These Desserts Show Dark Chocolate the Love It Deserves
If your love is a dark chocolate fan, make one of these sinfully delicious dark chocolate desserts for Valentine's Day.
Though it sometimes gets written off for its bitter taste, dark chocolate is actually a powerful source of antioxidants, thanks to it’s higher cocoa content. It can also help lower blood pressure, improve your overall brain function and may even reduce your risk of heart disease. Health benefits aside, we've also found dark chocolate to be the perfect base ingredient for making a bevy of over-the-top and sinfully delicious treats. If you’re looking for a yummy way to shower your special someone with a little extra love and attention this Valentine’s Day take it from us and give one of these dark chocolate desserts a try. Because red roses are great, but layer cake is too!
Dark Chocolate Mocha Mousse Cake (pictured above)
We wouldn’t mind having a bad romance with this dark chocolate mousse cake from Food Network Magazine’s latest issue. Honestly, just look at those luscious, texture-filled layers of fluffy mousse, thick ganache and spongy cake. There’s a tablespoon of instant espresso powder in all three components of the cake to really enhance the chocolate-y flavor. To make your cake Valentine’s Day ready, bake your layers in a heart-shaped pan and top it with some vibrant pink and red sprinkles.
Can you count on each hand how many times you’ve received a heart-shaped box of chocolates on Valentine’s Day? Yeah, us too. While traditional bonbons are always appreciated, sometimes they can get a tad bit predictable. A heart-shaped box filled with freshly baked chocolate chip cookies? Now that’s a Valentine’s Day gift we can totally get behind. Unlike classic chocolate chip cookies, these jumbo ones from Kardea Brown are loaded with a luxurious combination of both semi-sweet and dark chocolate chips for a double dose of chocolatey goodness. Kardea also presses additional dark chocolate chips into each dough round right before baking, which’ll ensure that your S.O. is met with a luscious pool of melted chocolate when they take your first bite.
Looking for a delicious treat that’s sure to make your Valentine’s heart melt? These super fudgy brownie sundaes should do the trick. Our test kitchen chefs use a combination of Dutch-processed cocoa, bittersweet chocolate chips, dark brown sugar and other baking staples to give the brownies their signature chewy texture, which makes them the perfect sturdy base for a jumbo scoop of dark chocolate ice cream and a overflowing river of hot fudge sauce. There’s no better way to end — or begin — a romantic dinner for two.
Valentine’s Day is often thought of as “the dinner holiday,” but this year we’re taking a page from Leslie Knope’s book and are showering our bae with a Valentine’s Day brunch fit for royalty. A must-have on our table is this unique loaf cake from Girl Meets Farm star Molly Yeh. Part flaky scone, part buttery pound cake, the hybrid treat is filled with melt-in-your mouth chunks of store-bought marzipan and dark chocolate chips and pairs just as nicely with a bubbly bellini as it does a frothy latte. Want some crunch? Throw in a handful or two of your favorite nut inside for additional surprise and texture.
We’re just going to go out and say it: This dreamy dark chocolate caramel tart is the Cupid’s arrow of decadent desserts. Not only does it taste just like everyone’s favorite caramel-filled chocolate bar — you know which one we’re talking about — but the fine sea salt used in the crust and the flaky sea salt sprinkled on the top of the tart provides it with a light, savory balance that keeps it from being overly sweet. Though you can definitely make it in a traditional 9-inch fluted tart pan as noted in the recipe, we also love the idea of forming your crust in a ruffled heart-shaped dish like this one. Talk about a swoon-worthy bite.
Ryan Dausch
Want to whisk your significant other on a cosmopolitan vacation this Valentine’s Day without stepping foot outside your dining room!? Just serve them a slice of this Sacher Torte at the end of the night! The ganache-covered cake is one of the most well-known and globally-celebrated Viennese desserts there is, thanks largely to its unique pairing of dense dark chocolate sponge and a fruity filling made from apricot jam. Though the dessert is often seen with the word “Sacher” pipped across the front, we think a bold string of X’s and O’s or the words “Be Mine” would work just as nicely for this occasion.
RYAN DAUSCH
Want to really thank your bae for puddin’ up with you?! A whipped cream-topped bowl of this mouthwatering mocha dark chocolate pudding is a perfect way to espresso just how much you appreciate them. Jokes aside, it also makes a great stress-free dessert option if you’re devoting a majority of your Valentine’s Day cooking up Surf and Turf for Two or Lobster or Beef Wellington for your sweetie. Simply whisk together all your pudding ingredients in the morning and leave it to chill in your refrigerator until dinnertime. To give your pudding a celebratory touch, go ahead and add two or three tablespoons of your favorite coffee-flavored liquor inside your mixture.
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