Chocolate gifts for Valentine's Day and beyond

By Samantha Chapnick

Fancy cars, great vacations, wads of cash, a trophy husband. I had none of these things, and yet, still became the envy of all I encountered for a few fleeting months.

Apparently, a writing assignment that requires traveling the world in search of the best chocolate gifts for Valentine’s Day trumps all those usual instigators of invidia.

After two months of research, we bring you the Valentine’s Day gifts to make you the star of any chocoholics life. We sampled over 50 different brands of chocolate to bring you our picks.

Top two for taste

PMS Kookie Company (you’ll find them at several spots in New York City)

The undisputed spoiler in the article, these treats came out of nowhere and stole the title from far more established brands. Not wanting my testers to be influenced by the creative name and logo, an older woman with an attitude, I unpacked and put on a plate all the Pouty Peanut Butter Blasts (oversized peanut butter cups with a crispy cookie crust), Cranky Caramel Popcorn Crisps (a caramel-centered rice crispy treat), and the truly decadent Chocolate Covered Cherry Hearts (heart-shaped gooey brownies topped with a cherry and then covered in dark chocolate). The moaning and excitement that ensued was enough to make someone next door come in and ask "what exactly is going on in this cubicle?" (yes, seriously). After a bite she too became a devotee.

Romanicos (there’s a store at 1801 Coral Way in Miami)

By the time I tried this one of the hundreds of samples thrust at me at the fabulous New York Chocolate Show, I was (dare I say it) almost chocolate-ed out. I had tried exotics (Mary’s green tea truffles), organics (Dagoba), artisanal (Chocolat Moderne), authentics (Brooklyn Fudge Company) and traditionalists (Lindt). But even before knowing Romanicos’ little secret, the flavor set them way apart. It was pure and straightforward, crisp and cold.

38 calories each seemed impossible. I converted after my concerns about artificial sweeteners or chemical additives were allayed — there are none. They manage to keep the calories low and the flavor high via simplicity, including only the basic ingredients: the chocolate and the flavoring. No sugar, no butter and absolutely no preservatives.

Of the chocolate bars, which come in novel flavor combinations like pineapple and soy beans, wasabi & honey and mission fig, the latter is my favorite.

Top treats for kids

Three special chocolate treats that thrilled our kids:

Emily’s Chocolate covered Fortune cookies, Harry and David’s Chocolate fondue pot with pink and white heart shaped marshmallows, and their chocolate Charm collection of white, milk and dark chocolate hearts filled with very sweet ganache.

Top boxed chocolates
For the more aesthetically oriented, go with MarieBelle and Coco-luxe‘s contemporary style. These new wave chocolatiers forego the traditional shapes found in the old school boxes by See’s, Russell Stover, et al, in favor of uniform squares with slightly irreverent and fanciful illustrations. They also happen to be ultra-fine chocolates, delicate flavors made with excellent cocoa beans and infused with eclectic twists.

One of my favorites for taste is Coco-luxe.

Coco-luxe’s playful designs including banana splits, pitchforks, angels, and teapots top truffles some with familiar flavors: coffee, mint, cherry. Others more innovative: gingerbread, malted milk and rose, the last a seasonal favorite for Valentine’s Day.

MarieBelle’s (Broome Street in New York City) ultra-elegant packaging makes it the Tiffany of boxed chocolates. Teal blue embossed with a brown fabric ribbon, both emblazoned with the French style logo — even if the chocolates weren’t excellent, the box alone is dressed to impress. They are also the uniform square truffle shape with colorful designs: mostly chic silhouettes of Barbie proportions (or perhaps thinner) doing what we’d all like to: sunbathing, sharing a latte with friends, shoe shopping para-skiing, and walking toy dogs.
Also worthy of a special mention for their packaging is the more traditional Woodhouse chocolates. Their mint ganache was the purest, crispest taste of nature in any of the chocolates that crossed our palette.

CHOCOLATE GIFT BOOKS

To make a lasting impression, pair one of the chocolate treats with "The Great Book of Chocolate." A portable volume that is a little of everything with an emphasis on the pragmatic: After a brief and easy primer on growth and processing, the rest is a resource guide to finding, selecting, and making chocolate goodies.

"Discover Chocolate" is a Chocolate 101 for readers wanting to to go from chocolate addict to aficionados. A detailed few chapters impart wisdom on how to intellectually taste chocolate, how to pair chocolate with wines, and how to intelligently buy chocolates. This is a true reference work, shying away from extraneous content like recipes or trivia.

Coffee table books

There are several exquisite coffee table cookbooks with enough enticingly large, glossy photos of chocolate being poured, posed and processed to send the average diabetic into sugar shock.

"Chocolate," from royal chocolatier Dubauve & Gallais, is eye candy for the society set. Two books joined by a brown ribbon and common cover go into a very detailed history of the firm and offer the daring or masterful recipes for making their delights at home.

"The Essence of Chocolate," from the founders of Scharffen Berger, which is now owned by Hershey, is largely a compilation of divine recipes contributed by the world’s best chefs including Carole Bloom, Nancy Oakes, Alice Medrich, and Thomas Keller. It is interspersed with personal stories and an overview of the chocolate process.

If National Geographic had done a chocolate coffee table book, "The New Taste of Chocolate" would have been it. Maricel Presilla’ worldview book focuses as much on the cultures surrounding the growth and harvesting as the exotic recipes.

Cookbooks

What house doesn’t have a bag of chips and some flour hanging around? That’s why the "Essential Chocolate Chip Cookbook" makes a great Valentine’s gift for the too-busy traveler. The recipes are mostly fairly simple and straightforward uses for something previously destined just for the cookie jar.
And finally, "Enlightened Chocolate" is for the dieter who you still want to wow with a little treat has 200 recipes of flavorful items that are largely less than 220 calories per serving. The trick seems to be emphasizing recipes where low-fat dairy products can easily be substituted.

CHOCOLATE WITHOUT THE CALORIES

Fortunately, there are ways to get a chocolate fix without gaining weight. Here are our three favorites.

Sweet Beauty Organic Chocolate Spa Treatments

Once a week, I exfoliate with Sweet Beauty’s Cherish Sugar Scrub. Made with edible organic cocoa, organic cane sugar and finely grated coconut flakes, it comes by its comforting tropical scent authentically.

It’s especially addictive in winter when the grapeseed and coconut oils ease my overly dry winter skin. In contrast to most other oil based body products, it doesn’t leave the tub oily or slippery — a real bonus when the one enjoying the treatment is also the one cleaning the bathroom!

Sweet Beauty’s founder doesn’t mince words, “I make products that do what they say they do. They don’t make you younger or prettier. They just make you feel good.”
It even worked on my subconscious. The first night I used it, I dreamt I had become a giant Almond Joy.

Delightful Deliveries

When the packaging is as important as the contents, the Delightful Deliveries Chocolate Spa Indulgence basket scores high. Three chocolate scented bath products, a pumice stone and a loofa come in a brown striped hat box that looks great on a shelf long after the gels and lotions are finished.

Palmer’s Cocoa Butter Skincare

The E.T. Browne Drug Company (makers of Palmer’s), may not have the sexiest packaging or the most cutting edge website, but their Cocoa Butter products all have Theobroma Cacao (the technical name for Chocolate) as the second ingredient (water is typically the first), they smell like heaven AND they actually do what they promise to.

I was skeptical when the Dark Chocolate & Cherry Lip Butter and
Cocoa Butter Formula concentrated cream arrived. How many creams and
lotions overpromised and way under-delivered?
It’s been two weeks and my skin is softer and my lips less chapped than
they have ever been. Add in the price (less than $5) and this is a gift
worth getting.

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Samantha Chapnick is a New York writer who scours international destinations looking for what hasn’t been found.

Tagged: New York