Say it with a Kiss! - Valentine's Day in Italy

San Valentino is also known in Italy as the "festa degli innamorati" (feast of those who love each other).

Unlike in America, this is not a day that children, family members and friends celebrate,  it is a day in which lovers and couples celebrate their love for each other by going out to eat in romantic places and exchanging gifts.

Typical gifts are flowers, chocolates and sometimes jewelry.

The most common chocolate that is sold and bought especially around this time of the year (but also throughout) is produced by Perugina, a world class chocolate producer. The name of this chocolate is Baci, a word that means "kisses". They are chocolates with a delicious center of gianduja (chocolate, nougat and ground hazelnuts) on top of which sits a whole hazelnut. The whole thing is then covered in dark chocolate and wrapped in a silver foil star-strewn wrapper.

There is also a modern version of the traditional Baci, the white Baci, covered in white chocolate and wrapped in blue foil. Both versions contain a sweet love note written in several languages for everybody to enjoy.

I love this chocolate so much that I tried to make my own version at home. The results are actually better (at least in my opinion) than the real thing. In case you want to try, here is the recipe :

Homemade Baci

Ingredients:

Part A)
150 g (5.30 oz) high quality milk chocolate
100 g (3.50 oz) toasted hazelnuts cut into small pieces
38 toasted whole hazelnuts
100 g (3.50 oz) confectioner sugar
4 TBsp heavy whipping cream

 Part B)
 200 g (7 oz) high quality dark chocolate

Instructions :
1. Melt milk chocolate and add ingredients in part A.
2. Chill the mass in the freezer for 20 minutes.
3. Create balls and add one hazelnut on top of each ball.
4. Melt and temper dark chocolate and cover each ball with it.
5. Let them set.

Enjoy!

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We wish you all a wonderful week, filled with LOVE!

Check out our other blog articles delicately crafted for Valentine's Day :

- Decadent desserts for Valentine's Day

- Gorgeous Valentine's Day Treasuries created by SPST members

- For me, LOVE is... -- Your definitions of Love


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PRESENTED TO YOU BY OUR LEADER:  

Hello, I am an Italian from Venice, but my husband's military job assignment brought me to the US to live. I teach full time for a visual and performing arts high school. I have lots of talented students.  My talent is jewelry making. I love making jewelry. In particular I like to use authentic Murano glass that I buy from my master beadmakers every summer when I go home to visit my folks. Lately I have been experimenting with semiprecious gemstones and wire. It's fun. I have been creating my pieces for about ten years and have placed many of them in good homes all over the world. www.etsy.com/shop/venetianmemories