Chocolate Soup for Two

Valentine’s day is exactly one month away and I’m elbow deep in chocolate recipes. I’ve been searching for ideas and inspiration for sweet, edible tokens of affection.  Recently while watching a food show on TV, I saw chocolate soup being served at a popular chocolate bar/buffet.  Patrons were proclaiming their love (between slurps of soup) for the warm, velvety smoothness and rich chocolaty flavor.  I got out a pen and paper and wrote:

In my search I’ve found so many variations on chocolate soup, I didn’t know which one to try!  They all sounded so rich and almost too heavy. (Does anyone really want a heavy dessert on date night?) After a few trial runs, I decided to make my own. 

I wanted to lighten the soup without compromising the richness or velvety texture.  I mixed skim milk with fat-free half and half to maintain the creamy texture.  I also found that I could not tell the difference (in the completed soup) between the fat-free and regular sweetened condensed milk.  One of my favorite elements of this dish is the marshmallow & cream cheese garnish.  It provides an interesting and needed flavor contrast.

I used Ghiradelli semisweet baking chips, but the variations on this recipe are as numerous as there are varieties of chocolate.  I would imagine an orange infused chocolate bar would pair well with a little Grand Marnier in this soup.  I also think a big fat biscotti crouton (or many of them) would be a delicious addition.

This dessert should be served warm.  I have a jar of gourmet ice cream topping called “chocolate crunch” that I used for further garnishing.  Completed, the soup is rich and velvety just like the full-fat version.  The flavor is a bit like a rich chocolate pudding.  If I could describe where chocolate soup lives, it’s somewhere between rich hot chocolate-ville and chocolate pudding city. 

I think this would be an excellent Valentine’s day dessert to share with someone special, even if that someone special is your Grandma.  I view the holiday as a celebration of all kinds of love, and not just the romantic variety. I’m hoping to share more chocolaty recipes with you before V-day arrives, and I can’t wait to see what everyone else will be cooking up!