A Sweet That Really Says Something

About author / Amy Powell

World traveler; gourmet 30 minute meals; lover of exotic ingredients; winner on FoodTV's Chefs vs City; graduate French Culinary Institute. Her recipes will tantalize your taste buds.

The candy canes have hardly been cleared from the shelves each December when the vacant spaces begin filling with the saccharine symbols of Valentine's Day. The red and green of Christmas are swapped out for the reds and pinks for February. Mini candy bars, foil wrapped sweets, card boxes of sugar hearts with endearing messages of endless cloying affection, and of course, those heart shaped boxes of chocolates and their mystery fillings. These, we are told, are the gifts of love.

But could a standardized assortment of chocolates selected by a factory be any more an impersonal symbol of love? What of those who prefer black licorice over red, as my boyfriend does? Or what of those chocolate lovers who prefer to stick to their favorite one or two fillings rather than leave a trail of half eaten sweets not to her liking, as my mother does?

For my mother, it means father makes a trip to an actual store where he hand selects her favorites to fill the heart shaped box. For my black licorice-loving boyfriend it means he gets black licorice, even if it flies in the face of the conventional color scheme.

If you really want to give the most personal of sweet treats it can mean only one thing: making a dessert designed specifically with the one you love in mind.

While conceiving just such a dessert this year I took a few things into consideration. One, my love does not eat much dessert. Two, when he does, chocolate rules.

Whatever I made for him would have to be something in a small portion, lest I derail his New Year's healthy eating plan (not a very loving thing to do). As for the dessert itself, I wanted to combine some of his favorite dessert flavors: chocolate, coffee, and Oreos.

He loves ice cream, but this winter weather is not well suited to a frozen dessert. A budino, essentially a fancy Italian name for pudding, might be just the thing. Pudding has that comfort food nostalgia and lends itself well to the flavors I was looking to incorporate. It is cool, but not cold, and can be served in portions as large or small as I desired.

My concept was to make lighter style milk chocolate pudding infusing it with cocoa powder and instant coffee then thickened on the stove with cornstarch. (Thickening a pudding can be done with egg yolks, flour, or gelatin but I prefer the utility and neutral flavor of cornstarch.) I also sought out the best quality of cocoa and coffee I could find as that would make all the difference in this straightforward dessert.

Once thickened on the stove, a process that took no more than 12 minutes, I poured the mixture into six small, clear juice glasses. Come dessert time, I finished off the parfait with crumbled Oreos (any chocolate cookie would work), a healthy dollop of whipped cream and a dusting of cinnamon. If I had wanted to be even more playful, I could have served the pudding in a small coffee cup, a supremely decadent "caffe mocha."

Desserts, from chocolate filled hearts to chocolate pudding, are meant to be treats, reserved for special occasions. It is no wonder then that we spoil and adore the ones we love with these sweet indulgences on Valentine's Day. But perhaps, if you want to really show your affection this year, consider a dessert better suited to your love than the standard candy aisle fare. Even it is just hand selecting his or her favorite chocolates, here the thought really does count.

Serves/Makes: 4

• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup high quality cocoa powder
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1 teaspoon high quality instant coffee
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1 3/4 cup whole milk
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 12 Oreo cookies
• sweetened whipped cream
• ground cinnamon