Valentine's Day and Chocolate

Ah, Valentine’s Day. Regardless of your relationship status, there’s one very good reason to be excited about February 14^th, aside from Deadpool being in theaters: chocolate.

Unfortunately, due to the commercial nature of this holiday, sometimes the chocolate is a little pricey (unless you wait for the discount stuff on February 15^th). Plus, what says “I care about you” better than chocolates you made yourself?

To make your own chocolate, you’ll need a few things:

A pot and metal bowl that fits on top of your pot and won’t fall in (If you have a double boiler, just use that instead)

3.5 tablespoons Cocoa Butter

3.5 tablespoons Cocoa Powder

½ teaspoon Vanilla Extract

1 tablespoon Honey or Sugar

Let me first begin with a warning: do NOT use a wooden spoon while working with this recipe. This recipe is ruined if any water gets into the mixture, and wooden spoons actually have moisture trapped inside of them! The best utensil to use is a rubber spatula that hasn’t been exposed to any strong foods like garlic or tomato sauce. If you use a utensil that has been exposed to such foods, your chocolate could come out tasting like chocolate and some really tasty spaghetti. On to the directions!

Fill the bottom of your double boiler (make-shift or legit) with water and bring that water to a boil. Even though we’re going to be boiling the water, be sure to keep the heat low—if you turn up the heat too high, you can scorch your chocolate and cause it to lose flavor.

Place the bowl or pan you’re using as the top of your double boiler on top of the bottom half and make sure that the bottom of the pan/bowl doesn’t touch the boiling water. If the water is touching the bottom of the pan you’ll be making your chocolate in, you could burn your chocolate.

Next, place your cocoa butter in the pan and melt it. Once your cocoa butter is melted, you can go ahead and add your vanilla and sweetener of choice. You can also adjust the level of honey/sugar to taste. Once the sweetener has been added, stir your cocoa powder into the bowl and mix well. Eliminate any clumps or grainy bits until your chocolate is has a smooth, glossy texture. Then, just take your chocolate and place it in your mold of choice. If you want to add things like nuts or dried fruit to your chocolate, you can add them now. Simply pour a bit of chocolate, place the nuts or fruit on top, and then fill up the rest of the mold. Give the mold a good shake to get rid of any air trapped in your chocolate, and then place in your refrigerator to chill and set for at least an hour. After the chocolate has set, pop it out of the molds and serve! Or, you can decorate them with frosting and chocolate drizzle.

If you’re looking for something a bit less dark, you can add milk to your chocolate to lighten it up. Powdered milk and liquid milk are both fine. Powdered milk can be added when stirring in your cocoa powder, but if you want to add liquid milk do it at beginning when melting your cocoa butter. Otherwise your chocolate will seize (become lumpy, grainy, and stiff) since it’s sensitive to moisture. 

There are some other ways to do this that replace the cocoa butter with milk and butter, allow you to make your cocoa powder from scratch with cocoa beans, or remove the need for a double boiler entirely. You can check out some of those other options here and here. 

For those of you that would rather skip the from-scratch way of doing things and just melt down some chocolate and set it in some cute molds, here are some tips for melting your chocolate. You can melt chocolate with everything from the double boiler to the oven to the microwave. Just be sure to grate or break up your chocolate into small chunks so it melts more easily, and keep the heat low. If you’re going to add milk, cream, or anything else to the chocolate you’re going to melt, be sure to add it to the chocolate BEFORE heating it. Otherwise, your chocolate will seize because of its sensitivity to moisture. Also check out that link if your chocolate seizes. Although your chocolate won’t be suitable for consumption on its own anymore, there are ways to recover it from seizing, and it can be used for things such as sauces, frostings, and batters.

Whew, there. No wonder nobody learns this in Home Ec. It’s complicated, and there are so many ways to screw it up! However, the making of chocolate for loved ones on Valentine’s Day is something I’ve been seeing in media since I was fourteen and started reading manga. 

In Japan, it’s common place for people to make chocolates for the special people in their lives on Valentine’s day. There’s a little more incentive to do this in Japan, however, because all of that hard work is traditionally rewarded on White Day, when the receiver of chocolates traditionally repays the giver of the Valentine’s chocolates with a gift.

This particular tradition is explored in CLAMP’s series XXXHolic. The X’s in this title are traditionally used in Japan as a place holder for a blank, so when the title is pronounced it is usually just ‘Holic. In this series, trans-dimensional witch Yuko grants wishes from her shop. One of the wishes she grants is the ability to travel to different worlds to the four main characters of CLAMP’s other series Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicles, Kurogane, Fai, and alternate world versions of the characters Syaoran, and Sakura from CLAMP’s other series Cardcaptor Sakura—keeping track of the different versions of CLAMP’s previous series characters that make apperances in Tsubasa and Holic can be as complicated as making chocolate! Due to Yuko’s involvement in the story of Tsubasa, the two series often crossover during their separate stories. One of the more humorous crossovers is a Valentine’s Day crossover. Yuko, having asked Watanuki to make chocolate for Valentine’s Day as part of his workerly duties, has some chocolate left over.

Yuko sending Valentine’s chocolate for White Day gifts.

As you can see, this is a ploy to ensure that she receives White Day gifts from the Tsubasa gang. When they don’t come deliver, she flies into a rage.

Yuko in a rage.

There are two types of White Day gifts; those given by someone accepting the romantic feelings of someone who confessed their feelings while giving their chocolates on Valentine’s Day, and those that are given out of obligation to people like family members, co-workers, and friends. Essentially, if you receive chocolates on Valentine’s Day that don’t have a romantic attachment, or intend to accept the romantic implications of chocolates you did receive, you’re required to give a White Day gift. It’s considered a social faux pas to forget your White Day duties.

Yuko sharing her feelings on not giving White Day gifts.

Of course, Japan being the role based society that it is, it’s usually women who hand make their chocolates in order to confess their feelings to men. What I love best about this portrayal of the Japanese Valentine’s and White Day ritual is that Yuko challenges these values outright.

Yuko breaking down gender roles like a boss.

So, no matter who you’re making chocolates for this Valentine’s Day, whether they be for your family, your friends, a special someone, or yourself, please enjoy them to the fullest.