Chocolate Egg Cream Drink

Ingredients per glass:

• 1-2 oz chocolate syrup
• 1-2 oz cold milk
• 8-10 oz very cold seltzer water

Contrary to the name of this New York City soda fountain classic, chocolate egg creams do not contain any eggs or cream. What is does contain is Fox's "U-bet" chocolate "flavor" syrup.If you can't find it, I'm sure a certain brand from Pennsylvania will do just fine.


Along with the chocolate come the simple additions of milk and seltzer water. The magic of this drink is how the minimalist design produces such a rich, yet refreshing chocolate beverage. In fact, one of the reasons the beverage was so popular in its time, it was considered a cure for indigestion!

There are all sorts of arguments about the origins of this drink (when it comes to sports and food, New Yorkers do seem to enjoy a good debate), but most chocolate soda fountain drink historians think this was invented somewhere in Brooklyn, in the 1920's.

The technique is very simple, and as I suggest in the video, you'll want to adjust the trio of ingredients to the ratio that you find most satisfying. Some prefer this very light and frosty with extra milk, others go for the darker, flatter and richer.

Enjoy!

Chocolate Mousse

Ingredients:

• 3.5 oz dark chocolate bar, chopped or broken in small pieces (you can get away with
• 1 tablespoons butter
• 1/4 cup water, divided (2 tbsp for chocolate, 2 tbsp for egg mixture)
• 1 tablespoon white granulated sugar
• 2 large egg yolks
• 1/8 tsp ground chipotle
• very tiny pinch of salt
• 1/2 cup plus 1 tbsp heavy whipping cream
• extra cream and chocolate shavings to garnish, optional

Chocolate mousse is a surprisingly easy "fancy" dessert you can make for your Valentine's dinner. This video recipe shows my favorite basic chocolate mousse recipe, with the addition of a little dash of chipotle pepper - which really does some strange and wonderful things.

If you look back at the history of chocolate, it was certainly not enjoyed as the sweet treat we think of today. The Maya and Aztecs cultures both used the cacao beans, but they were most often fermented and made into a very bitter drink, often flavored with chili peppers.

So, unless you're dating a 3,000-year-old Mayan Goddess, I suggest something more along the lines of this modern chocolate mousse recipe, which still pays homage to the ancient spicy flavoring. You will be pleasantly surprised by how just a tiny dash of the hot, bittersweet spice brings out the full complexity of the chocolate.

Of course, I know that many of you just won't be able to pull the trigger. It just seems wrong to your culinary sensibilities, and that's all right. It's not really that big a deal. But, in one last attempt to convince you to give it a try, I will tell you that the Aztecs considered this chocolate chili concoction to be quite a powerful aphrodisiac.

If spicy peppers aren’t your thing, you can alter this recipe in more conventional ways with things like orange zest, or extracts like almond, coffee, and mint. One last tip, there's no need to sweeten the whipped cream garnish. The contrast of the plain, rich cream and the sweet, decadent chocolate underneath is a magical mix you don't want to mess with. Enjoy!

Boston Cream Pie

Ingredients:
yellow cake mix, prepared according to directions
For the pastry cream:

• 1/2 tbsp butter
• 1 cup whole milk
• 1 cup whipping cream
• 6 tablespoons sugar (upon further review we've added another tablespoon of sugar)
• 2 tablespoon cornstarch
• 3 eggs
• 1 or 2 teaspoons vanilla extract, or to taste
• big pinch of salt

For the chocolate ganache:

• 4 ounces high-quality dark chocolate, preferably bittersweet
• 1/2 cup cream
• 1 teaspoon butter

A Boston cream pie is all about the cream and ganache. In fact, here's a tip in case you want to take that idea and run with it – instead of two cakes, just use one. Use a long, serrated knife to split the cake in two, and proceed with the recipe as shown.

Hot Chocolate Stones

Ingredients:

• 8 ounces good dark chocolate
• 1/8 tsp chipotle pepper or cayenne
• big pinch of salt
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• cocoa to dust

sexy black bow with the word "Love" across the top, or something simila

Chocolate Lava Cake

Ingredients:

• 2 large eggs
• 2 large egg yolks
• 5 tbsp butter
• 3 tbsp sugar
• 3.5 oz dark chocolate (this is one standard chocolate bar)
• 3 tbsp flour
• 4 tsp good (aka expensive) cocoa powder
• pinch salt
• 1/8 tsp vanilla
• *Bake at 425 F, in water bath for 15 mins.

Legend has it that this dessert was the result of a major catering disaster. The dessert for this particular event was to be individual chocolate cakes, but someone took them out of the ovens to soon and the centers where not cooked enough and still liquefied. Well, there was no time to take them off the plates and cook them more, so the Chef simply had his wait staff introduce the dessert as Chocolate “Lava” Cake! Brilliant! Now, whether this is true or not, I don’t know for sure, but it totally sounds like something a Chef would do.

Chocolate Mocha Pot de Crème

Ingredients for 4 Chocolate Mocha Pots de Crème

• 4 oz bittersweet chocolate, cut into very small pieces (as small as corn kernels)
• 1/2 teaspoon instant coffee
• very tiny pinch of salt
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 3 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

The real goal of any hot Valentine's Day date isn't to make a great dinner; it's to make a great breakfast for that same person the next day. With that in mind, we're going to need something a little richer, sexier, and more decadent than usual.

Luckily, richer, sexier, and more decadent is exactly what this chocolate mocha pot de crème recipe is all about. Sure, it's basically just a soft, coffee-flavored chocolate ganache, but when you serve it out of those cute little demitasse cups, top it with some thickened cream, and dust it with cocoa to simulate a petite cappuccino, there's nothing basic about it.

On a less romantic note, let me make a little disclaimer about this dessert's composition. If you make it with other types of chocolate, other dairy products, or other sweeteners, I can't be held responsible for it's aphrodisiacal effects.

I'm sort of a one trick pony when it comes to this stuff, so without sounding too lazy, if you're wondering about the difference between 70% and 85% chocolate, or if half and half will work instead, you should probably Google a reliable source. Or better yet, just make it exactly like this – it was really good.

Having said that, you are certainly free to put your own subtle flavoring twists on this, like a bit of orange zest instead of coffee, or as I joke about in the video, a little pinch of cayenne. I really hope you give this a try for Valentines Day, and good luck with that breakfast. Enjoy!