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Happy Chocolate, Sweetheart
A chef once told me that one of the busiest days in a restaurant’s year is Valentine’s Day. It is a day to test a cook’s nerve and patience, for, as he says, the menu fairly predictable, and the service (ie, the cooking) stretches on and on, as couples linger over coffee and chocolate, whispering sweet nothings.
From another point of view, couples themselves might want to enjoy private moments, well, privately. That challenges the home cook to devise a truly come-hither menu, balanced from one end to the other by purely aphrodisiacal components—and seductive flavors.
Know anything about aprodisiacs, a word derived from the Greek for Aphrodite, the goddess of love? Elusive elements in food that legend says can stoke the fires of love, aphrodisiacs may or may not work, but since no scientific research categorically disproves their potency, why not hedge your bets and set the mood?
If you need a guide to help you with your menu planning, consider the following: asparagus (a member of the lily family and an erotic vegetable with a turn-on aroma); arugula (considered a libido enhancer since the first century); avocado (its shape and smooth texture may stimulate desire); beef (protein, and an energy spark?); chocolate (Aztecs believed chocolate revved up desire); figs (ancient Greeks, today’s Italians and others consider them sexy); garlic (a general cure-all, it may heat up ailing libidos); oysters (famed from Roman times, zinc-rich oysters were a favorite of famed lover Casanova; he also apparently loved chocolate); pine nuts (ancient Romans and Arabs favored these zinc-rich nuts to stimulate); raspberries (Vitamin C-rich berries may help correct impotence); and vanilla (its aroma and essence may spark romance).
When all is said and done, and you are sweeping up just about the last crumbs of your love-infused meal, serve these chocolate cupcakes to your Romeo or Juliet:
Chocolate-Chocolate Cupcakes
Makes about 16 3-inch cupcakes
A cross between brownie and muffin, these elegant chocolate morsels have an intense chocolate flavor heightened by their chocolate icing. You may use 3-inch muffin molds or more decorative heart-shaped foil molds or other molds.
4 ounces unsweetened chocolate squares
½ pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter
6 large eggs
1 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup cake flour
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 tablespoon cocoa powder
Pinch salt
1 cup mini chocolate morsels
Preheat the oven to 350. Spray nonstick muffin cups with cooking spray. Melt the chocolate and butter together over low heat. When melted, cool to room temperature.
Meanwhile, beat the eggs with the sugar until the mixture turns a pale lemon-yellow. Spoon the cooled chocolate mixture into the sugar-egg mixture, and stir until combined. Stir in the cake flour, baking powder, vanilla extract, cocoa powder, and salt, and beat for about 30 seconds. Stir in the chocolate morsels. Spoon the mixture into the molds until each is about two-thirds full.
Bake 15 to 18 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean and the cupcakes feel firm. Cool completely before icing.
Chocolate Icing
4 squares semisweet chocolate
4 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons heavy cream
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
Melt the chocolate and butter together over simmering, not boiling, water. When melted, remove from the heat, and beat with electric beaters. Add the cream and extract. Ice each cupcake, and let set.
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