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What Flavor Is Your Heart?

Posted by Emily Stone, February 13, 2008 at 11:00 AM

Cosmic Chocolate's Carly Baumann knows how to groove with the best of them. Her lips—and her chocolates—are always sparkling, and her candymaking goal, in her own words, is to "create luscious bites of elation and share with you our feelings of desire, expectancy, and satisfaction." So, no, Baumann didn't just pour melted chocolate into heart-shape molds, pop them out, and tie them up with red ribbons this Valentine's Day. Instead, she developed the Cosmic Bliss Heart Collection, whose flavors—Espresso Cognac, Lemon Basil, Black Current Violet, "Gianduya," Peanut Butter Honey, Passion Fruit, Red Hot Cinnamon, Sea Salt Caramel, and Strawberry Champagne—anticipate the full range of libidinous urges. The entire nine-piece collection costs $20.

And in case you want to experiment elsewhere, here are some bursting heart alternatives:

Charles Chocolates

Bay Area entrepreneur Chuck Siegel nestles Raspberry, Passion Fruit, and Mojito hearts into a heart-adorned chocolate box; $60.

Chocolat Moderne

Manhattanite Joan Coukos has figured out the Six Mysteries of Love, and she proves it by turning out heart-shaped bon bons known as the Lover (passion fruit with cardamom caramel), Madame ‘X’tasy (sea salted espresso with dark chocolate caramel), Caramel Caresse (Poire Williams with Eau de Vie caramel), Purity (90% "Ecuadoran Rainforest" ganache), The Player (kicking with single malt scotch), and Raspberry Rendez-vous (raspberries with 64% Madagascan ganache); $32 for the 12-piece box

Christopher Norman Chocolates

The East Coast painter-turned-chocolatier stuffs his hearts with Hazelnut Gianduja and Caramel; $7.50 for a box of four.

Lillie Belle Farms

Oregon cowboy Jeff Shepherd is still hard at work on his Bing Cherry and Madagascar Vanilla Bean hearts; $35 for a 17-piece box.

Oliver Kita Fine Confections

This Rhinebeck, New York, newcomer offers up Tibetan Tiger Hearts (orange caramel with chai and chili), Loveletter Hearts (Parisian liqueur and wild elderflower blossoms), and Vermillion Fruit Hearts (raspberry, lingonberry and red currant); $11 for the four-piece box.

Recchiuti Confections

Chocolate bad-boy Michael Recchiuti dreamed up an in-store only special for his place in the San Francisco Ferry Building: hand-molded hearts filled with "Force Noir" (70% chocolate with whole vanilla bean) ganache; go to www.recchiuti.com for contact info.

The Xocolate Bar

These earthy California Chocolatiers are responsible for the for the Cardamom Corazon and a winged-heart filled with cinnamon, orange zest, and chili guajillo, called the Aztec Amour; see www.thexocolatebar.com for purchase details.

About the author: Emily Stone, proprietor of Chocolate in Context, is a chocolate enthusiast, itinerant traveler, and a lover of literature who lives in Pittsburgh. She's been a movie reviewer, a reproductive health researcher, and an independent bookstore owner. Her writing has appeared in the magazines Budget Travel, Travel + Leisure, and Time Out New York, as well as on the websites World Hum and Epicurious..

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