chocolate

Do you like to bake? I love to! And in the back of my mind, I often ponder about what it would be like to have a sunlight-kissed, cozy and happy little bakery filled with really yummy, made-with-much love-and joy, any-time-of-the-day sweet and savory treats and memory-making aromas.

Until that day, our kitchen will have to do. I seek inspiration from visiting bakeries, patisseries, and especially chocolatiers locally and when we travel — either before or after we visit farmers markets.

I also love to curl up with and learn from my collection of old and new cookbooks — my husband keeps telling me we have no more room for cookbooks, but I know better! — and then pick what I would like to make next — or again, with perhaps my own twist. 

I have several favorites, and you can find some of them in the shop, along with a curated collection of baking and kitchen tools that we will be growing. One of my favorite go-to baking cookbooks is by Chez Panisse alumna Claire Ptak, who owns the lovely Violet Bakery in London. 

Her name sounds familiar, yes? It should, as she was the baker chosen by Meghan Markle to make that beautiful and mouth-watering Amalfi lemon and elderflower sponge cake for Meghan's wedding to Prince Harry. 

I'll let Alice Waters — legendary chef, founder/owner of Chez Panisse and Café, author and activist for healthy food and the environment and a heroine of mine — share her thoughts about Claire Ptak and The Violet Bakery and her wonderful cookbook of the same name:

"One of the things I love most about Claire's palate is her unerring sense of balance. When it comes to sugar in her desserts, the sweetness never overwhelms or cloys. She keeps the flavors up there on this incredible tightrope. And she's able to do that because she is always asking herself the questions that matter: What does the new apple harvest taste like? How does spelt flour compare to buckwheat? Is this batch better than the last one I made? She is always searching for how to do it better the next time, never relying on the crutch of the familiar and the predictable. That kind of self-inquiry separates a good cook from a great one...

...This is a lovely book to fall in to...As you thumb through these wonderful images and recipes, you feel welcomed into Claire's kitchen in the most natural of ways. Her nuanced approach to season and place, sweet and savory, flavor and health, is what makes this book so special: it is about food that is lovingly crafted, always mindful of what is delicious, pure, and satisfying in the truest sense."

Exactly! So, to celebrate Easter, Spring, life, anything, because there is always something worth having gratitude for and celebrating, especially with chocolate — here is the delish recipe for Sunken Chocolate Soufflé Cake from The Violet Bakery cookbook.  And yes, you can get your own copy of the entire book and its timeless treasure trove of recipes to bake that are perfect any time, from morning to night, right here!

And, these Morrello Cherries in Syrup from a small orchard in Italy make the perfect topping for this cake!

Here is Claire Ptak's own description of her chocolate lovers' dream creation: 

"I used to call this a flourless chocolate cake in the early days of my cake stall, and it was so funny to hear people ask for the "flavorless" chocolate cake; however, Sunken Soufflé Cake describes it better. It's a soufflé, made rich with dark chocolate, and when baked just right is super-rich and gooey but then just melts in your mouth and actually feels quite light. These types of flourless cakes were really popular in restaurants in the 1980s and 1990s, but today people tend to add lots of nuts to their chocolate cakes. I love a nutty chocolate cake, but a pure chocolate cake is so lovely." 

And, here's the recipe:

NOTE. You need to use an electric mixer to get the right volume with this cake.

Makes one 9-inch cake, which serves 8 to 10

Ingredients

2/3 cup unsalted butter, plus more for greasing the pan
6 1/2 ounces dark chocolate (70 percent cocoa solids)
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
4 eggs
3/4 cup sugar
Cocoa powder, for dusting on top

Directions

• Preheat the oven to 340°F (300°F convection). Butter a 9-inch springform cake pan and line with parchment paper.

Melt the butter and chocolate with the salt in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of barely simmering water. Stir occasionally but not vigorously. Once the butter and chocolate have melted, remove the pan from the heat but keep the mixture warm and resting over the pan of water until ready to use.

Separate the eggs, placing the yolks into the bowl of your stand mixer first. Add half of the sugar and whisk until the mixture forms pale and fluffy ribbons and has doubled in volume.

Remove the bowl of melted chocolate from the pan of hot water and set it on your work surface. Fold the whisked yolks into the melted chocolate. They should be marbly and not fully incorporated.

Wash out the mixer bowl and dry it thoroughly, and now add the egg whites to it along with the remaining sugar. Whisk on a high speed until medium-soft peaks form. Do not overwhip. The consistency of the egg whites should resemble that of the yolk and chocolate mixture. Fold the whites into the chocolate until just mixed, then pour into your prepared pan.

Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, until the top of the cake is puffed and just starting to crack. The cake will still have a bit of a wobble and will be puffing out over the top of the pan. Place the pan on a wire cooling rack and coax any extra overflowing cake back into the pan.

Allow to cool for a good 20 minutes, then remove the sides of the pan, peel off the paper, and slide the cake onto a nice serving plate. Dust with cocoa powder before serving.

Reprinted with permission from The Violet Bakery, by Claire Ptak (Ten Speed Press)
Cake Photography copyright by Kristin Perers

Main photo of bee in our garden - Copyright 2020 Kim Young

CHOCOLATE = LOVE, ANY DAY OF THE YEAR

Happy Valentine's Day! We hope this finds you and yours well and enjoying a love-filled day.

It is no secret that we here at Pretty Things & Cool Stuff are HUGE fans of good chocolate. So, we always are looking for ways to enjoy and share it. 

One of our favorite chefs/food writers is David Lebovitz ( we feature a few of his books in the shop - Drinking French, The Perfect Scoop, My Paris Kitchen), and he has an amazing recipe for a chocolate cake that he describes as "extremely rich, and tastes like the most delicious, silkiest, most supremely-chocolate ganache you've ever had." We totally agree! 

What makes this recipe really amazing is the fact that it is next to impossible to mess it up. In fact, David even once called it the Chocolate Idiot Cake! It takes just four ingredients, no special techniques, just some whisking, and once it has cooled, it can be refrigerated for several days before serving.

A couple of important notes:

• Use a good chocolate — a 70% bittersweet or semisweet chocolate is great choice.
• Because the cake will bake in a hot water bath — bain-marie in French — it is very important to wrap the springform pan you will use very well in several layers of aluminum. foil, making sure it goes all the way to the top of the pan to prevent any water from seeping in during backing. A bain-marie is a way to cook delicate foods, as it creates a gentle heat around the food and results in a uniform cooking process. 
• A good way to remove a cake like this from the bottom of a springform pan is to dip a chef's knife in very hot water and carefully slide it under the cooled cake. An even better way is to use a glass-bottomed springform pan, if you can.

CAKE INGREDIENTS

10 ounces (290 grams) bittersweet or semisweet good-quality chocolate, coarsely chopped

7 ounces (200 grams) butter — salted or unsalted — cut into pieces

5 large eggs at room temperature

1 cup (200 grams) sugar

Unsweetened cocoa powder for preparing the cake pan

CAKE DIRECTIONS

1.  Preheat the oven to 350ºF (175ºC).

2.  Butter a 9-inch (23cm) springform pan and dust it with cocoa powder, tapping out any excess. Wrap the outside with aluminum foil, in several layers if necessary (see headnote), making sure it goes all the way up to the outer rim.

3.  Melt the chocolate and butter in a double boiler (or microwave), stirring occasionally, until smooth. Remove from heat.

4.  In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs and sugar, then whisk in the melted chocolate mixture until smooth.

5.  Pour the batter into the prepared springform pan and cover the top of the cake pan snugly with a sheet of foil. Put the springform pan into a larger pan that can be put in the oven, like a roasting pan. Add enough hot water to the roasting-turned-baking pan so that it reaches halfway up to the outside of the cake pan.

7.  Bake the cake for about 1 hour and 15 minutes. It should feel just set in the center, like quivering chocolate pudding. If you gently touch the center, your finger should come away almost clean.

8.  Lift the cake pan from the water bath and remove the foil. Let cake cool completely on a cooling rack.

9.  When it is cool, serve thin wedges of this very rich cake at room temperature, with crème anglaise, ice cream, whipped cream, chocolate sauce, Amarena cherries and their syrup, etc. 

Storage: This cake can be wrapped and chilled in the refrigerator for 3-5 days.

Make your St. Patrick's Day toast with a slice of this!

Guiness Cake with Bailey's Irish Cream Icing

Talk about having your cake and eating it, too!

What can be more Irish than Guiness beer and Bailey's Irish Cream? And just imagine combining them with chocolate in a deliciously dark cake for a double shot of Irish! The cake recipe comes from Clodaugh's Irish Kitchen: A Fresh Take on Traditional Flavors by popular Irish chef Clodaugh McKenna. 

Serves 10

CAKE INGREDIENTS

2 1/4 sticks plus 1 tablespoon unsalted butter

1 1/4 cup Guinness 

1 cup unsweetened, Dutch-process cocoa powder

2 large eggs

2 cups plus 2 tablespoons superfine sugar

2 tablespoons vanilla extract

3/4 cup buttermilk

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon baking power

ICING INGREDIENTS

8 tablespoons (4 ounces) unsalted Irish butter

2 1/2 cups sifted confectioner's sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/4 cups cream cheese (not low fat)

4 tablespoons Bailey's Irish Cream

CAKE DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 325°F. Line the bottom of a 12-inch, round springform pan with parchment paper.

Heat the butter in a a large saucepan over medium heat until melted. Stir in Guinness, then remove from the heat and the stir in cocoa powder.

In a large mixing bowl, beat the eggs, sugar, vanilla extract and buttermilk and then slowly mix in the Guinness mixture.

Sift together the flour, baking soda and baking powder into a separate large bowl. Using a handheld electric mixer, slowly mix the wet mixture into the dry ingredients and keep beating until all is well combined. 

Transfer the batter to the prepared cake pan and bake in the oven for 45 minutes. Test to make sure the cake is ready by inserting a toothpick into the center of the cake — if it comes out clean, the cake is finished baking. Let the cake cool in the pan, then transfer from the pan onto a wire rack.

ICING DIRECTIONS

While the cake is cooling, make the frosting: Using a handheld electric mixer, blend all of the ingredients together until light and fluffy.

Place the cooled cake on a plate and generously spread the frosting on top.

The cake will keep up to a week in an airtight container.

Rose-infused Lillet Rosé

Death & Co. Modern Classic Cocktails

A rose is a rose is a rose. And what a wonderful cocktail it makes! Especially when combined with the French wine-based aperitif, Lillet Rosé, which is made from Grand Cru Bordeaux grapes and combined with fruit liquers.

This recipe is from the very talented mixology pioneers at New York's highly rated cocktail sanctuary, Death & Co., and it comes from their classic, beautiful, recipe-laden, encyclopedic, must-have book on Everything Cocktails.

INGREDIENTS

4 heaping teaspoons of dried rosebuds (Mountain Rose Herbs is a great source for organic ones!)

1 750-ml bottle of Lillet Rose

DIRECTIONS

In a container, combine the dried rosebuds and the bottle of Lillet Rosé. Stir well. Let stand at room temperature for 1 hour and 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a glass of choice.

 Yes, of course, you can get our own copy of the entire "The Violet Bakery Cookbook" by Claire Ptak,with all of its delish - morning to night - recipes here at Pretty Things & Cool Stuff!

Lord Bergamot Tea-Infused Chocolate Truffles

(Think Earl Grey tea, but with a superior flavor. Yields 100 truffles)

Ingredients

24 ounces bittersweet chocolate — preferably Valrhona Manjari 64% (not too bitter and not too sweet, perfect!) — finely chopped

8 ounces milk chocolate — preferably Valrhona 42% — finely chopped

2 2/3 cups heavy cream (not ultra-pasteurized)

6 ounces of Smith Tea Lord Bergamot Blend 55 Loose Leaf Tea , plus a little extra to decorate truffles. (You can substitute an Earl Grey tea, but the flavor will not match that of the Lord Bergamot!)

11 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature

2 cups cocoa powder (not Dutch processed), preferable Valrhona, for rolling truffles in

Directions

1. Line a 13-by-9 1/2-inch rimmed baking sheet with plastic wrap; set aside

2. In a heatproof bowl, set over simmering water (don't let bowl touch water), melt 8   ounces bittersweet chocolate and milk chocolate together until it reaches 120 degrees.

3. Place cream in a small saucepan over medium heat; heat until cream just comes to a boil. Place loose tea in a medium, stainless steel bowl. Pour cream over tea and let steep for 10 minutes. Strain the cream mixture through 4 layers of cheesecloth.

4. Remove chocolate mixture from heat and add 1 1/3 cups cream mixture, reserving remaining cream for another use. Using a heatproof spatula, mix together, starting from the center of the saucepan and working your way to the outer edges until mixture is emulsified.

Add butter and and mix with an immersion blender until well combined. Pour mixture into prepared baking sheet, evenly spreading mixture with an offset spatula; cover with plastic wrap, pressing down gently on chocolate mixture to prevent a skin from forming. Refrigerate at least 2 hours, and up to overnight.

5. Line the back of another 13-by-91/2-inch baking sheet with parchment paper. Uncover chocolate and invert onto parchment paper; remove second piece of plastic wrap. Using a pizza cutter or sharp knife, and a ruler as a guide, cut chocolate into 1-inch squares.

6. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside. Roll each square of chocolate between your hands to form a smooth ball. Transfer chocolate balls to baking sheet; refrigerate for 1 hour.

7. Melt remaining 16 ounces of bittersweet chocolate in a heatproof bowl, set over (but not touching) simmering water. Place cocoa powder in a shallow dish. Place some of the melted chocolate in the palm of your hand and roll a chocolate ball in the melted chocolate to coat, then roll in cocoa powder. Sprinkle some of the extra Lord Bergamot loose tea on top of truffle and press in gently.

Repeat process with remaining chocolate balls. Transfer truffles to an airtight container, stacking truffles no more than 2 to 3 inches high, and refrigerate up to 2 weeks. Bring truffles to room temperature just before serving. ENJOY!

Recipe inspiration from Smith Tea and Charles Chocolates 

I've always loved Valentine's Day.

In elementary school, I remember working diligently to compile a list of all of my Valentines. They ranged from my grandparents (who raised me) to good friends, favorite teachers, the postman, and yes, of course, the boy who made my heart flutter.

Once the list was complete, I would set about finding the perfect way to let each person know they were special to me in some way. To me, that was the magic and true joy of Valentine's Day.

Whether it was picking the right Valentine card with the perfect sentiment and complementary image or crafting a meaningful expression of affection and appreciation from a box of embossed candy hearts, or finding that ideal gift that would bring a wide, true smile (and not deplete my piggy bank), I so enjoyed playing Cupid!

And I still find great joy today in working to pair the right gift with the right person to bring that priceless and unmistakeable smile of real delight. Don't you?

But to do so can be hard today, for a variety of reasons. 

So, I thought I would strap on my Cupid wings and put together a selection of goodies that I hope will help you bring that special kind of delight to all of your special Valentines. And, we also have Free Standard Shipping in the continental U.S. for orders over $40 through Valentine's Day.

BUT FIRST, we have some Valentine's gifts for YOU!

There are two beautiful Zentangle-style hearts from Bangkok studio Bimbim for you to download, color, keep or share. Just click on the envelope on the left or the right — or both! — below, download, print and let your imagination soar as you color away!

AND, we also have a very yummy recipe for Lord Bergamot Tea-Infused Chocolate Truffles made with tea from Smith Teamakers. Smith's Lord Bergamot Blend 55 tea offers a superior flavor to typical Earl Grey tea (which you can substitute), which makes it the perfect choice for these dare-you-to-eat-just-one truffles. 

Looking for some fun, retro, punch-out-and-mail classic Valentine cards...

...or some hand-carved, woodcut, handprinted cards from Katherine Watson to help you tell your Secret Valentine how much you care? (Click on images for more information.) 

Love, love, love...love is all we need. 

So, here are three charming, keepsake books to help you document, share and learn more about love with that Special Someone:

Playful, tender, and personal, What I Love About You is the perfect gift for the person in your life who makes your pulse race. 

This fill-in-the-blank book prompts you to say what is in your heart, but may not always be at the tip of your tongue. You can tell the most important person in your life just how much they mean to you by completing the unique, evocative checklists, short answers, and phrases in this clever book.

So, how would you answer the following with your Valentine?

In this little treasure — True Love: A Practice for Wakening the Heart —Thich Nhat Hahn, the renowned Zen monk, offers timeless insight into the nature of real love. With simplicity, warmth and directness, he explores the four key aspects of love as described in the Buddhist tradition: loving - kindness, compassion, joy and freedom — explaining how to experience them in our day-to-day lives.

In This Is for You, Rob Ryan takes his unique vision and crafts a book-length Valentine that will move the heart and engage the spirit with its charm and artistry. Each of this charming book's 64 pages features color images of amazingly intricately hand-cut and hand-painted paper cuttings that tell an enchanting tale of yearning and romantic hope. Ripe with evocative imagery and a heartfelt text, This Is for You is a powerful combination of poetry, graphic novel, and museum-quality art, but at its heart, it's a simple yet timeless tale of love. The perfect keepsake, it is magical, both in how it looks and the feeling of hope and wonderment is leaves you with. It is poignant and celebratory — just like real-life love. (Check out Dana's one-of-a-kind, hand-cut, hand-colored paper heartworks featured below for the ideal gift companion for this book!)

And then we have this beauty. Just Imagine how happy your Sweetie will be when you give her or him John Lennon: The Collected Artwork. 

Before Lennon was a singer, a Beatle, or a music legend, he was an artist. Professionally trained, he attended the prestigious Liverpool Art Institute form 1957 to 1960.Throughout the course of his career, Lennon’s work as an artist expressed common societal themes from every epoch he witnessed. Until now, little of this work has been seen in one place. For the first time, John Lennon: The Collected Artwork offers a visually captivating history of Lennon’s art, and this captivating collection includes more than 200 images and features 25 never-before-published pieces from the archives of Yoko Ono.

Dana Coody Lucas is one of those rare, hearts-and-flowers, glass-half-full artists who creates objects that manage to be fun and whimsical without a hint of trite or sappy.

The idea for these gorgeous hand-cut Valentines was born when Dana taught high school art and theater on a $900 annual budget. What started out as a cheap student project led to many moments of zen achieved with paper, scissors, vision, patience and a steady hand.

Yes, each of these unique beauties is hand-drawn, intricately hand cut from paper and passionately hand colored. Click on the hearts below to see the entire collection of Dana's Heart Full Hearts, each as special as your Valentine! (Perfect pairing with Rob Ryan's This is For You shown above!)

How about giving flowers that won't wilt or need watering?

Instead, you can give a wonderful A-Z guide for growing all kinds of flowers?And how about a very cool looking pewter watering can to go with The Gardener's A-Z Guide to Growing Flowers From Seeds to Bloom  What's in a name? First published in 1958, The Flower Chronicles is a compendium on the history of flowers that has lost none of its bloom. Drawn from folklore, poetry, annals of medicine, and gardening manuals to report essential historical information on the domestication of garden favorites before they were grown as ornamental plants.

Organized by species, Flower Chronicles brims with literary and historical references and anecdotes. It has an antiquarian feel about it, with its line drawings, woodcuts, and translations from the Greek, but the text never feels dated. Though out of print for nearly thirty years, Flower Chronicles has reemerged as a must-have classic for Valentines with green thumbs, or those who want to know more than a rose is a rose is a rose. 

The complementary contrast of colors and textures handcrafted together to make these beautiful earrings caught my eye immediately!

The light to dark shades of sparking grey drusy with its surface of tiny natural crystals pairs perfectly with the smooth, light-catching facets of the deep violet-blue iolite gemstones

Oooooh! Wrap yourself in a rich, magical color of the rainbow when you wear this handcrafted and hand-dyed scarf by Earth Stain. That color is indigo, that hypnotic blue that sits between blue and violet. Each long scarf is truly unique!

So pretty, feminine and eye-catchingingly unique This stunning scarf/shawl was handmade by 7 Sisters, a very talented family of sisters from Kygyrsktan who use the traditional, labor-intensive Kyrgyz "ala-kiyiz" technique that combines delicate, airy, handwoven silk with two layers of felted Kyrgyz wool. 

I was smitten when I first saw this beautiful handmade silk scarf. And when I met its maker and heard how she partnered with Mother Nature to craft each one, I fell in love! This Earth Stain scarf is made with a hand-dying process called eco-bundling, where flower petals, twigs, roots, etc., are used to create intricate, colorful and unique patterns.

I think Michael Turback, author of Hot Chocolate, sums up best why I LOVE this book, and why I think anyone who loves chocolate and real-deal hot chocolate will, too: So why on earth can't we make as decent a cup of hot chocolate as they do in Europe?

 I take my chocolate very seriously, and I love to seek out the best on my travels. With the amazing Katherine Clapner's Dude, Sweet Chocolate! right here in Dallas, I don't have to travel too far for one of the most delicious ways to savor good chocolate — by drinking it!

When you first see one of these charming, handcrafted cup and saucer sets, you immediately want to sit some place cozy and fill each cup to the brim with something very tasty — like Dude, Sweet Chocolate! Drinking Chocolate (see above!) Or what about a perfectly made cup of expresso with just the right crema? (Not sure how to do it right? Then The Blue Bottle Craft of Coffee book below is just for you! 

If your Valentine adores the best chocolate, loves making divine desserts with chocolate and can't make it to the chocolate master classes that top-tier French chocolatier Valrhona offers at London's Cookery, then this book will be a true treat!    

The name says it all — sweet and nutty! Take raw, unfiltered Blackland Prairie honey from the Texas Honeybee Guild and mix with fresh Texas pecans for a very tasty treat! Spoon Sweet Nut Thangs over brie, your favorite ice cream or mix it with yogurt. Spread over pancakes or waffle, or use your sweet imagination!

If your or your Valentine is a flour-dusted soul on a pilgrimage to make the Perfect Pie, then you must get Pie: 300 Tried-and-True Recipes for Delicious Homemade Pie! by the Dean of Pie-Making, Ken Haedrich!

And if your Valentine's Bucket List includes making the Perfect Pie, then he or she must have the Perfect Pie Pie Plate. The good news is that England's Mason Cash has been been helping home bakers avoid needless culinary catastrophes and graduate with honors for more than 200 years!

How many times have you been in the middle of cooking a meal armed with a variety of measuring tools and still seem to be one measuring cup or teaspoon short of having the right tool to measure exactly what you need? Aside from a knife, The Perfect Beaker is the kitchen's single most important tool!

Me oh my, does your Valentine love pie! (Remember that great scene from the movie
Michael?) Based on recipes and stories from Emily Hilliard's popular Nothing-in-the-House pie blog, PIE — A Hand Drawn Almanac, is a full-color, fully-illustrated partnership between Emily and very talented illustrator Elizabeth Grabber. A unique treat for your One and Only!

Save your Valentine from "The Tyranny of the 750". Wanting a glass of wine but knowing that if you open a new bottle, there would be the pressure to maybe drink more that you wanted or end up throwing good wine down the drain..."the tyranny of the 750". Enter lover of wine and foodie at heart, Scott Tavenner and his mission to create the perfect solution with the Savino Wine Saver Carafe.

"One of the most influential bars in America has come out with a book of cocktails…just as brilliant as the place itself…The recipes are well organized and will appeal to everyone.— Max Watman, The New York Times Book Review

Death & Co: Modern Classic Cocktails with More Than 500 Recipes is the definitive guide to the contemporary craft cocktail movement, from one of the highest-profile, most critically lauded, and influential bars in the world.

"Once you’ve tried Blue Bottle coffee there is no going back—and thanks to this book, you can now understand exactly why. This be-all book on today’s coffee culture is a how-to and why manual that will thrill coffee geeks, amateurs, and professionals alike. And for those whose experience is that food is an afterthought at a coffee bar, you can now have Blue Bottle’s sumptuous recipes that are like the crema in the cup."

— Danny Meyer, noted restauranteur (think Gramercy Tavern, Union Square Cafe and the Union Square Hospitality Group, and author of Setting the Table. 'Nuf said. The Blue Bottle Craft of Coffee book is the Ideal pick for your coffee-loving Sweetheart! 

If your Heart Throb is looking for an opportunity to slow down, unplug and relax, there's nothing more satisfying than making the time to enjoy a cup of tea. Price & Kensington's Bright Red Tea for One will make your Special Someone think of you when they sip and say "Ahhhhh..."

If your Valentine is a tea lover, she or he will love you more if you introduce them to Smith Teas. The lexicon of tea is full of exotic terms. Oolong. Pu-erb. Matcha. Mao Feng. To these, we humbly add Smith. This Smith Lord Bergamot Blend 55 Loose Leaf Tea has a flavor superior to the typical Earl Grey. Fragrant Ceylon Dimbulla and Uva are artfully combined with select teas from India's Assam Valley, then scented with the flavor of bergamot fruit from the realm of Reggio Calabria, Italy. Get the recipe for Lord Bergamot Tea-Infused Chocolate Truffles here.

The art of making a 'proper cup of tea' that would make any English afternoon tea aficionado and Valentine proud, possesses two constants. The first is to use water that is boiled only once and, second, use a teapot that allows the tea leaves to swirl freely around the pot, which releases the flavor and, ultimately, provides a rich, full-flavored and less bitter tea.While we can't be there to boil the water for you Lovebirds, we can provide you with the proper pot, the Price & Kensington White Gloss 6-Cup teapot.