Artisan Valentine’s Day Chocolate: Inside the Satin-Heart Box
February 14th is a big day at Dean’s Sweets, as you might imagine. For weeks leading up to Valentine’s Day, we are prepping like eager cupids, making ganache for the truffles, pouring chocolate into cute little heart-shaped molds, tying pretty red ribbons on anything in sight. We ordered our fancy heart-shaped boxes in September this year, earlier than ever, anticipating delays in the pipeline. Our intuition of the possibility of a satin-heart shortage was affirmed, receiving our shipment four months later, on Jan 28, less than three weeks from the big day. Phew. At least we have them – just in time for the chocolate holiday.
Order Valentine’s Day Chocolate Online
Unlike the November and December holidays when customers order chocolate weeks and months in advance, Valentine’s Day online chocolate orders are super concentrated, mostly coming in like an avalanche during the first two weeks of February. A few early lovebirds order in January, but most Valentines, Galentines, and Palentines wait till the calendar flips to February and suddenly realize they need to shake a tailfeather and get their order in. That creates a great challenge for us chocolate-makers to box and ship a huge number of packages in a short period of time. We put on our cupid wings and fly to make it all happen.
Valentine Chocolates Made to Order
Even as makers of chocolate, we are not chocolate snobs. We like a good handful of M&M’s or Junior Mints like anyone else. And, of course, we also appreciate artisan chocolate, our own and other chocolatiers’. It’s almost hard to compare mass-produced chocolate to the artisan kind. It’s like comparing Hallmark Valentine cards to hand-made paper creations. Both have their place; just very different. Unlike the grocery-store chocolates that can sit for months on the shelf because of preservatives and even wax in the recipe, our ingredients are always all-natural, easy to pronounce, simple, and local whenever possible.( For more on local, see Vacationland: Why Maine-made chocolate is so darn good!). Our chocolates are made to be eaten soon, ideally within 4-6 weeks after receiving your Valentine. Most people are happy to do their part to make this happen.
Best Valentine’s Day Chocolate
The best Valentine’s Day chocolate is whatever your Valentine would most love to receive. It can be fancy, like our satin heart-shaped gift box or four-tiered jewel case. Or your Valentine may prefer something understated but just as friendly, such as a bag of our Double Dark hot chocolate to share on a cold winter’s night.
If you haven’t already honed in on your Valentine’s Day gift, you can check out our Dean’s Sweets Valentine Gift Guide here.
Valentine’s Day is about sending love to the people you love. It’s not just for romantic partners anymore. You can launch those cupid arrows to show your best friend how much you love and care for them (or maybe miss them right now). For gal pals, Zoom buddies, and the person who fills your coffee cup every morning. For moms and dads, grandparents and grandkids – those are the ones we can send love to, and maybe some chocolate, to appreciate now and always.