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Maybe some chocolates seem too obvious an option to surprise your better half in Valentine’s Day!. In reality, they are a classic that never fails. Especially if, due to their ingredients, preparation or packaging, they are real jewels.
En Summum we have selected ten alternatives of chocolate capable of leaving even the most demanding couple speechless.
Valrhona’s Heart
There is something that makes chocolate Valrhona be special. The conching, the final phase of chocolate making, lasts 36 hours compared to 8 hours for the vast majority of chocolates. This multiplies the microns, microparticles, present in the same piece, something that influences its texture and aroma.
Yes, Valentine’s Day!, the French brand makes elegant heart-shaped chocolates filled with raspberry or passion fruit pulp, Grand Marnier or vanilla (for lovers of white chocolate), Jivara milk chocolate or Manjari black and hazelnut. You can go in search of these delicacies in the partner stores of Valrhona.
The history of chocolate, in bonbon format
Chocolate owes a lot to Neuhaus, Belgian brand with more than 160 years of experience, which back in 1912 invented nothing less than the bonbon.
An assortment of these chocolates in a suggestive heart-shaped box is a good idea for Valentine’s Day! (65 euros for the 43 chocolates), but there is an even better option. A box of gold and Tiffany blue that summarizes the history of the house and, with it, that of chocolate. It comes with a matching elegant bag and illustrative brochure and contains 28 chocolates, two for each of Neuhaus’s legendary creations. Its price, 38 euros.
The three proposals of the ‘cocoa chef’
We can think of few things more romantic than a walk in the Retiro Park savoring some of the best chocolates in the capital. For something to Ricardo Vélez, in charge of the pastry shop Chocolate Mill, located right in front of the park, is nicknamed ‘chef del cacao’. The showcases of this pastry shop are characterized by being ephemeral, as they are filled with novelties depending on the season.
For Valentine’s Day there will be a limited edition strawberry chocolates (with fruit jam, vanilla and anise), passion (with nuts, praline and pepper) and Manjari dark chocolate. Three formats available with completely renewed packaging. Prices range from 12 euros for a box of nine chocolates to 75 euros for the one with 64 chocolates.
Custom artisans
Karem Molina y Ardiel galvan they carry chocolate in their genes. She is Venezuelan (a pharmacist by profession and chocolatier by passion) and he is Swiss. They met in Madrid eight years ago and now they run together Flower D’KKO, a shop with a workshop on Padilla street, in the exclusive Salamanca district.
Yes, Valentine’s Day!, the couple have designed chocolates with a high aphrodisiac content, with 85% cocoa and rosé champagne, and a very tempting special service. Until this Saturday, any lover or chocoadicte will be able to approach the store to order some personalized chocolates to collect from the 14th. The customer will be able to choose the type of chocolate, the ingredients such as salts and fruit, the final finish (with coffee powder, for example, instead of cocoa) and even the color. Red, gold or pink. For those who wish, the chocolates may be accompanied by a mini-video showing the stages of making this unique gift.
El price of the chocolates is 1,25 euros each. The one with the service, 30 euros for 14 chocolates personalized (55 euros with the video).
The importance of being Leonidas
Leonidas It is another Belgian house that you have to visit, even if it is from afar, tasting its varied, colorful and delicious chocolates at one of its points of sale in the world. His Manon Café, a white chocolate bonbon filled with coffee butter cream, will mark a before and after in your lives.
For Valentine’s Day this 2018, in the stores of Leonidas You can buy milk chocolate with Bourbon vanilla, dark chocolate with violet and vanilla ganache, raspberry and passion fruit (with a beautiful yellow color). Of course, heart-shaped.
Romantic chocolate sensations
Chocolate sensations is an artisan workshop of premium chocolates that is part of Luxury Spain, a quality seal under which the most exclusive Spanish delicatessens meet. For the most romantic season of the year, this workshop makes three proposals.
The first is an assortment of marzipan chocolates from the German Lübeck designation of origin: classic or with essential oil of orange blossom or Damask rose. The second is some white chocolate hearts filled with passion fruit with dark chocolate. 25 chocolates cost around 25 euros, marzipans about 27. The third proposal was born from the collaboration with another brand of Luxury Spain, LoRUSSo. These are chocolates filled with raspberry or sweet orange jam and dark chocolate truffles with extra virgin olive oil.
This collection is available only on request.
Mediterranean love
Cudié, a Catalan brand with an artisan heart and an international vocation, signs two lines of chocolates that may be the perfect gift for Valentine’s Day.
A delicatessen line of caramelised almond and gianduja chocolates, walnuts and lime or rose and white chocolate, among other original combinations. And another inspired, both in taste and design, by the Mediterranean and Modernism, with shades of pink, coffee, salt and orange.
The former can be purchased only in bulk, the latter come in boxes of six, 18 and 26 units with prices that They range from 4,30 to 18 euros. The elegant packaging is a gift in itself.
Love squared
Chocolate, strawberry and love are the essential ingredients for a round Valentine’s Day (and very gourmet). If we mix them all in an imaginary shaker, the result would be very similar to the proposal of the Ascaso pastry shop.
These are heart-shaped chocolates, filled with natural strawberry pulp and Valrhona milk chocolate from the Bahibé variety and a strawberry chocolate coating that gives them a beautiful pink color. These creations are part of a new line of work of the workshop, which uses the fruit as if it were a chocolate coating.
The box of 14 chocolates costs around 12 euros and can be purchased both in Ascaso stores in Madrid, Zaragoza and Huesca, as well as through its website.
Precious and designer
En Valentine’s Day!, not all are hearts. How about some limited edition chocolate diamonds, rubies or emeralds in a beautiful designer box? If you want to surprise your better half, that of Godiva it is undoubtedly the best option.
The Belgian house, another heavyweight in the world of chocolate, has relied on its master chocolatiers to design a collection of jewels with such attractive flavors as lemon, ginger and hazelnut; dark chocolate, orange and caramel; pistachio praline and chocolate mousse with almond praline and coffee. To these wonders are added, in a Nordic-inspired box by English designer Jessie Ford, hearts with strawberry and lemon ganache.
The “chest” with nine jewels costs 15 euros and can be purchased in the shops of Godiva or through its website.
Surprisingly Lindt
If there is a day when exaggeration is not only legal, but also recommended, it is February 14. Especially if the goal is to leave our partner speechless.
The most extravagant proposal of the Swiss brand Lindt is a tower of three boxes of chocolates linked by an elegant bow. The price exceeds 40 euros and the weight is exactly one kilo.
Everyone who knows the chocolates Lindt and its double texture (with a creamy chocolate heart) know that they are highly addictive. This gift is an invitation to let yourself go. For the chocolate or rather for the love.