A chocolate sack-shake for your valentine - chocolate container for a shake - recipe

Sunset, Feb, 1993 by Elaine Johnson

Bag your valentine with this end-all chocolate milkshake served from an edible chocolate sack. The project takes minimal artistic skills--you paint the inside of a paper bag with melted chocolate. When chocolate has hardened, peel off bag.

Mold for chocolate sack. For each sack, you need a small, clean, unwrinkled food-safe (as follows) paper bag about 1 1/2 by 3 inches at the base and 6 inches tall; trim to this height if taller. (In reality, you need two or three bags in case chocolate breaks when you tear off the bag.)

Either shape a bag from cooking parchment, using plastic tape to make interior seams smooth, or buy food-grade, plastic-lined 1/2-pound coffee bags at a coffee shop.

Chocolate Sack and Shake

6 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped Mold for chocolate sack (see preceding) Chocolate shake (recipe follows)

Place chocolate in top of a double boiler over hot, but not simmering, water; stir often until smooth. Remove from heat; leave over water.

Open bag and smooth interior. With a stiff-bristled pastry brush, paint chocolate inside bag thickly and evenly up to, but not over, bag rim. Coat corners and creases generously; if thin, they tend to crack first.

Set bag upright; chill until chocolate is hard, about 2 hours. Remelt chocolate in double boiler; paint a second layer, using all but 1 to 2 tablespoons chocolate. Chill until hard, about 2 hours. To unwrap chocolate sack, snip through fold on bottom of paper bag; gently peel and snip paper from chocolate. Touch sack as little as possible to avoid melting.

Check for cracks (sack has to be leakproof); look through bag toward a strong light or shine a flashlight into it. To patch cracks or thin spots, tear a piece of waxed paper that is larger than the weak area; hold paper against weak spot on outside of sack. Coat on inside with remaining remelted chocolate. Chill until firm, about 20 minutes; peel off paper.

If sack breaks, melt pieces and start again. If making ahead, chill sack airtight up to 1 week. Set sack on a small flat plate, pour in shake; serve with straws. Eat bag as emptied, or rinse with cold water, drain dry, and eat later. The empty sack weighs about 5 ounces; filled, it serves 2 generously.

Per serving: 846 cal. (61 percent from fat); 16 g protein; 57 g fat (34 g sat.); 90 g carbo.; 206 mg sodium; 98 mg chol.

Chocolate shake. In a blender, whirl until smooth 3 cups chocolate ice cream, 1/2 cup milk, and 3 tablespoons instant espresso powder (optional). Use at once.