16 Intensely Chocolatey Recipes for Valentine's Day
Here you have it, readers: I’m kicking off the week with a line-up of the blog’s most unabashedly, unapologetically chocolate-centric recipes, just in time for Valentine’s Day this Sunday. The desserts included here are intensely, purely, chocolate-y — recipes containing a handful of chocolate chips, a meager chocolate swirl, or consistently controversial white chocolate (is it even chocolate?!) were not considered — and you can rest assured that they will put to shame any bouquet of roses or bottle of cologne you might’ve otherwise bought for your significant this year. And anyways: aren’t edible, homemade gifts always the best kind of gifts?!
Having said all this: we’re in the middle of a pandemic that shows little sign of letting up any time soon, not to mention the Winter season (which has been hitting my adopted city with lots of rain, and my home state with lots of snow). A good dose of rich, bittersweet chocolate – especially in the form of a freshly baked cookie, or a slice of cake – is a welcome boost, a homemade remedy for any anxiety, fatigue, chilly weather, and general ickiness you might be experiencing even so early on in to 2021. Significant other or not, I have a feeling that these are all sweets you will find yourself baking far after February 14th has passed. Read on!
Chocolate Lava Cakes
Lava cakes — rich little chocolate cakes with luscious, molten centers — are perhaps the quintessential Valentine’s Day dessert (especially when baked in heart-shaped ramekins). Serve them warm with a dusting of powdered sugar and a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Click here for the recipe.
Chocolate Fudge Souffle’ Cake
Bottom line: every baker needs a simple, elegant, and unbelievably delicious chocolate cake in their repertoire. This one — with a crackly, brownie-like exterior, incredibly fudgey, nearly flourlessy interior, beautiful with a little powdered sugar and raspberries — should be yours. Click here for the recipe.
Red Wine Chocolate Truffles
Deeply bittersweet truffles with warm, wine-y undertones and a smooth and luxurious texture, these are extra pretty rolled in cocoa powder. Long story short: a few of these are far better than a bouquet of roses, and hands down put a box of store-bought chocolates to shame. Click here for the recipe!
Want another recipe that combines chocolate and red wine? I’ve also got these Red Wine Chocolate Cupcakes.
Wacky Chocolate Cake
This recipe — from the 1940s! — makes for a cake that is deeply chocolate-y but also unexpectedly light, the perfect foil for the rich buttery careful-or-you-might-eat-the-whole-batch caramel icing poured over the top. Having said this, if you leave out the frosting the cake is actually vegan (!!!) Click here for the recipe.
Brownie Ciambellone
Most all Italians have a recipe for ciambellone, and this is mine, one that, in true Italo-American style, crosses the simple Italian ring cake with the very American fudge brownie. This makes for a fancy breakfast, but also is perfect with tea or for dessert. Click here for the recipe!
Best Ever Hot Fudge Sauce
Straight from my childhood in the U.S, hot fudge sauce is a dense, rich, unapologetically chocolate-y sauce that is served warm over ice cream. It turns everything it touches to pure dessert gold, tastes way better than store-bought, and is a cinch to make. Click here for the recipe.
Wellesley fudge cake
Wellesley Fudge Cake was first baked at the Wellesley Inn in Massachusetts; it is a quintessential New England cake, the "fudge" frosting an ode to the fudge that college girls at Wellesley college would famously whip up in their dorm rooms back in the day, with a little butter, chocolate, and a borrowed Bunsen burner. Click here for the recipe.
CHOCOLATE LOAF CAKE
Perfect for a decadent Valentine’s Day breakfast, this cake manages to be both rich and chocolate-y yet light and fluffy, extremely moist thanks to the addition of the plain yogurt. The mini chocolate chips on the top add another layer of chocolate to the whole cake, and a few raspberries make the whole thing extra special. Click here for the recipe.
DULCE DE LECHE BROWNIES
Pure, intensely fudgey brownies, their fudginess interrupted only by pockets of sweet, gooey dulce de leche. Need I say more?! Click here for the recipe.
Looking for more brownie recipes?! I’ve also got this Brownie Pie and these Classic Fudge Brownies.
Mudslide Cookies
Hailing from the cookbook “American Cookie” by Anne Byrn, these Mudslides puff up in the oven and then deflate, souffle'-like, creating a crackly, brownie-ish exterior and a delightfully truffle-like interior. These are profoundly chocolate-y, a chocothon interrupted only by the crunch of a pecan or two. Click here for the recipe.
BROWNIE COOKIES
Brownie Cookies, aka a cross between the fudge brownie and the chocolate chip cookie. They have the same shape, crisp edges, and, when served warm, gooey pockets of chocolate as a cookie, with all the intense fudginess and chocolate wallop of a good brownie. Click here for the recipe.
SALAME DI CIOCCOLATO
Just a small slice of this packs a chocolate punch thanks to the combined forces of cocoa powder and melted chocolate, with a smooth fudginess interrupted only by crunchy pieces of cookie. It is deliciously addictive, yet another one of those desserts that lures you back for another sliver, then another, then another… Click here for the recipe.
Torta caprese
Hailing from Capri, the Caprese is an intensely chocolate-y cake, held together by a heap of mild, crunchy almonds, tinged with sunny bright orange, and topped with a shattery, crackly, lid that contrasts nicely with the fudge-y interior. A dusting of powdered sugar over the top is optional but should be obligatory. Click here for the recipe.
HOMEMADE NUTELLA
Making your own Nutella is super simple, and requires only a handful of ingredients. This Nutella is extremely chocolatey— cocoa powder and dark chocolate here, no distractions in between — with undertones of smoky hazelnuts. It's smooth and dreamy and perfect on toast, or on a banana, or who are we kidding, straight out of the jar. Click here for the recipe.
chocolate coconut macaroons
These macaroons become almost truffle-like with the addition of chocolate, its bittersweet flavor balancing out the sweetness of the shredded coconut nicely. Bonus: these are also incredibly easy to make -- the recipe is just a matter of blending the ingredients together in a food processor. Click here for the recipe.
CIOCCOLATA CALDA
Italian-style hot chocolate is rich and thick enough to be served with a spoon, toeing the line as it does between eat-able and drink-able. Topped with a dollop of unsweetened whipped cream to offset its bittersweet flavor, it is a pure shot of chocolate bliss. Click here for the recipe.