They say that diamonds are a girl's best friend, but whoever says that is clearly forgetting the ultimate Valentine's Day gift, chocolate.

Of course, here at Adagio, we say why not both? Or rather, why not both and the ultimate any day gift, tea?

This Valentine's Day, we're going to show you how to craft the ultimate heart-stealer for your darling: Chocolate Truffle Mousse Gems.

To start, you'll need to make our Chocolate Truffle Mousse. Full recipe listed below.

Once your mousse is ready, you can start your gems. For ours, we used pink candy melts with gem and dome molds, though you can use whatever molds and colors you like. You can also use real chocolate, though candy melts are a lot easier for beginners.

Warm your candy melts and then pour a little into each divot of your mold, using your finger or a utensil to brush the candy up the mold's side. Make sure to leave enough space for the mousse.

A Few Pointers

If the sides are too thin, they will crack.

If the sides are too thick, they will overpower the mousse and not snap when you bite.

Chilled molds will help the candy melts set faster and not slide down the sides of the mold.

Doing one gem at a time will help make sure nothing sets before you're ready.

Once you've got your melts in your molds, put the molds in the freezer for a few minutes to ensure they're fully set. When you take them out, gently dip the backs of the molds in warm water to help release the candies from the molds. Gently pull the sides of the molds away from the candies and then push up from the bottom. If any of them crack, you can reheat your candy melts and try again. We recommend making sure all of your gems can get in and out of the mold without cracking before filling.

Once your candies are ready, fill them with the mousse, making sure to leave space on top to seal them. Place them in the freezer until the mousse is frozen, then, optionally, add a layer of chocolate shell over the mousse. This will give your mousse a protective layer against the warm candy melts, which can melt your mousse. Once your chocolate shell is set, you can add your final layer of candy melts to seal your gems. The magic shell won't last forever as a barrier, so make sure to act quickly. We recommend doing this one gem at a time to keep things tidy and avoid melting madness.

Decorating tips

Depending on how much of a gap you've left on top of your gems, you can lightly warm the gem edges and seal them together for a more three-dimensional shape.

If you don't have a gap on top, you can use warm candy melts to glue them together, though admittedly, this can get a bit messy. In cases like those, just use candy melts to cover the seams with ribbon patterns or stripes.

If you have leftover candy melts, consider adding extra decorations like hearts, ribbons, bows, stripes, or spots.

When your gems are sealed, put them back in the freezer to fully set. Serve chilled with leftover mousse.

Chocolate Truffle Mousse

This luscious Chocolate Truffle mousse pairs rich, fluffy chocolate with black tea undertones to make a sumptuous treat.

Cook Time: 30-45 min.
Chill Time: 3 hours
Makes: 3 servings

Ingredients

3 tsp Chocolate Truffle
1 cup whipping cream
1 1/2 tbsp sugar
2 egg yolks
Cool Whip (Optional)

Instructions

Put metal mixing bowl and beaters into freezer to chill.

Steep tea into cream over medium heat to taste. If it starts to steam, remove from heat. Strain tea out of cream.

Put 1 c. of cream in fridge until fully chilled, about two hours.
Put remaining 1 c. cream in freezer.

Beat egg yolks and 3/4 tbsp sugar until pale yellow.

Remove 1 c. cream from freezer and slowly whisk it into the egg mixture. The cream does not have to be cold, but should not be hot enough to accidentally cook the eggs.

Gently heat eggs and cream, whisking constantly until it thickens. Put in fridge to chill.

Once all elements are chilled, use the chilled bowl and beaters to beat 1 c. cream and the remaining sugar to medium peaks. If you are having trouble, add a little more sugar as you go and put the mixing bowl over ice.

Gently fold whipped cream into custard mixture. If the mousse is a little thin, you can thicken it up a little with Cool Whip.

Enjoy!

Tea Chef

Check out this month's TeaChef recipe competition! Head over there to submit your own creations to potentially win a $50 gift card to Adagio!