You’re probably thinking that Valentine’s Day is over, and Easter is the next chocolate holiday on the horizon. But Valentine’s Day is not quite over everywhere. Today many people in Japan, and other Asian countries including Taiwan, South Korea and China, will celebrate White Day.  Typically, women shower men with chocolate and gifts on Valentine’s Day, and White Day is when men reciprocate.

White Day was first celebrated in Japan in 1978. It was launched by the National Confectionery Industry Association as a day for men to reciprocate the gifts that were given to them on Valentine’s Day. Originally, a confectionery company called Ishimura Manseido dubbed the holiday ‘Marshmallow Day’ in the late seventies, marketing marshmallows to men.  When that didn’t take off, it was changed to White Day.

In Japan, there are typically two types of chocolate given on Valentine’s Day – ‘giri-choco’ or ‘courtesy/obligation chocolate’ is given to male friends, colleagues and bosses, meant signify obligation without any romantic connotation. ‘Honmei-choco’ or ‘chocolate of love’ which is meant for people in romantic relationships.  Handmade chocolate is considered most special, because of the time and effort associated with making your own gift.  

On White Day, men are expected to reciprocate. Many men give white gifts in keeping with the name of the holiday, so white chocolate is often a popular choice. Cookies, flowers, jewelry, and white lingerie are also popular. Some men abide by the rule of sanbai-gaeshiin or ‘triple return’, meaning that the gift should be three times the value of what he was given.  Ladies, that could be some fabulous chocolate!

Powdered glucose, also called dextrose, is a key tool in the chocolatier’s belt. It helps to prevent premature crystallization of ganaches, caramels and hydrocolloids such as pâte de fruits and marshmallows. While it is not used in everything, it is worth adding to recipes to see if it enhances the stability of your creations.

The one issue with powdered glucose is that it is not highly soluble, so you need to add it to hot liquids and stir vigourously to encourage it to dissolve. Once it is dissolved, however, it stays that way and helps your piece to stabilize with its environment by controlling the water balance.Pâte de fruits is a perfect application for powdered glucose – you are already heating your liquids to a high temperature, creating the perfect environment for the glucose to dissolve.Scale all of your ingredients – put the puree in a pot, and scale your sugar and pectin together in a bowl and whisk until well combined. Scale the acid and the vinegar together, and place it in your frame on the silpat. This is because you are going to stir in the acid right before you pour the fruit into the frame and this way you won’t forget it.

Place the cream and brown sugar into the saucepan and stir over medium heat until blended, then allow to cook to 112℃. As always when cooking sugar, periodically wash down the sides of the pan to prevent uncontrolled crystallization. At the end of cooking, stir in the browned butter and vanilla.Pour the hot mixture carefully into a stand mixer and mix until creamy and smooth. The fudge will look shiny at the beginning and will start to look dull as it is ready to come out.Pour into your prepared pan and allow to cool before cutting. Serve as is, or enrobe in chocolate.

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