Chocolate and Valentine’s Day go together like peanut butter and jelly. If you’re planning to present your significant other with chocolate this February 14th, you can never go wrong with a hand baked good. If you want to go the extra mile, try infusing a Valentine’s Day chocolate dessert with a splash of tea. From early grey and chai to matcha and chamomile, tea is a trendy, unique ingredient that will make a treat extra-special for that someone very extra special. Here for your culinary experimentation are five chocolate dessert recipes that use tea. Ready, set, bake:
1) Earl Grey Infused Blender Chocolate Mousse
This dessert from Food 52 uses a blender to make moose easier than ever to prepare, and adds Earl Grey tea to give it a little something extra. Start by boiling orange zest and sugar with an earl grey tea bag in water. Strain, and then add to blended chocolate chips and vanilla extract. Add egg whites, serve into mousse cups, and refrigerate. 3-4 hours later, remove and top each mousse cup as desired with greek yogurt, mascarpone, or whipped cream.
2) Chai Chocolate Sables
This shortbread recipe from Annie’s Eats adds about 5 tea bags’ worth of chai to chocolate shortbread batter. Turbinado sugar, egg white, and water mix together for a top coat that crystalizes these tea-infused cookies. The chai will provide spice and a unique speckled look to each cookie.
3) Chocolate Matcha Pocky Cake with Matcha Mousse
This uniquely decorated chocolate cake from The Road to Honey starts with a rich chocolate cake filled with matcha mousse, progresses with matcha buttercream icing, and finishes things off with matcha Pocky stick decorations. If you’ve never tried a Pocky stick, run to your grocery store’s Asian foods aisle and pick up a box now. Thin stick biscuits covered with chocolate and other flavors, Pocky sticks are a popular snack in Japan. Here, they create a bamboo-like gate around the cake, adding intrigue to the dessert. If your bae considers him or herself a Japanophile, this cake will score major points this Valentine’s Day.
4) Earl Grey Tea Macarons with Orange Infused White Chocolate Ganache
Macarons are often overpriced at bakeries, so why not try making your own? Your Valentine will definitely appreciate the effort you went to in trying something new, ambitious, and, not to mention, delicious. These macarons from Lauren Caris Cooks add earl grey tea to both the macaron shells and the white chocolate and orange ganache filling, giving them extra texture and detail.
5) White Chocolate, Honey, and Chamomile Cupcakes
Now remember, chamomile tea isn’t technically tea, as it doesn’t come from the camellia sinensis tea plant, but we’ll make an exception and include this herbal tea-boosted cupcake recipe because it looks so delicious. Ground three tablespoons of chamomile flowers or sprinkle them via chamomile tea bags into cake batter. Bake and then top with a white chocolate and honey glaze topping for a sweet finish.
Happy Valentine’s Day!
