Valentine’s Day is almost heeeeeere! Squeee!!!
Okay, I’ll admit, I hate Valentine’s Day. It’s dumb. I live a healthy life, and I don’t want a heart shaped box of overpriced garbage chocolates. Flowers die, and are ridiculously overpriced. And the idea of going out to dinner with what feels like MILLIONS OF OTHER PEOPLE makes me want to die. (I’m sure I’ve mentioned before that my favorite time to go out to eat is 5 pm on a Monday because there’s no one else out.)
I don’t even care about a romantic meal, I’m not an overtly romantic person. BUT… if there’s any excuse to make a ridiculously deep dark chocolate dessert, Valentine’s Day is it. So here I go!
Browsing my absolute FAVORITE ideas site, Pinterest, and I saw these:
They’re from Godiva, of course, but I know myself well enough to know I can make my own interpretation of this delicious looking gem! Here’s what I came up with:
For the thick ganache
- 4 oz. 100% cacao chocolate
- 2 Tbsp honey
- 4 oz. heavy cream
For the chocolate cups
- 4 oz. 60% dark chocolate
- 8 small paper cups
For the whipped ganache
- 1/2 the ganache recipe from above
- 2 oz. heavy cream
The first step is making the ganache. Now ganache is a fancy ass French word that means… JOWL?!
Origin and Etymology of ganache
French, literally, jowl, from Italian ganascia, modification of Greek gnathos jaw
That’s…weird. Anyway, it’s just heavy cream and chocolate and sometimes sweeteners or flavorings. It’s super easy to make, too, as long as you remember the ratios, which are by WEIGHT. If you want it really firm for making truffles, you’d do 2 parts chocolate to 1 part cream. If you want it liquidy/pourable once it’s cool, you’d do 2 parts cream to 1 part chocolate. I want my version to be soft and fudgy, so I did 1 part chocolate to 1 part cream.
I put the cream and honey into a heat proof bowl and warmed it in the microwave, 30 seconds at a time, until it just began bubbling. In my microwave it took about 90 seconds.
While that was warming, I chopped the unsweetened chocolate and added that to the warm cream mixture. Setting that aside for the time being, I prepped the cups.
I cut a 1/2 inch slit at the top of each cup. You’ll need this slit to easily remove the cup once the chocolate sets.
By then it was time to finish the ganache. I stirred it gently until it was well blended and reached the consistency of thick pudding. At this point you may just want to spoon it into your mouth, but please refrain. If you want to give yourself extra work to do later, cover it with plastic and place it in the fridge to cool. If you want it to be smooth and dreamy, just let it come to room temperature on the counter. Trust me on this one.
Meanwhile, I prepped the 60 % chocolate for the chocolate cups. In the photos above I’m only prepping 4 cups, but for the full recipe you’ll need to do 8. Like the cream mixture, heat the chocolate in 30 second increments, stirring between each one, until it’s melted and pourable.
Then pour some in each cup, one at a time, and swirl it around the edges below the slit you cut. Pour the excess chocolate into the next cup and repeat until each cup has a coating of chocolate. Refrigerate these until you’re ready to fill them, at least 1 hour.
When you’re ready to finish the cups, remove the paper from the outside carefully, and trim the tops of the cups neatly with a very sharp knife. Divide HALF of the ganache mixture evenly between the 8 cups. (If you do what I did, and refrigerate your ganache, you will need to warm it up a bit to get it spoonable, and you’ll be impatient and spoon it into your cups too soon, and your cups will melt and deform like mine. If you just let it set on the counter, your cups will remain pretty and not crumble. Promise)
To the remaining ganache, add another 2 oz. of heavy cream and whip, using a hand mixer, until the ganache is aerated and fluffy. Divide this between the cups. Return the cups to the refrigerator while you make the raspberry sauce.
In a food processor or blender, liquefy the semi-frozen raspberries into a thick puree.
Serve each cup in a small pool of raspberry sauce and enjoy!
Despite its rather pale and innocuous appearance, this dessert is DARK. Milk chocolate lovers need not apply! The raspberry sauce gives it the touch of sweetness the deep, adult chocolate flavor needs to not be overwhelming. And yes, this dessert is small, but rich and satisfying. Even better? Each one is a mere 262 calories. Compare that to any calorie bomb you could get at a restaurant and I think you’ll be extremely happy.
Heart of Darkness Mini Chocolate Parfait Cups
Deep dark chocolate cups with sinful ganache, whipped ganache and sweet raspberry sauce.
The deepest, darkest, richest, most sinful chocolate cups with raspberry sauce.
Ingredients
- 4 oz. unsweetened chocolate, chopped fine
- 6 oz. heavy cream, divided
- 2 Tbsp. honey
- 4 oz. 60% dark chocolate, chopped fine
- 1 pkg frozen red raspberries in syrup, half thawed
Directions
- In a small heat proof bowl, add 4 oz. of the heavy cream and the honey. In 30 second increments, warm the cream mixture until it JUST started to bubble. Add in the chopped unsweetened chocolate. Let sit for 30 seconds, then stir slowly until the chocolate fully melts and the mixture becomes thick like pudding. Cover in plastic wrap and let sit on the counter to come to room temperature.
- Prep 8 small paper cups by cutting a slit in the top. This will make it easier to unmold the chocolate cups later. In a pourable container, melt the chopped 60% chocolate in the microwave in 30 second intervals until it’s liquid and pourable. One at a time, pour some melted chocolate into each paper cup and swirl the cup to coat the inside, pouring out extra chocolate. When all 8 cups are coated, place them in the refrigerator to set for at least 1 hour.
- When the chocolate cups have set, gently tear the paper cups off the outside and trip the tops gently with a very sharp knife to even them out. Spoon HALF the ganache into the bottom of the cups, then return the cups to the fridge. To the remaining ganache, add the remaining 2 oz. of heavy cream. Using a hand mixer, whip the ganache mixture until it’s aerated, like a frosting. Divide this among the 8 chocolate cups. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
- In a food processor or blender, blend the frozen raspberries into a thick, cold puree. Serve the chocolate cups with the puree.
The Hubs says these were “a quick, bittersweet bite of love.” I think he liked them. 😉
Happy Valentine’s Day!
A Measured Life 