Valentine's Day Sweets with Heat

Got a hot date this Valentine’s Day? Whether flavored with cayenne, habanero or pasilla chiles, these five chocolate specialties will make your night sizzle. Flying solo? That just means you don’t have to share.—Denise Shoukas

Chuao Chocolatier's Spicy Maya Hot Chocolate

Valentine’s Day isn’t just about eating chocolate—you can drink it too. Chuao Chocolatier’s sofi Gold Award–winning Spicy Maya Hot Chocolate is a traditional sipping chocolate made of a blend of cinnamon, pasilla chile and cayenne pepper balanced perfectly with premium 58 to 72 percent Venezuelan chocolate. The pasilla chile has a mild and earthy flavor, while the cayenne gives it a nice kick. Just add hot water. The same addictive flavor profile is available in warmer months in gelato, bon bons, brownie mix and bar form.  

$15/12-oz. tin; chuaochocolatier.com

Chocolate Moderne Devotion Coral Luxury Gift Box

When you open this pretty box, you won’t know where to start. Quick tip: Try the Havana Heat first (it’s the orange one). New York City-based Chocolate Moderne has elegantly combined habanero peppers with 64 percent Madagascar dark ganache for just enough heat to warm you up. Five other exotic flavors round out this collection of hand-painted hearts, including Shiso-Lime, a dark ganache with Japanese Shiso leaf extract and lime, and The Player, a smoky single-malt Scotch with 72 percent Venezuelan cacao ganache.

Starting at $15/5-piece box; chocolatmoderne.com

Helliemae's Chili Palmer Caramels

Don’t hold off ordering these. Helliemae’s Chili Palmer Caramels—a potent combination of dark butter caramel infused with cinnamon, chile and salt—are a handmade, limited-edition flavor for Valentine’s Day, and they’re available only through February 29. How hot is this caramel, you ask? It’s named after the character Chili Palmer in Elmore Leonard’s book Get Shorty (turned film circa 1995); in it, Palmer pulls on a leather glove just to sucker-punch enemy mobster Ray Bones. Helliemae’s owner Ellen Daehnick says this caramel’s flavors hit your palate with roughly the same velocity, all softened by the buttery, intense caramel.

$29; saltcaramels.com

Kopper's Cayenne Savouries

As the originator of the chocolate-covered espresso bean and the chocolate-covered Gummi bear, Kopper’s Chocolate knows how to innovate. For Valentine’s Day, get your hands on “The Box” of Cayenne Savouries, filled with morsels of all-natural, kosher chocolate blended with cayenne. The heat rides in at the end, and leaves you wanting more. Add to a romantic cheese platter or make spicy chocolate chip cookies to share with friends.

$5.75/4-ounce box; koppersonline.com  

Theo Chocolate Ghost Chile Salted Caramels

Known as the hottest pepper in the world, the ghost chile is the perfect partner for Theo Chocolate’s classic buttery caramel. The ghost chile, which is grown locally, has a smoky and earthy flavor and blends well with the fair-trade, organic chocolate. Theo Chocolate Ghost Pepper Caramels—recent sofi Gold Award winner for Outstanding Confection—are adorned with a sprinkling of Hawaiian red sea salt. If you and your loved one are more inclined toward beer than wine, this is the sweet treat to pair with your favorite microbrew.

$8.80/4-piece box; theochocolate.com

Is your valentine adorably hesitant to brave the heat? We’ve found 15 classic Valentine’s Day treats with elegance and whimsy so the holiday isn’t lost to a traumatized palate.

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