CELEBRATING VALENTINE’S

With Venus, Goddess of Love

If a plate of delightful Capezzoli di Venere are offered to you this Valentine’s Day, we’re sure you’ll be intrigued. After all, these Nipples of Venus (the English translation) were named after Venus, the Goddess of Love, and are an exquisite delicacy that are as delicious as they are naughty-sounding.

But just what is this treat? A sweet bon mot, to be sure, a chocolate truffle with a dense, chestnut and brandy-infused silk-like interior coated in a white chocolate shell topped with a tiny, sweet drop of flesh-coloured white chocolate, giving this petite pastry a striking appearance.

The dessert was made famous years ago in the Academy Award-winning masterpiece Amadeus, where the opulence of the Austrian court was displayed in all its magnificent glory.

In the film, Italian composer Antonio Salieri (Amadeus’ nemeses) offers Mozart’s wife, Constanze, a plate of these erotic pastries, reducing her to embarrassed giggles when he explains their rather titillating name.

In the original recipe, the pastries were actually browncoloured, due to the chocolate coating but the film transformed them into creamy white visions of beauty — and to this day, many a pastry chef will create them in this image (although the romantically sensual movie Chocolat, which starred the intoxicating Juliette Binoche as the protagonist, stayed true to their original colour.) This tiny dessert also appeared in Diane Lane’s gastronomic adventure in the film Paris Can

Wait — her favourite food in the film!

“I’ve always wanted to make Capezzoli di Venere since I saw the film Amadeus,” writes Liz March in Projectpastrylove.com. “These Italian delights are suggestively decorated, I know, but they’re so delicious ... and would make a great Valentine’s Day dessert.” March adapted a recipe from Allrecipescom, and offers up this truly delightful dessert.