The month of love has landed in all its heart-filled glory, and we’re ready to celebrate! Instead of gifting your best gal pals or partner with a box of chocolates and a dozen roses, why not celebrate by making homemade Hot Chocolate Bombs—courtesy of local food blogger @fittyfoodlicious—a build-your-own charcuterie kit from Platterful, or tickets to an adults-only, one-of-a-kind Valentine’s Day Dinner Train?

 

HOT CHOCOLATE BOMBS

Recipe submitted by Genevieve Jerome, Folsom-based blogger and creative content creator at Fitty Foodlicious. Follow her on Instagram @fittyfoodlicious.

 

Super fun and easy to make, these hot chocolate bombs are a perfect Valentine’s Day gift or treat.

 

2 Hot Chocolate Bomb Candy Molds

1 bag Guittard milk chocolate chips

1 bag Guittard white chocolate chips

1 cup Guittard hot chocolate mixture or cacao powder

2 cups mini marshmallows

2 cups Valentine's Day M&M's

¼-cup Valentine's Day sprinkles

 

 

Using a candy melter or microwave, melt the milk chocolate and the white chocolate, separately, in two different bowls. Spoon the melted milk chocolate into one set of the hot chocolate bomb molds, ensuring it goes up the sides of each mold and there’s enough so that each half is nice and thick. Repeat the same step with the white chocolate.

Place the molds on a cookie sheet and into the freezer for 15 minutes. You want to make sure the chocolate is frozen solid.

 

Warm up a microwave-safe plate for 20 seconds. Once the chocolate shells are ready, carefully pop each one out of the molds.

Grab one chocolate mold and melt the top rim of it on the warm plate. Fill the half mold with hot cocoa mixture, marshmallows, M&M, and sprinkles.

Grab the other chocolate mold and warm the rim on the plate and place the top of it on the prepared, filled chocolate mold and meld them together. You can easily do this by rubbing melted chocolate on the sides until the hot chocolate bomb forms.

Repeat the above steps until all the chocolate molds are prepped.

Place the hot chocolate bombs back in the freezer for a few minutes to firm up again. With the extra melted dark and white chocolate, drizzle the melted chocolate onto each bomb and place them back in the freezer for 15 minutes until frozen solid.

Grab two mugs of warm milk (they respond best to full-fat dairy milk—like whole milk and heavy cream—but if you’re dairy-free, try coconut milk), remove hot chocolate bombs from the freezer, drop them into the hot milk, and watch them melt and come to life. Enjoy!

 

 

NOTES

You can make these ahead of time. Make the molds first and leave them in the freezer or refrigerator until ready to use. They keep well in a glass, airtight container in the freezer for up to one week. Freezing the Hot Chocolate Bombs will make them dissolve faster in hot milk, giving you an even creamier drink.

 

 

SAY CHEESE!

For the friend or lover in your life who’s obsessed with artfully presented cheese platters, aka grazing boards, Platterful has a perfect present to say: “I love you!” Their all-in-one Cheese Lovers’ Charcuterie Kit starts at $65 and comes complete with everything needed to build an Instagramable—not to mention, droolworthy—spread: a handmade wooden board, knife set, special Valentine’s Day treat, and the finest variety of cured meats, cheeses, crackers, and accompaniments. The step-by-step instructions (both written and video) mean the picture-perfect board will be ready…and ready to eat…in no time. If you thought the edible, interactive gift couldn’t get any better, think again; for every box sold, Platterful donates a portion of the proceeds to No Kid Hungry. How gouda is that? Order your kit here!

 

 

ALL ABOARD THE LOVE TRAIN

Take dinner and a show to a whole new level by securing your spot on the Valentine’s Day River Train. The 2.5-hour experience includes a romantic, three-course dinner (salad, entrée, dessert, and coffee; beer, wine, and cocktails are available for purchase) and old-fashioned love songs from a strolling musician along the picturesque Old Garden Highway beside the river. The train departs February 14 at 6:30 p.m. For tickets and more info, click here.

By Megan Wiskus