store shelves for those few weeks leading up to the big day! It is anticipated that consumers will purchase $345 million in chocolate during Valentine’s week this year. That comes to about 58 million pounds of chocolate. Incredible! That doesn’t include the handmade chocolates that aren’t purchased in stores!
If you prefer to make your Valentine chocolates from scratch, here is a great recipe for you! Whomever receives these truffles will definitely appreciate that secret ingredient – love. (Isn’t that what Grandma used to say?)
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- 6 oz heavy cream
- 1 tbsp honey
- 1 cup Mariposa Farms Fresh Mint packed, finely chopped
- 8 oz 70% dark chocolate
- 4 tbsp butter
Ingredients
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- Bring cream and honey to a simmer and add mint. Cover and remove from heat and let set for about 30 minutes. Strain and discard mint leaves. Add more cream to mixture to make it measure 6 ounces.
- Heat cream mixture just to steaming and pour over chocolate . Let set for a couple of minutes and start stirring until the chocolate is melted. Add butter one tablespoon at a time and stir well each time.
- Once butter and chocolate mixture is blended well, allow to set for a few minutes. Stir gently until thick and glossy (about room temperature).
- Drop by spoonfulls (about 11/2-2 tbsps) onto parchment paper and allow to set. You can refrigerate them at this point to speed things up. Once firm, roll into balls and roll in cocoa powder, chopped nuts or dip into melted dipping chocolate. Garnish if desired.