Furgal Valentine's Day Chocolates

Frugal Valentine's Day Chocolates made by my daughter

My eight-year old daughter whipped up this delightful little chocolates all by herself. Frugal and cute don't you think?

It’s the season of love again, and if you’re involved with anyone but maybe short on dough (who isn’t right!) you might be looking for some frugal Valentine ideas and that’s what this page is all about. Now if you’re better half is what you’d call “high maintenance,” then perhaps you’d be better off sticking to those snobby places like Louis Vuitton for your romance needs. But if you’re better half thinks the hands-on, do-it-yourself approach is cute or sweet that perhaps you’ve hit the jackpot with what we have here so let’s dive right in. First up, getting in the mood with frugal Valentine’s day chocolate!

Chocolates

With Godiva charging a fortune, sometimes over $100 for a few boxes of chocolate, it’s easy to see that Valentine’s Day can be expensive. But did you know that it’s easy enough to make your own chocolates? A regular box of store-bought bonbons can be melted down using a double boiler (that’s a metal bowl, over a boiling pot of water) and poured into molds and other things added to make your “homemade” chocolates something unique and special. Here are a couple of ideas:

Pour the chocolate into round molds and as the chocolate starts to set, add a thin slice of strawberry. Or dip the whole strawberry directly into the chocolate to coat roughly 1/3 of the strawberry.

A balloon, some chocolates and a sweet gift for my wife and daughter. These homemade White Day Chocolates are the return gift from men to women on March 14th--a Japanese custom.

Pour the chocolate into heart shaped-molds and once the chocolate is set, pop your chocolate hearts out of their molds and toss in a zip-lock bagged filled with powdered chocolate to make truffle-like confections.

Or if you’re really feeling handy, get yourself a small balloon, very lightly cover a portion of the inflated balloon with cooking spray or a neutral-flavored oil. You’ll also want to have a baking sheet with some wax paper laid out. A little oil on the sheet help here too. Dip the balloon into the chocolate and place it on the wax paper. When you’ve got done as many balloons as you want, park em in the fridge until the chocolate sets. Once the chocolate has set, use a pin to poke a hole in the balloon. Don’t pop the balloon but we want to let the air out. Once all the air is gone, you know have a little edible chocolate bowl to fill with whatever you can image. Perhaps a few raspberries, a bit of whipped cream and a sprig of mint, plus some slivers of chocolate shaved off by your vegetable peeler.

The final trick with your homemade chocolates is to do what the luxury goods people do and that’s market them in an appealing way by not overcrowding them in their packaging. Two or three chocolates in a small cardboard tray wrapped in clear cellophane and tied with a piece of ribbon will look more appealing than if they were just all tossed into a box.