The NYT's Food's Chocolate Issue

Chocoholics should rejoice. The New York Times Food section  published  chocolate issued their first ever Chocolate issue today. This is an homage to the food of the Aztecs as well as sweet lovers everywhere.It's chock full of great recipes and ideas for Valentine's Day gifts. Any are perfect for making this Saturday special.

Recipes abound as well as ideas for what to drink with it.One of the  most elaborate is Melissa Clark's  chocolate icebox cake. This is the labor intensive version of the one made with the store bought wafers and Cool Whip. If you have time make this but it does require a lot of work The chocolate wafers are made from scratch using Dutch process cocoa while the cream has not only a splash of bourbon mixed with dark brown sugar and maple syrup. This is hard work enough but then Ms. CLark shapes the cookies and whipped cream into a heart shape and drizzles melted dark chocolate over the whole cake . For those looking for something easier she does include a rich chocolate pound cake topped off with an ooey gooey streusel made with cocoa powder , buttery crumbs and chocolate chips..It's also sprinkled before the batter is poured  which means a nice surprise on the bottom. She rounds it out with a pot de crème served with crème fraiche. For lighter , yet still richly decadent treat try Martha Rose Shulman's Dark Chocolate Mint Sorbet. This is a healthy treat without dairy and eggs.It's a mix of mild honey cooked with sugar and then added to dark chocolate. Mint tea  and peppermint extract give it that refreshing kick.

Then there's the age old question: what wine goes well with chocolate?Eric Asimov discusses that in his weekly Pour column. He experimented with solid chocolate bars,pairing milk, dark and extra dark with different wines. The milk kind surprisingly works well with a variety of different vintages.Mr. Asimov tried it with Malmsey ,a sweet wine, better suited to a Jane Austen novel.It worked well with the candy with both bringing out the others' different notes. Madiera and port are also good, being better paired with the darker chocolates. The reason these work is that they're fortified wines ,
wines that has neutral spirits , basically a water addition, add mid fermentation to slow down the alcohol conversion. Another option is the sweet Hungarian wine Tokaji Aszu which is un fortified. The grapes have been injected with botrytis, the famed noble rot which gives the wine a flavor of mixed oranges and apricots. The Chocolate issue also has some neat gift suggestions as well as an article on artisanal home made chocolates (more on that tomorrow)Any one, from the rich chocolate spreads to the special Brazilian bonbons would make a wonderful gift.

It's really chocolate that makes the world go round, not love. That was obvious in today's New York Times Food section. It is full of yummy recipes and ideas for making Valentine's Day that much sweeter!