Yum! February: Heart-warming pleasures

"All I really need is love, but a little chocolate now and then doesn't
hurt!"
-- Lucy Van Pelt (in Peanuts, by Charles M. Schulz)

At this time of year, it's hard not to feel the pull of chocolate. Though stores pack their shelves with Valentine's treats, not all chocolate is created equal (and not all chocolate desserts are equal either).

Though blocks and chips of semi-sweet chocolate get the job done, more and more of our recipes call for "good-quality chocolate." By this, we mean bars of bittersweet or milk chocolate with high percentages of cocoa butter and cocoa solids (and less added milk and sugar) than traditional baking chocolate. Pastry chefs teach us that fine chocolate is not just for truffles and fillings -- it elevates desserts by adding silkiness and shine to mousses and ganaches and depth of flavour to cakes and cookies.

So in honour of Saint Valentine, forget the cutesy tins and schmaltzy heart-shaped boxes -- treat your sweetie to a batch of favourite brownies (or our tested til perfect Chocolate Fudge Brownies made with fine bittersweet chocolate. Most grocery stores have several brands (usually European) of chocolate bars, such as Lindt and Valrhona, that print the percentages of cocoa solids right on the label. In place of semisweet chocolate, use 70 or 85 per cent for a smooth, robust chocolate taste; in place of unsweetened chocolate, use 99 per cent (or 100 per cent) for a more complex and lingering flavour. We can't think of a better way to say I love you.

Chocolate substitutions:
1 oz (30g) bittersweet chocolate = 1 square unsweetened, semisweet or bittersweet baking chocolate (semisweet is sweeter)

1 oz (30g) semisweet chocolate = 1 oz (30g) unsweetened chocolate plus 1 tbsp (15 mL) sugar

1 cup (250 mL) semi-sweet chips = 6 oz (175g) chopped bittersweet chocolate