Make Valentine’s Day Sweet with this Fair Trade Treat

We often talk about the excitement and joy Valentine’s Day brings. It’s wonderful to have a chance to tell your special someone how much you care and to celebrate your relationship. However, we don’t always talk about the other emotion this holiday of love brings into our lives: stress. Finding the right way to adequately express your love for someone is a high-pressure situation, especially if you don’t want your Valentine’s celebration to be a cliché. If you’re struggling to think of something special to do this year, we suggest whipping up a batch of Equal Exchange Dark Chocolate Truffles.

(photo courtesy of Equal Exchange)

Leave the boxed chocolates to the Valentine’s novices. (Let’s be honest, 50% of the flavors in there are pretty gross anyway). Making a treat from scratch is the real way to someone’s heart. Using fair trade, organic chocolate from Equal Exchange for your truffles will show your loved one that, not only do you care deeply about them, you care deeply about making sure the farmers and producers supplying this love fodder work in safe conditions and are paid a fair wage. Equal Exchange ensures their products are crafted with care from bean to bar.

The chocolate used for Equal Exchange products is produced by co-ops, which create democratic work environments for their workers, with a focus on sustainable practices.

(photo courtesy of Equal Exchange)

Fight off the Valentine’s Day stress with this Dark Chocolate Truffle recipe.

(Warning: Heart melting is a potential side effect of these truffles so you may also want to have some cleaning supplies on hand.)

Recipe courtesy of Equal Exchange.

2 bars Equal Exchange Organic Ecuador Dark Chocolate bars, chopped into small pieces

½ c. heavy cream

1 tsp. vanilla extract

Equal Exchange Organic Baking Cocoa, for coating

In a small saucepan, simmer the heavy cream over a low heat.

Place chopped chocolate in a separate bowl. Add the heavy cream and vanilla and let stand for a few minutes to melt the chocolate. Stir until smooth.

Let cool. Place bowl in the refrigerator for 2 hours.

When the chocolate mixture has solidified, use a teaspoon to roll out 1-inch balls. Roll them in your hands quickly to give them an even shape. Place rounded balls on a baking sheet lined with wax paper and let sit in the refrigerator for 8 hours (or overnight). Roll the chocolate balls in cocoa powder until evenly coated.

Keep the truffles refrigerated until ready to serve!

Yields 30-40 truffles