At the time of writing, it is January: the first month of the second decade of the 2000s. The holidays allowed me valuable time off to spend with my family, complete overdue tasks, read, catch up on a series or three I’ve had to forcefully postpone and idly stroll through the store.

I walk through the aisles with intent to purchase, but I’m also content to browse. Winter-themed products are stashed to some back corner (on clearance most likely) and are replaced with an assortment of pink and red sweets packaged in a particular shape associated with a particular passion. And, for what seems like the two-thousand and twentieth time, I ask myself and others:

“Is Valentine’s Day coming up already?”

Now, don’t get me wrong; I absolutely love Valentine’s Day for the sentiment, though not nearly as much as I love it for the aesthetic and the excuse to indulge after having abandoned my new year’s resolution to cut back on sugar. So, join me and celebrate your loved ones by baking fudgy brownies with tart cherries, decorated with a white chocolate drizzle and a heart made from the bottom of yours (but mostly made from tempered white chocolate).

Making these brownies couldn’t be any easier, as I use a modified two-stage method. Sift your dry ingredients (except for the cocoa powder and espresso powder) together in a bowl and set aside. In another bowl, combine the espresso powder, cocoa powder, first quantity of chocolate and boiling water. While this mixture is still warm, add the rest of your wet ingredients. Fold your dry ingredients into your wet ingredients, ensuring there are no pockets of flour in the mixture. Finally, fold in the cherries and second quantity of chocolate chips. It’s as simple as that!

Creating the hearts is a bit of an involved process, but if you can temper chocolate, you’ll be sure to win some, dare I say, brownie points! Tempering involves heating chocolate to one specific temperature, then lowering it to another specific temperature. I use a bain-marie seeding method to temper white chocolate by heating a portion of the chocolate in a bowl over a pot of simmering water (bain-marie) then bringing it down with the remaining portion of chocolate (seeding). From this point, the tempered chocolate is ready, and you can decorate to your heart’s content!

February, the second month of the second decade of the 2000s can feel like it’s the time of year just for couples. But it doesn’t have to feel like that. Whether romantic or platonic, you can use Valentine’s Day as a way to express “hey, I’m thinking of you. Now please eat these brownies; they have hearts on them.”

Chocolate Cherry Brownies

Ingredients

⅓ cup cocoa powder

1 ½ tsp espresso powder

2 oz. bittersweet chocolate

½ cup water, boiling

4 tbsp butter

½ cup coconut oil, melted

2 whole eggs

2 egg yolks

1 ½ tsp vanilla extract

2 cups granulated sugar

1 ¾ cups bread flour

6 oz. bittersweet chocolate

10 oz dried cherries

20 oz white chocolate

Red food coloring

Brownies - Modified Two-Stage Method

1. In a bowl, pour hot water over the dried cherries to rehydrate. Let stand for 30 minutes.

2. Sift the bread flour (reserve a small amount) and sugar into a bowl. Set aside.

3. In another bowl, combine the cocoa powder, espresso powder, and the first quantity of bittersweet chocolate with boiling water.

4. While warm, stir in the butter and melted coconut oil.

5. Once the mixture has cooled, add the whole eggs, egg yolks and vanilla extract. Mix until smooth.

6. Fold the sifted dry ingredients into your wet ingredients.

7. Toss the drained and rehydrated cherries with the reserved amount of bread flour.

8. Fold in the flour-coated cherries and second quantity of chocolate into the batter.

9. Pour the batter into an 8x12” baking pan lined with parchment paper.

10. Bake in an oven preheated at 350°F for 30-35 minutes.

11. Let it cool in the pan for 1 hour; transfer to the fridge to chill thoroughly (about 1 hour).

12. Cut into 16 pieces.

Tempering Chocolate – Bain-Marie Seeding Method

1. Grate the white chocolate* and reserve one-fourth.

2. Heat three-fourths of the chocolate to 110°F over a bain-marie, constantly monitoring the temperature with a probe thermometer.

3. Once the chocolate reaches 110°F, immediately take the bowl from the heat.

4. With the reserved chocolate, bring the temperature of the chocolate down to 87°F.

5. As soon as the chocolate reaches 87°F, pour into a piping bag. It is now ready to use.

*Melt any remaining white chocolate to drizzle over the brownies.

Jade Ragiles is a student in Rowan College at Burlington County’s Culinary Arts program on the Mount Holly Campus. rcbc.edu/culinary