Chocolate is coming up rosy for Valentine's

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Move over blond chocolate — so 2022!Now, just in time for Valentine’s Day, shelves are groaning with ruby chocolate. 

Made from the ruby cocoa bean, grown in Brazil, Ecuador and the Ivory Coast, the rosy result is allnatural and boasts a fresh-berry, fruity taste.Better still, it is said to pair exquisitely with fizz. 

‘It’s a revolution in chocolate,’ says Bas Smit, global VP of marketing at Barry Callebaut, which was the first to discover and develop it. 

The company had known about the special beans for years, but it was only when one of its scientists decided to process them in a slightly different way that it awakened a chemical compound which produced the attractive blushing shade.And now, major brands such a Fortnum & Mason and Magnum have made their own pink products. 

So, whether you’re buying for yourself, or leaving this article out for your partner — here are our favourite ruby chocolates available to buy this Valentine’s… 

PURE DELIGHT

47% Ruby Chocolate Bar, Délicieux Chocolat (100g for £4.50, dechoc.co.uk) 

If you want to experience ruby chocolate unadulterated by other flavours, this is where you should begin. It’s a taste sensation, starting off silky smooth and reminiscent of white chocolate, then becoming complex and a little tart with a hit of fruity berry. 

It has the most enjoyable melt-in-the-mouth texture and, of course, the irresistible colour.Just the right balance of sweet, sour and creamy — sounds weird but it works, trust me.

TRUFFLY DECADENT 

Fortnum’s Salted Caramel Ruby Truffles (135g for £17.95, fortnumandmason.com) 

You can never go wrong with truffles for Valentine’s Day — and combining, as the description states, ‘two of the most popular flavour innovations in chocolate of recent years; fruity and sharp ruby chocolate, and sweet yet salty caramel’, these are a real winner. 

The salted caramel ganache filling has a ruby chocolate coating with a sprinkling of Himalayan salt crystals on top.Personally, I adore the combination of chocolate and salt, and this is seriously good. At more than £1.60 per truffle though, just make sure not to eat them all at once! 

ON THE BUTTON 

Ruby Chocolate Giant Button Tub (120g for £3.95, marimbaworld.com) 

Who doesn’t love a chocolate button? A giant, pink, chocolate button? Creamy and delicious with a pleasant sourness, it’s dangerously easy to eat the entire tub in one sitting. 

This brand also does an amazing hot chocolate, which you make by stirring the ruby chocolate flakes (240g — enough for six mugs — for £8.70) into hot milk.Not as rich and sickly as hot milk chocolate, it makes for the most comforting, warming drink on a cold day 

GUILTY PLEASURE 

The Ruby Bar (100g for £8 xochocolate.co.uk) 

This is one very special and beautiful bar of chocolate — you might be tempted just to look at it and not eat it. 

The sweet and tart ruby chocolate is draped in 24k gold on one side, while the other side is covered in popcorn, Iranian pistachios and aromatic rose leaf.Wow! 

The pistachios work particularly well with the fruity flavour of the chocolate, and the popcorn adds a pleasing crunch. Plus, who doesn’t want their chocolate gilded? A surefire way to impress.

MIX ‘N’ MATCH 

Ultimate Ruby Chocolate Library Bar (75g for £6.95, fortnumandmason.com) 

This is another winner for anyone who wants to try ruby chocolate without any other flavours included in it. 

It has a different taste to the ruby bar by Délicieux Chocolat — more punchy and tart — so if you prefer a chocolate that’s less delicate, then this is the one for you. 

The nice thing about Fortnum’s Library Bars is that you can mix and match with other delicious flavours — including treacle tart, white chocolate carrot cake, salted almond and dark chocolate with orange pieces — building up your own ‘Chocolate Library’. 

LUXE LOLLU 

Magnum Ruby ice cream lollies (three for £3, ocado.com) 

If ice cream is your thing, I can’t recommend these enough.Magnum combines velvety white chocolate ice cream with a raspberry swirl, encased in the distinct ruby chocolate coating to make the most delectable after-dinner (or any time, frankly) treat. 

Yes, they may not be a box of the finest chocolates, but they’re a fun and very tasty way to say ‘I love you’.Who cares if it’s February! 

COOK UP A STORM 

Callebaut Ruby Chocolate Couverture (400g for £10.99, souschef.co.uk) 

If you really want to impress your Valentine — and you’re a dab-hand at baking — you can buy this Belgian ruby cooking chocolate to whip up all sorts of fruity, pink-coloured delights, such as ganaches, truffles, mousses, soft-serve ice cream or chocolate sauce. 

Pair it with heady, richer flavours, including green tea, coffee and pepper.