Yahoo Lifestyle The Best Fancy Chocolates to Buy for Your Valentine, According to Celebrity Chefs
It’s officially the season of romance, which means it's prime chocolate time. No matter if you’re planning a special night with your significant other or preparing a chill hang with your friends, it’s important to have a sweet, Valentine’s-inspired treat that everyone can enjoy and for that, it's hard to beat a box of gourmet chocolates.
To help you pick the best fancy chocolates, we reached out to seven fan-favorite celebrity chefs, including Andrew Zimmern, Maneet Chauhan, Robert Irvine and more, to find out exactly which brand and flavors of gourmet chocolates are worth spending your hard-earned money on.
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Chocolate-Buying Tips From Chef Jacques Torres
Before we jump into this delicious list, we want to share some great advice we got from master chocolatier Jacques Torres, who you might know as a judge on Nailed It. He graciously shared a few chocolate-buying pointers that will help you when you're out shopping for Valentine's Day. After 25 years in the chocolate-making business, Torres definitely knows what he's talking about.
“Shop at a reputable brand, but more importantly, make sure it's a brand your Valentine loves.”
“Check that the ingredients of the chocolates are premium, using only cocoa butter, cocoa solids, and sugar (and milk powder for milk chocolate).”
“Make sure you purchase flavors that they enjoy, not what you like, because where is the romance in that?”
Now that you have a general sense of what you’re looking for, it’s time to add these celeb chef picks to your cart.
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7 Great Fancy Chocolate Brands, According to Celebrity Chefs
1. Chocolat Moderne: Marc Murphy
Chocolate Moderne, available online and at a brick-and-mortar in New York City, is Chef Marc Murphy’s fancy chocolate of choice. The Chopped star describes the chocolates as “one-of-a-kind,” adding that the chocolatier, Joan Coukos, is “always innovating [in] flavors and techniques” with “consistently exceptional results.” Murphy is partial to the dark chocolate and sea salt chocolates or the dark chocolate with orange.
“One of the most mind-blowing creations Joan has ever done was incorporating Umbrian gold olive oil — it was unimaginably delicious,” he adds. If you're looking for just one box to buy, the Heart Nouveau Salt Talks 12-piece incorporates Murphy’s favorites, with additional milk and white chocolate pieces.
2. Éclat Chocolate: Andrew Zimmern
Andrew Zimmern's pick is Éclat Chocolate, a handcrafted artisan chocolate brand by founder and master chocolatier Christopher Curtin. The television personality, whose latest season Andrew Zimmern’s Wild Game Kitchen is currently airing on Tastemade, describes the chocolate as nothing less than “superb,” thanks to their locally-grown cacao sourcing, “stunning flavors and combinations,” and specialty offerings. “The variety of styles and textures as well as the consistent reinvention of the line keeps me coming back year after year,” Zimmern told Parade.
Several of the classic bars are available on Amazon, but Zimmern enjoys the brand's filled cubes (bonus points if they’re infused with passion fruit or citrus), anything caramel, and Curtin’s decedent Mondiants, like this assorted 16-piece box. “His Mondiants are a creation like no other—paper-thin saucers that have to be eaten to be believed,” the Bizarre Foods host adds.
3. Patrick Roger: Dominique Ansel
Patrick Roger, located in Paris and sold online, is Chef Dominique Ansel’s top pick. “He is an amazing artist and his chocolates are little pieces of art in themselves,” the French pastry chef and cookbook author says of Roger. Ansel favors the bonbons, which feature a ganache filling with a “vivid and vibrant” taste. Ansel is also a fan of any of the chocolate and hazelnut treats or anything with fresh passion fruit.
4. Tony’s Chocolonely: Molly Yeh
If you're looking for a great chocolate option that doesn't require mail ordering, Girl Meets Farm host, Molly Yeh suggested giving Tony’s Chocolonely a try. The Netherlands-based company used to be somewhat hard to find, but these days you can pick up a bar or two at your local drugstore, Walmart or Target. Yeh likes to add the bars to her cart for snacking, baking or gifting. She likes that the brand gets creative with its flavors, including options like the white raspberry bar with popping candy. What's even better? Tony's is committed to producing exploitation-free chocolate.
Yeh, whose newest cookbook, Sweet Farm!, comes out on March 4, also has cooking with chocolate on the brain. She says if you're planning on making chocolate chip cookies, lava cake, or virtually any dessert that requires chocolate, then you should look for Valrhona, Callebaut, or Guittard at the store.
Related: Molly Yeh Shares Her Easy, Post-Kid Recipe for Broccolini, Sausage and Lemon Deep-Dish Pizza
5. Recchiuti Confections: Zac Young
Recchiuti Confections offers a minimum of 32% cocoa butter in every blend that’s sold online or at their shop in San Francisco, which means the chocolate truffles are incredibly smooth. The owner, Michael Recchiuti, is known for custom chocolates that marry European techniques with local fruits and herbs. “His burnt caramel truffle is possibly my all-time favorite piece of chocolate,” says Young, a pastry chef and judge on Food Network’s Halloween Baking Championship.
The burnt caramel truffle is included in Recchiuti’s XOXO 32-Piece Box, if you're looking for a solid assortment for your sweetie. Looking for other flavor suggestions? Young also likes anything "that cuts the sweetness, like a salty caramel or tart passion fruit filling.”
6. A.T.Y Confections: Maneet Chauhan
Chopped judge Maneet Chauhan chose A.T.Y Confections, a hidden gem found in downtown Mystic, Connecticut, as her go-to fancy chocolate brand. They’re available exclusively in-store at Sift Bakeshop, so if you live in New England, it may be worth the road trip. “Chef Adam Young handcrafts each and every chocolate using the highest quality ingredients — and they look absolutely beautiful," says Chauhan. She's a fan of the ube coconut and salted caramel flavors.
If you’re nowhere near Connecticut, Chauhan suggests Volo Chocolate (specifically the dark cream chocolate caramel crunch flavor) because the chocolate used is ethically sourced. She also like Madhu Chocolate, which incorporates traditional Indian flavors, including saffron and cardamom and Chauhan’s favorites, rose pistachio and masala chai.
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7. Lindt: Robert Irvine
Irvine weighs in with another super-accessible pick, Lindt chocolate. The iconic brand, which started in Zurich in 1845, is available at grocery stores, drug stores, and big-box spots like Target and Walmart. “Years ago I visited the Lindt chocolate museum in Switzerland, and frankly, it made a huge impression on me,” the Restaurant: Impossible star tells Parade. “They have such love and reverence for the art and craft of chocolate-making [that] you can’t help but love it, too.”
Irvine is a big fan of caramel, toffee and nougat fillings, but Lindt rolls out new and limited-edition flavors all the time, so you're likely to find something that will suit whomever you're shopping for.
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